When Bradley Byrne unveiled his ethics plan again a few days ago, I was interested to see if the new plan was any better than the one he unveiled last November, with considerable fanfare.
Nope. Byrne's new plan is thesame as his old plan -- still inadequate! So I will merely reiterate my criticism from last November:
[Byrne's plan] not only isn't "the most sweeping reform ever offered in Alabama," it's considerably less sweeping than the one offered seven months ago [now more than a year ago] by Democrat Artur Davis. So much for Byrne's hope of being the ethics reform candidate in the governor's race next year and so much for Democrats being the party that loves corruption.
The whole scheme is unraveling a bit for Bradley Byrne. He's spent years positioning himself to run against a Democrat with ties to the "evil" AEA and "union boss" Paul Hubbert next year but, surprise again, neither of the likely Democratic nominees -- definitely not Davis -- is strongly associated with AEA or Hubbert. It's as though Byrne painstakingly prepared himself to slay the nasty, evil dragons but has suddenly been plopped down on a battlefield not only devoid of dragons -- they're off fighting some other battle in 2010 -- but filled with ... oh, maybe fighter planes carrying air to ground missiles instead. That shiny "I cleaned up the community colleges" sword and shield set looks distinctly less magical in the current environment.
Like Davis, Byrne would call a special session of the Legislature to take up an ethics package and he would eliminate unregulated PAC-to-PAC transfers and give the Ethics Commission subpoena power. What he isn't proposing are limits on campaign contributions -- and we all know the people giving $100,000 and up aren't doing it out of altruism -- or a total ban on lobbyist gifts to any and all elected and appointed officials. While Byrne makes a big deal of cracking down on "double dippers," Davis would ban legislators from using their influence to steer funds to their employers, whether that employer is the state or a private entity -- that's the real goal if your concern is safeguarding the public interest instead of bashing educators. Byrne also wouldn't require officials to take a leave of absence while under indictment.
Most at the Statehouse knew these bills would die and that the praise for them at the start of the session was little more than a sham.
"It's disappointing, but not surprising," said Rep. Jeff McLaughlin, D-Guntersville, who has spent each year of this four-year term watching senators kill his bill to make it harder for politicians to hide the source of their campaign donations by routing the money through political action committees.
...
State Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, said the reality is that there are plenty of legislators from both parties who don't want any more public scrutiny, and they always have plenty of excuses for why the bills fail.
"It is a black eye on the Legislature," he said.
...
[Sen. Hank] Sanders said the PAC bill "tried to go too far." But he admits, "I didn't read it."
The power brokers of both parties oppose ethics reform, precisely because they rose to power by working the current system of hidden money, mutual backscratching and patronage, and they hope that same system can propel them to even greater power in the future. They don't see any problem taking $50,000 or $500,000 from a single entity and then turning around and helping those "friends" to state contracts, favorable regulations, bank deposits, board appointments, appropriations or cushy jobs once elected.
It's a vicious cycle where those in power use their power to preserve that power. The most straighforward way for Alabama to break it is by electing more honest and honorable people to change the culture in Montgomery -- Jeff McLaughlin is a pretty fair model of what we need a lot more of down there. The other way to break the cycle is for some outside force to disturb the equilibrium enough to make the Legislature want to act on ethics reform for their own sakes. Might the current federal investigation -- complete with legislators wearing wires -- be enough to spur action to clean up the system in Montgomery?
... Democrats, who have long been the subject of Republican questions about ethics and the Montgomery "culture of corruption," say openness in government needs to go both ways.
With the turn comes renewed hints that 2010 political campaigns will be all about ethics. The party that thought it owned the issue, however, could have some competition from the other side, according to Alabama political junkies and experts.
Some of the players on both sides are in this less for the public good than for the good of someone else -- not necessarily themselves but their backers or "friends." The Alabama GOP looks at the ethics loopholes in state government and positively salivates over what they could do when they get hold of all the levers of majority power in Montgomery. If voters give control of the Legislature to Republicans before real ethics reforms are enacted, those reforms will not be forthcoming -- no sirree! It will be "Now it's our turn" time in Montgomery.
We'll all suffer if that happens, not least the Democratic party. Alabama used to be a one-party state; Democrats controlled everything. As we transition to real two-party status, even regarding the Legislature, clear, effective rules of conduct backed by the force of law are crucial to controlling the political gamesmanship. What I'm saying here is, pass reforms to ensure a level playing field while you have the power to do so. The voters might well reward you with continued power if you do, and even if they don't, at least the opposition will have to play fair once you're in the minority.
Now that he's been caught on the Paragon contract our GOP governor is belatedly trying to make the paper match the practice and, predictably, blaming a staffer for the "error."
[Legal advisor Ken] Wallis said the governor never intended to ban all unbid contracts, but he did not communicate that to the administration official who sent the letter to all state agencies. He said the governor wanted more scrutiny and transparency, but not a total ban.
Bob Riley wanted to have his cake and eat it too, if you ask me. But since he got caught, naturally someone else should take the blame.
Democratic Rep. Alvin Holmes has prefiled a bill to give subpoena power to the Alabama Ethics Commission, an entity that currently resembles an elderly chihuahua that lost it's dentures -- an annoying bark, but no bite whatsoever.
This is the strongest bill that has been introduced in the state," he said. "It gives the Ethics Commission the full authority to make people comply with the subpoena and gives the commission the authority to hold people in contempt and send them to jail if they do not produce documents."
Holmes is not only introducing the bill, he predicts it will pass the Legislature:
"We're going to pass this bill," he said. "It's being introduced by a Democrat, a minority Democrat. Both Democrats and Republicans and the governor support giving the commission subpoena power."
It's about time reform minded legislators of both parties get together and get this job done. Now where's our ban on PAC to PAC transfers?
Bradley Byrne finally rolled out his ethics reform plan for Alabama state government yesterday and -- surprise, surprise, surprise! -- it not only isn't "the most sweeping reform ever offered in Alabama," it's considerably less sweeping than the one offered seven months ago by Democrat Artur Davis. So much for Byrne's hope of being the ethics reform candidate in the governor's race next year and so much for Democrats being the party that loves corruption.
The whole scheme is unraveling a bit for Bradley Byrne. He's spent years positioning himself to run against a Democrat with ties to the "evil" AEA and "union boss" Paul Hubbert next year but, surprise again, neither of the likely Democratic nominees -- definitely not Davis -- is strongly associated with AEA or Hubbert. It's as though Byrne painstakingly prepared himself to slay the nasty, evil dragons but has suddenly been plopped down on a battlefield not only devoid of dragons -- they're off fighting some other battle in 2010 -- but filled with ... oh, maybe fighter planes carrying air to ground missiles instead. That shiny "I cleaned up the community colleges" sword and shield set looks distinctly less magical in the current environment.
While doing research for my TVA Coal Ash in Perry County post, I came across a newsletter from WildLaw, a non-profit environmental law firm (who knew such critters existed around here, anyway?). Barbara Evans, the firm's community organizing coordinator, shared her impressions of the last Alabama Legislative session in the organization's May 19th newsletter (PDF). She described the difficulty of getting anything passed - particularly if you don't have gobs of money to spread around.
Since we've had some discussion at LIA before about whether ethics reform is really an important issue - specifically whether it's more important than education, sales tax on food, etc., I thought I'd share the observations of Ms. Evans. She's been "in the trenches," and seen how the legislature works. She's also not afraid to name names.
Her observations are on the flip and well worth a few minutes to read.
Huntsville was the last stop on Bradley Byrne's gubernatorial announcement tour Wednesday. I don't usually cover Republican events but this was conveniently located so I dropped by the US Space and Rocket Center to give him a listen. Introduced by his wife and flanked by their four (very nice looking) children, Byrne spoke to a crowd of about 60 people at the rocket park.
Byrne's first order of business was to convey how much he admires current Governor Bob Riley and pretty much imply that he's Riley's natural successor even though the Governor hasn't actually endorsed him:
"We've seen over the last 7 years what it can mean to our state to have a proven, conservative, reform, Republican governor, as we've had in Governor Bob Riley, and what that sort of governor can do to move our state forward. And perhaps no part of the state has benefitted more from that than Huntsville -- Gov. Riley loves this part of the state -- and I know what he's done working with you to do all the great things that are going on here. But unfortunately Gov. Riley cannot run for re-election. And so we need to have somebody who's elected to governor next year who will carry on that tradition of being a conservative, reform, Republican governor for our state and so I'm here today to declare that I'm a candidate for governor in 2010."
As a long time resident of this area, I was amazed to hear how much the state has done for us during Riley's term -- just imagine how many more dormant road projects we would have if Bob Riley hadn't been taking care of us up here. I was likewise amazed at how much some of Byrne's proposals echoed those Artur Davis (D, AL-07) has articulated in recent months.
In many years, one or both budgets are not resolved until the final hours of the session, leaving lawmakers little time to review changes. Bedford said the Legislature could have the General Fund budget on the governor's desk with three or four meeting days left in the 2009 session.
Great! That leaves time for the Legislature to address Ethics Reform this session too. That is, if the leadership is actually serious about it - not just waving the ethics flag with one hand while the other is palm-up behind awaiting lobbyist cash.
“Thankfully, Governor Bob Riley and Republicans in the legislature have already proposed substantive anti-corruption legislation, and we encourage the Congressman to insist that the Democrat majority to do the right thing by allowing our bills to pass. The war on corruption has many enemies, but Republicans are committed to the fight and we are determined to restore the public’s trust in government. Unfortunately, Democrats will not allow our anti-corruption bills to pass – therefore a Republican majority is the only way for true ethics reform to become a reality in Alabama.”
This statement was released by the Davis campaign, also this morning:
“The plan that Congressman Davis proposed yesterday is stronger and more comprehensive than any previous attempts at ethics reform in Alabama history. Furthermore, it is tougher than any measure proposed by either Republicans or Democrats. Davis recognizes that passing ethics reform should be a bi-partisan enterprise and looks forward to working with any legislators who want to clean up state government in Alabama,” Davis spokeswoman Anna Ruth Williams said.
The Republicans in the Legislature would be between a rock and a hard place if they had to vote on Davis' ethics proposals. They're on record calling for most of those proposals so they'd either have to do a complete 180 on the principle of ethics reform or hold their noses and give props to a Democratic governor for achieving something Riley couldn't. Some of them would certainly stand on principle and vote for it. Of course, Davis would need Democratic support as well, but he could likely deliver that if Democrats in the Legislature didn't feel they would be victims of a partisan witch hunt.
For weeks now people have been telling me the Montgomery establishment is afraid of an Artur Davis gubernatorial run, ostensibly because they worry Alabama is not ready to vote for a black candidate in a statewide race.
The way the story goes, with Davis heading the ticket Democratic legislative incumbents might be voted out through no fault of their own just because Alabama voters can't get past the color barrier at the top of the ticket. Personally, I think the "we're still too racist" argument, when used by the current political elite, is a polite euphemism for "My God, if Davis gets elected he's going to shake things up in Montgomery." The current power brokers are afraid, but more that he might be elected than that he can't be. I'd say their fear is well-founded, judging by the ethics reforms he proposed today.
Instituting a Total Gift Ban with NO Special Loopholes - That's right. No more $250 per day from lobbyists. No more free football tickets.
Enacting Tough Conflict of Interest Rules for State Legislators - No spending discretionary funds to benefit your employer or lobbying fellow legislators to benefit your employer.
Banning Unregulated PAC-to-PAC Transfers - No exceptions for political parties or legislative caucuses.
Capping Campaign Contributions from Individuals, PACs, Unions and Political Parties - $5000 per election for individuals, $10,000 for PACs and unions, and $50,000 for political parties.
Requiring Indicted Public Officials to Step Aside - This is coupled with allowing a public official acquitted of ethics or corruption charges to recover damages if they can show the charges were wrongfully brought, with the potential to hold the prosecutor personally liable.
Extending Lobbying Registration Requirements to Executive Branch Lobbying - Treat them just like lobbyists for the legislative branch.
Davis presented these ideas to a lunchtime meeting of The Women's Network of Birmingham -- around 160 business women, roughly 75% white by my count -- and received a standing ovation for his trouble. Davis said meaningful ethics reform is a necessary step to restoring the public trust in Alabama government and that, if elected governor, he would bring these ethics proposals up in a special session of the Legislature in the summer of 2011. These proposals represent bold, far reaching, progressive reforms and would negate the Republican argument that Democrats are the party of cronyism and business as usual. It would be a victory for Alabama citizens if even half of them are eventually enacted.
Note: this has been updated substantially since orginally published. I thought I was saving a draft and accidentally published the half-completed diary!
Some in the Alabama Legislature would have us believe that Senators can't walk and chew gum at the same time. Or at least they want us to think that passing ethics reform bills and dealing with the budget too hard to deal with in a single session:
Several Democrats, including Senate President Pro Tem Rodger Smitherman, have said the pressing needs caused by the bad economy will push ethics to the back burner.
Smitherman, D-Birmingham, said lawmakers will be more focused on creating jobs, protecting Medicaid and children's health insurance, maintaining small class sizes and keeping nurses in schools, and ensuring that students have books and meals.
Now, these are all laudable goals. But so is transparency. As our legislators are focused on these important things and parceling out money to pay for them, is it too much to ask that we, the taxpayers, actually know where the money is going, who is benefitting the most, and have confidence that legislators are more interested in serving the public than rewarding contributors?
As Mooncat noted previously, we've cashed the first $169 million stimulus check, and more is on the way. The temptation to skim some off the top to pet programs and contributors will be well nigh irrestible, I'm afraid.
Representative Mike Ball and Senator Arthur Orr, both Republicans, pre-filed their Ethics Reform package this year. The bills failed in both chambers last session, in spite of bi-partisan support.
Last night, in his State of the State address, Governor Riley also urged passage of a comprehensive ethics reform package, but we've yet to see the details. Governor Riley asked the legislature to send a message that "corruption has no home in Alabama" and got a standing ovation.
I haven't been able to find any information about competing or complementary bills (just a quick mention of ethics in the 2006 Covenant for the Future) from any Democratic legislators, although Representative Ball says that he expects Democratic co-sponsors for his package.
Now, a truly bi-partisan ethics reform bill would be quite an achievement - and quite a change from business as usual in Montgomery.
Might this really be the year that we get more transparency, honesty, and openness in Alabama government? Or will it be a watered-down version with enough loopholes to fly the Space Shuttle through?
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We knew Bob Riley wasn't really serious about bidding all contracts 
While doing research for my TVA Coal Ash in Perry County post, I came across a newsletter from 
