Utah Legislature: House, Senate Republicans face ethics battle

SALT LAKE CITY — It's only a few days into the 2010 Legislature and a serious fight is brewing already — this one over ethics legislation.

Senate GOP leaders are in no hurry to deal with ethics this session, saying they only have agreement for a constitutional amendment on setting up an independent ethics commission.

Meanwhile, House GOP leaders are saying privately that while they hope Senate Republicans can back their proposals, they are ready to slow down, or maybe even stop, work on other critical non-budget measures if senators don't agree to get moving on ethics.

It's frustrating for House leaders, who thought they had agreement with their Senate counterparts on a package of ethics reform measures.

But that apparent consensus broke down after former Majority Leader Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse, resigned his seat earlier this month after a DUI arrest. Killpack was leading the ethics charge in the Senate, which historically has watered down or killed many ethics bills.

Sending a soft message Tuesday, House GOP leaders canceled their regularly scheduled caucus of the 53 House Republicans.

"We have to let the (GOP) senators catch up on some issues," said House Majority Leader Kevin Garn, R-Layton, who is overseeing the House's ethics push.

"We're not in a big rush in the Senate to get these through," said Senate Majority Leader Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City. "We're not pushing. … We're working very hard to get these through, but this has to be something everybody feels comfortable with."

Garn said the House is ready to quickly move on the ethics bills, most of which are sponsored by GOP House leaders.

House Speaker Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, will carry the constitutional amendment setting up the independent ethics commission. Speakers don't often sponsor bills, their time taken up with other matters.

Garn and other leaders will carry other ethics bills — which include a ban on many gifts to legislators from lobbyists, campaign contribution limits and greater conflict of interest disclosure.

But, speaking strategically, if House members pass most of the ethics legislation to the Senate this week or next, they then lose control of the bills. Senators could wait until the final hours of the 45-day session, then amend or pass what bills they want and send them over to the House for reconsideration. And representatives could end up boxed in a corner — do ethics the Senate's way or lose all of the House ethics bills.

Jenkins said, "It hasn't been quite as easy as everybody hoped. But in the Senate, we're all individuals, and everybody wants their bite of the apple here." He joked: "It seems to be a crapshoot every time you go in there" — to the Senate GOP caucus.

During their closed-door caucus Tuesday, Senate Republicans came close to endorsing a bill that details the operations of the independent ethics commission. Jenkins, calling it a break in the "logjam" over the bills, said some changes were suggested that will be brought back to the caucus at their next meeting Thursday — or possibly not until next week.

Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, said House and Senate GOP leaders are planning a press conference to announce a final ethics package — sometime.

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