Open-government advocates got a boost in the waning hours of the General Assembly’s short session when lawmakers agreed on an ethics reform package that toughens enforcement and penalties. But the compromise falls short on several reforms pushed by Gov. Bev Perdue, and government watchdogs say it doesn’t go far enough in combating corruption in Raleigh.
Legislators tossed around several bills during the session before giving their stamp of approval to House Bill 961 shortly before the close of a marathon 20-hour session Saturday morning. The bill passed the House unanimously and the Senate with one dissenting vote.
The package extends Perdue’s gift ban so that it covers not only cabinet agency employees but also all state workers who oversee contracts. Yet it stopped short of enacting several other key reforms, including a requirement that state employees forfeit their pensions if they’re convicted of a felony connected to government service.
Perdue also called for a one-year “cooling off” period for high-level state employees. For one year after leaving state employment, those workers could not accept employment at any company they once regulated. The final compromise applies to all state employees, but trims the revolving door back to six months and only affects those who register as lobbyists.
In a victory for reform advocates, the bill expands disclosure of state personnel records and creates a single-source website listing state grants and contracts that exceed $10,000. The bill doesn’t curb donations from potential government contractors to the elected officials who regulate them — another Perdue priority. Instead, it orders a study of the issue.
Lawmakers also deep-sixed a provision that would have extended publicly financed elections to all Council of State races.
Despite the differences, Perdue still thanked lawmakers in an end-of-session statement, saying “they joined me in my efforts to strengthen ethical standards for public servants.”
Reformers’ praise of the measure was tinged with disappointment that legislators didn’t enact stricter standards. Former Democratic consultant and open-government advocate Joe Sinsheimer lauded the measure’s illegal fundraising components, and a provision making it easier for people who win open-records lawsuits against the government to recover their legal costs. Overall, though, he called the package “only half a loaf of bread.”
“The most disappointing aspect of the process was the lack of leadership from Gov. Perdue on the ethics bill,” Sinsheimer said. “Despite several press conferences earlier this year in which she committed to reining in the pay-to-play culture in Raleigh, the governor and her lobbying team were AWOL on the last day of session when the bill was being hashed [out] between chambers.”
The decision by the legislature’s Democratic leaders to rush the bill through the short session partly was due to a new string of scandals involving the state Highway Patrol and a potential indictment of former Gov. Mike Easley. The looming midterm elections also have piqued interest for Democrats facing tough re-election fights.
“It’s kind of a catch-22 for the Democrats,” said Peace College political science professor David McLennan. “They had to pass something, yet … it may have very little effect, because if it comes down to [Easley] being indicted, that could make the whole ethical problems of the Democrats be magnified in terms of the elections.”
Perdue has 30 days to sign the bill into law.
David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.