Legislative ethics

I last blogged on the ballot initiative for legislative ethics on Sept. 8. Since then, lawmakers themselves have begun work on a bill that would set up an ethics commission.

My question is: Do you trust these guys to get it right, or should the initiative’s backers stick to their guns?

To refresh your memory, you can find a copy of the initiative here.

In the middle of the debate, Gov. Gary Herbert said this week he opposses the initiative. He reached that conclusion after talking to several people, none of whom happened to be initiative organizer Kim Burningham.

Lawmakers are gearing up a campaign to defeat the initiative. They now have an electronic presentation available for town hall meetings.

My take? I’ve long been critical of “government by initiative,” but this experience is softening that position. No way on earth would so many lawmakers be working on their own ethics bill if this drive wasn’t underway.

But the Legislature’s version falls short. It verges on being a joke. One argument is over whether any charge against a lawmaker should automatically be dismissed if that charge becomes public.

Really? That ought to be easy to arrange.

This paranoia over bad publicity is ill-founded. The initiative keeps all complaints confidential until far down the process.

I say proceed with the initiative, but don’t expect too much. If it passes, it will be like any other law — subject to change by the Legislature. Term limits (which lawmakers passed in a frenzy to kill an initiative, then repealed later) showed the limits of popular will.