Editor’s note: This commentary is by Cyrus Patten, who is the executive director of Campaign for Vermont, a nonpartisan policy think tank and advocacy group. He lives in Williston with his wife and children.
[L]ast week, Secretary of State Jim Condos joined the group of respectable organizations and individuals calling for the establishment of stricter ethics rules. Among them, the Vermont chapter of the ACLU, VPIRG, David Coates, Bill Schubart, and Campaign for Vermont.
And yet, we still see stalwart resistance to this important step toward accountable government.
To recap our standing, Vermont is one of three states without comprehensive ethics laws. We have no independent ethics oversight. There is no requirement for legislators to disclose their financial interests. There is no requirement for legislators to disclose gifts. There is no prohibition on being either a state employee or municipal official and serving in the Legislature. There is no set consequence for self-dealing, opening the door to fraud. The revolving door between government office and lobbying swings freely. And, as a legislator, there is no defined sanction for voting on an issue in which you have a direct interest.
There is no requirement for legislators to disclose their financial interests. There is no requirement for legislators to disclose gifts.
Yet we continue to hear from legislators that we don’t need stronger ethics rules. Imagine that, the group that would be subject to oversight seems opposed to oversight. It would be easy to point to Sen. John Campbell as the poster boy for this movement. While he himself has been accused of myriad improprieties, he essentially torpedoed the effort this session.
But I look to the Legislature as a whole to accept the necessity of these reforms. The governor, attorney general, Sen. Campbell and Sen. Norm McAllister have all been accused of ethical missteps. To whom might these allegations be brought besides the court of public opinion?
The opposing argument is most commonly some variation of this: “We don’t have any ethics issues in Vermont.” If that is the case, then why are lawmakers so worried about potential ethics rules? I find the more plausible explanation to be that lawmakers don’t want anyone looking any closer, lest they find something unpalatable.
Those who plan to seek re-election in 2016 might be wise to think long and hard about this issue. There is a rising tide of support and a clear need for stricter ethics rules. The stronger they are opposed, the stronger we will push for reforms.
If I held elected office, I’d be concerned about finding myself on the wrong side of this issue when it all sugars out.
