Moore: The Real Ethics Reform Heroes Aren't Legislative Leadership

Moore: The Real Ethics Reform Heroes Aren't Legislative Leadership

Since 2009, I've called on legislators from back benches to legislative leadership, to pass an ethics reform bill that would pave the way to re-empower the Rhode Island Ethics Commission. I've written extensively about the issue, but I've also asked any legislator who would listen to me to advocate for ethics reform.

So I was ecstatic last week when House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello and Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed announced their support of a bill that will ask voters to amend the state constitution in such a way that will finally achieve that end. If there were ever a voter referendum that should pass by unanimously--this one is that sort of a no-brainer.

In 2009, Rhode Island Supreme Court, in the William Irons case, effectively neutered the Ethics Commission from policing the General Assembly by stating that to do so would infringe on the "speech and debate" clause in the state constitution. 

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The Irons ruling was as discouraging as getting beat at the wire of a horse race. (Which, as former Governor Lincoln Chafee, an avid horse racing fan, can attest, is among the most discouraging things in the universe.) 

A No-Brainer

When a state legislator uses his or her speech on the floor of the state legislature to advocate for their own personal interest instead of those of their constituents, the Rhode Island Ethics Commission should absolutely be able to prosecute them. that's not free speech--that's corruption. Maybe the Supreme Court has trouble understanding the difference, but rest assured, the people of Rhode Island do not. 

This issue should have been rectified immediately. And ironically, former House Speaker Gordon Fox, who is now a guest of the federal government--residing in one of their gated communities--thanks to a conviction for using his campaign fund for personal expenses as well as a more serious bribery charge, introduced a bill in 2010 very similar to the one endorsed by legislative leadership last week. And it passed the House, but died in the Senate. 

Since then, a bill similar to that one, and other that also would have achieved similar ends, have been introduced year after year, only to die on the vine. The reason they've died is due to the lack of will from legislative leadership--including Fox, who turned on his own bill after 2010.

Leadership Got In The Way

So while Mattiello and Paiva Weed deserve credit for finally blessing the bill, and the one they've introduced is an excellent version of the bill, we should remember that this could have been a reality sooner if they had seen the light earlier.

Fortunately, Rhode Island had plenty of ethics champions to stand up for the cause. They kept the pressure on. They fought hard. 

I'm thinking of people like RI State Senator James Sheehan (Narragansett, North Kingstown) who took out advertisements and created a website, and Ed O'Neill (Lincoln, North Providence, North Smithfield) and former state representative Patrick O'Neill (Pawtucket), who all argued for the bill on a yearly basis. There are other legislators, all outside of top leadership positions, who put the pressure on leadership to make the bill a reality.

But it's not just the legislators who deserve credit. Several articulate and knowledgeable members of the public have led the fight to reinstate the ethics commission's power over the state legislature--including Rhode Island Common Cause Executive Director John Marion as well as former Executive Director Phil West. Other reformers, like Ken Block, also deserve credit. 

The Real Heroes

Those folks are the real heroes of ethics reform.

People often argue that representative democracies are a reflection of the people, but I've found that to not be the case here. If it were true, one would have to posit, given the litany of scandals in state and city government in Rhode Island over the last decade, that a good portion of the people of Rhode Island are scoundrels. 

But experience shows that not to be the case. The vast majority of the people who reside in our state are hardworking, law abiding, salt-of-the-earth types. They deserve an ethical government that works for their benefit--not for the benefit of the individual legislators. Let's face it,  most Rhode Islanders are too busy working, raising families, and tending to their own affairs to scrutinize the government on a daily basis. That's why we need this ethics bill.

Great Step Forward

Make no mistake about it: the ethics legislation is not going to be some great panacea that's going rectify all of our problems. The greedy and the unethical will never quit. And we also need more good government reforms, such as term limits and major campaign finance reform. 

But the ethics bill introduced by legislative leadership is an excellent step forward. Everyone who fought to make it a reality deserves a "thank you". 
 

Russell Moore has worked on both sides of the desk in Rhode Island media, both for newspapers and on political campaigns. Send him email at russmoore713. Follow him on twitter @russmoore713.