Former state legislators support ethics initiative

Without the oversight of an independent ethics commission, former state Sen. Karen Shepherd sees the Utah Legislature as a fox guarding a henhouse — "a serious conflict of interest."

But unless Utah voters take action, nothing will change, Shepherd and other former legislators said Tuesday during a news conference in the Capitol rotunda.

"They want to maintain control over what is known about their workings," Shepherd, a senate Democrat who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992, said of the state's lawmakers. "They do not welcome outside scrutiny. Nobody who has ever had power gave it up willingly. Period."

Thirty-five former state legislators from both houses and both sides of the aisle announced their support for a far-reaching ethics initiative Tuesday.

Led by former Gov. Olene Walker, Utahns for Ethical Government needs 95,000 signatures by April 15 for the initiative to appear on the 2010 ballot, where voters would then decide whether it becomes law.

Walker, a GOP representative from 1981-88, said she accepted meals and tickets from lobbyists during her time in office, "but I have come to realize that such small items are not worth the impression the public has of" lobbyist influence over lawmakers.

"For 30 years, I have watched ethics legislation in the Legislature not escape the Rules Committee," she said, "and the few bills that did pass often had loopholes."

The Utahns for Ethical Government initiative calls for a number of far-reaching changes to how legislators' ethics, campaign fundraising and conduct are measured and controlled.

The initiative would limit campaign fundraising, donations from corporations and other special-interest groups and place restrictions on former legislators returning to Capitol Hill as lobbyists.

Utahns for Ethical Government also is calling for creating an independent ethics commission.

Karl Snow, a state senator from 1973-84, said the changes would free lawmakers from the pressures of special-interest groups.

"The initiative is not a harness," Snow said. "It is, rather, a liberating force that will allow the legislators do their jobs."

The effort has been met with opposition from the Utah Republican Party, whose leaders say the effort is unconstitutional in a number of areas.

Walker said the initiative seeks changes through a legislative process and not a constitutional amendment. Snow said Utahns for Ethical Government would be open to changes.

"It is not a perfect piece," he said. "If improvements come along, we will be open to them."

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