News - View Story
Bill would shed light on ethical conflicts
Monday, February 02, 2009 - from Mobile Press-Register,
GOOD LUCK to state Sen. Arthur Orr and state Rep. Mike Ball in their quest to bring transparency to Alabama government.
Sen. Orr, R-Decatur, and Rep. Ball, R-Madison, tried last year to shine a light in the dark corners of state politics. They failed, of course. High-ranking legislators, including the Democratic majority's leadership team in the Senate, don't want the public to know about all the conflicts that entangle the Legislature and breed corruption. That's why virtually every ethics reform proposal lands on the legislative agenda with an invisible DOA — dead on arrival — notice attached to it.
But, in keeping with the Alabama tradition of hiding everything from the public, the killers of ethics reform usually don't leave any fingerprints at the scene of the deed. They quietly smother ethics legislation in committees, then move on to serious legislative business, such as voting themselves a 60 percent pay raise.
But reformers must continue the fight, no matter how many times the big dogs in Montgomery prevail. Someday, perhaps, a majority of legislators will grow disgusted with devious, unsavory and, at times, just plain corrupt practices. Or maybe voters will get sick of all the federal indictments and decide to throw the rascals out of office.
In the meantime, Sen. Orr and Rep. Ball should keep pressing for needed reforms, including a ban on the deceptive practice of transferring campaign contributions among an array of political action committees. These PAC-to-PAC transfers enable politicians to hide the real identity of their donors.
Reform-minded lawmakers have tried to ban PAC-to-PAC transfers for the last seven years in a row. They should charge the battlements again this year. The PAC-to-PAC system is an invitation to corruption. Banning it is the first and, possibly, the most important step in making Alabama government more open and honest.
The legislative package sponsored by the two Republicans is superior to other proposals for banning the PAC shell game, because it closes a potential loophole. If PAC-to-PAC transfers are prohibited, Sen. Orr and Rep. Ball believe politicians would move the money around through campaign committees. Undoubtedly, they're right. The Legislature should ban campaign committee transfers, too.
Other provisions in the package would give the public access to information that would shed light on possible ethical conflicts. Among the two lawmakers' better ideas are: Creating a searchable Internet database of all state expenditures, contracts and grants; requiring that last-minute campaign contributions be electronically filed with the secretary of state's office; and mandating full disclosure of all contracts or "working relationships" state and local officials have with government agencies.
These rules would expose conflicts of interest and arm the public with knowledge of fishy 11th hour campaign contributions.
There ought to be a law in Alabama requiring the pols to level with the people about their campaign funding and potential conflicts of interest. Sen. Orr and Rep. Ball are trying to pass such a law; they deserve the full-throated support of citizens interested in raising the dismally low standards of Alabama government.
Alabama News