Utah GOP is opposing ethics initiative

As expected, the Utah Republican Party will oppose a legislative ethics citizens initiative.

In a statement released Monday, Dave Hansen, Utah GOP chairman, said the party's central committee, the governing body of the party, opposes the Utahns For Ethical Government initiative. However, the state GOP still stands for ethical government and has for some time, Hansen said.

Hansen had previously told the Deseret News that he personally opposed the initiative, and he guessed that the party's central committee would oppose it, also.

"I was pleased to see the Utah Republican Party State Central Committee reaffirm its platform, which demands honesty, integrity, morality and accountability from public officials," Hansen said. "The Utah Republican Party will continue to stand for ethics in government and will support meaningful measures to ensure ethical behavior."

GOP leaders voted Saturday to oppose the initiative, which supporters are now circulating in hopes of getting 95,000 signatures of registered voters.

If UEG can get that many signatures by April 15, the initiative will appear on the 2010 ballot, where voters will decide whether it becomes law. Hansen said GOP leaders believe the initiative is unconstitutional in a number of areas and just plain wrong in setting up an independent ethics commission that Hansen said would be "unelected and unaccountable" to voters. The 2009 Legislature adopted several new laws applying to ethics and will likely adopt more laws in the 2010 session, Hansen said.

Kim Burningham, UEG chairman, is a former GOP state House member. He said Monday that he hopes all groups and individuals will support the ethics initiative, but he understands that some who are closely involved in elective politics "could have difficulties" with the initiative, in part because it is a change from current practices.

However, politicians and officeholders who oppose this, or any, initiative will ultimately be answerable to the citizens, since that is what the initiative process is all about, he said.

The initiative would make a number of far-reaching changes in how legislators' ethics, campaign fundraising and conduct are measured and controlled.

For example, it would limit where and how much money legislative candidates could raise.

Republicans hold two-thirds majorities in both the House and Senate, and limiting donations could harm the re-election of incumbents, political observers maintain.

The Utah Democratic Party has not yet taken an official stand on the UEG position, but Democratic leaders say they probably will at some point.

The Utah Republican Party's platform, which includes a stand on public official ethics, can be found at: www.utgop.org.

The citizen initiative can be read at: www.utahethics.org.

e-mail: bbjr@desnews.com