Ethics reform taking shape

The Utah Legislature is on the verge of historic ethics actions — in part because of a citizen initiative petition nipping at their heels.

But only time will tell if Utah voters will accept as sufficient lawmakers' ethics reforms, or whether residents will still want the strict and far-reaching initiative.

Wednesday, as a special interim study committee adopted plans for an independent ethics commission, the House GOP caucus said it likes that idea, as well. GOP senators are willing to look further at an independent commission, leaders said, but aren't sold on it yet.

In addition, the Legislature's Ethics Study Committee is also drafting changes to the current lawmaker code of ethical conduct, which has been criticized as so vague and toothless it's really meaningless.

As outlined Wednesday, the Legislature's own reform would:

Create an independent ethics commission made up of three retired judges and two former legislators.

The commission would review, in secret, ethical charges brought by any two Utahns. If the commission voted 4-1 or 5-0 in favor of any charges, those charges would be made public and passed on to either the current House or Senate ethics committees (depending on who was charged) made up of only legislators.

Those legislative committees, meeting in public, could recommend reprimands, censures or that the offending legislator be kicked out of office.

As required now by the Utah Constitution, either the whole House or Senate would then vote on disciplinary action.

"Many of us had as a goal an independent ethics commission," said House Majority Leader Kevin Garn, R-Layton, a member of the joint Ethics Study Committee.

But having Utahns for Ethical Government file a citizen initiative "put pressure on all of us" in the Legislature "to have some kind of independent group" look at ethical charges against lawmakers, he said.

UEG chairman and former GOP state legislator Kim Burningham has told the Deseret News before that while his group, which is in the process of gathering 95,000 signatures of registered voters, welcomes any ethical reforms by lawmakers, UEG supporters won't abandon their efforts to get the matter on the November 2010 ballot until they see what laws are enacted in the next general session, which adjourns in early March.

Rep. John Dougall, R-Highland, House chairman of the Ethics Study Committee, and Garn say a bipartisan bill will be passed in the committee next month. It will then go before the 2010 Legislature in January.

Committee discussion Wednesday showed there is agreement on major parts of the proposal, especially the desire to have an independent commission sift initial complaints in private.