Governor opposes initiative on ethics

Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday he can't support a citizens initiative on ethics reform.

"I think this initiative petition, despite the passion, the zeal and the good intentions of the sponsors, has got flaws in it," Herbert said during the taping of his monthly KUED Channel 7 news conference.

"I think all of us love motherhood and apple pie. We want to have transparency," he said. "But we need to address those issues, and I'd like to see the Legislature take a firm hand on that."

Among his concerns with the petition language, the governor said, is whether it provides adequate due process for those accused of ethics violations.

"I don't like the idea that you're guilty until you prove yourself innocent," Herbert said. "In America, you're innocent until proven guilty. So there are some things about due process that I think need to be thought through."

Herbert said he'd like to see lawmakers address the issue next session. "I'd like to see them pass more ethics reform," he said. "They can do more. I'd rather have a good law on the books that has ethics reform than a bad law."

The governor told reporters he made up his mind after listening to people on both sides of the issue as well as conducting an independent review of the petition with the help of attorneys both in and out of his office.

Former GOP state legislator Kim Burningham, chairman of Utahns for Ethical Government, called Herbert's opposition "a disappointment, especially considering that I've tried several times to get a meeting with the governor to explain our petition to him."

But Burningham said he didn't expect the governor's stand to slow the group's efforts. The initiative petition group is attempting to gather 95,000 signatures of registered voters, required by state law to get the legislative ethics petition on the November 2010 ballot.

"The public is pretty supportive of the initiative," said Burningham, who is currently on the State Board of Education.

Herbert told his Governor's Commission on Strengthening Democracy recently that he doesn't jump to conclusions but likes to take some time and listen to all sides before making a decision.

One of Herbert's objections to the ethics initiative is that — following corporate law — it says that once prima facie evidence has been found by the independent ethics commission of legislative wrongdoing, then the accused legislator must prove that he didn't violate ethics rules.

Burningham said the initiative doesn't give the independent ethics commission the same powers as a court.

"The commission doesn't convict anyone of anything. It hears evidence in private. If it finds substance in the complaint (against a legislator), it then passes that along to the Legislature as a recommendation" of disciplinary action, Burningham said.