Ethics, budget should dominate this session

We can think of several reasons why the citizens initiative process is bad. It bypasses the tempering process of representative government, where bills are debated and amended to address weaknesses and problems. Initiative supporters often employ signature-gatherers who are paid for each valid name they gather, leading them to make wild promises or claims. And the process is extremely vulnerable to special interests that have the resources to push items to the ballot while waging emotional campaigns that sway voters.

Yet, despite all this, one fact is impossible to ignore as the Utah Legislature prepares to open its 2010 regular session. Without the ethics initiative being circulated by a group called Utahns for Ethical Government, state lawmakers would not be focused on making real changes in their own ethics rules. Instead, they have prepared a package of five ethics bills they hope will be enough to temper some of the voter enthusiasm over the initiative.

The bills do things lawmakers never before seriously considered, such as establishing an independent commission to hear complaints from citizens and putting limits on campaign contributions.

Will it be enough? Probably not without even tougher rules, such as limits on how fast one can begin lobbying once out of office, or on the ability to use campaign funds for personal expenses.

But because of the initiative, ethics promises to be a major concern of this Legislature, which is a good thing. In many ways, lawmakers have only themselves to blame for the citizens initiative. For years, they have ignored public desires for tougher rules. The recent arrest and resignation of now-former Senate Majority Leader Sheldon Killpack highlighted the need for tighter rules. Killpack, who allegedly drove while intoxicated, was with a lobbyist at the time, highlighting the often cozy relationship between legislators and lobbyists — relationships unencumbered by many rules.

But we hope lawmakers effectively take care of this issue early in the session, because the really tough issue is going to be the state budget.

Concerning that, we offer a few guidelines. Lawmakers should strive to hold the line on taxes, particularly general tax increases that would act as a drag on the economy. They should resist the urge to reinstate the state's portion of the sales tax on groceries, and they should not, despite the governor's recommendations, remove the discounts large businesses receive for collecting sales taxes.

However, they should apply a hefty increase to the tax on cigarettes, pulling Utah in line with other states, deterring underage smoking and raising tens of millions of dollars in the process. They also should spend down the state's rainy day funds.