The Vermont Secretary of State criticized as inadequate Friday the legislature’s latest proposal to establish a State Ethics Commission and guidelines.
Secretary of State Jim Condos told members of the Senate Government Operations committee that the bill they were considering was “a first step, but doesn’t go far enough.”
Condos said the ethics commission as proposed did not have enough independence, authority and financial resources. The current committee bill, S8, calls for a five-member commission with a part-time executive director and a price tag of approximately $100,000 a year. The commission would have neither investigative nor enforcement power — it would essentially take in complaints and refer them to the attorney general or another state agency.
Condos told the committee the commission needed investigative power, including the ability to issue subpoenas, and to be able to take enforcement actions. He recommended a full-time director and staff and put the cost at approximately $300,000.
“You’re not going to get very much done,” Condos said of the current proposal. Unless the funding was beefed up, Condos recommended the committee not pass the watered-down bill, a measure they brought back up this year. Last year, the bill passed the Senate but not the House. Lawmakers said they ran out of time, despite unprecedented scandals including the ouster of Sen. Norm McAllister, who was charged with sexual assault, at the beginning of the session, as well as charges filed in the EB-5 scandal in April last year that has raised questions about what state officials knew and whether they acted in a timely manner.
Government Operations Committee chair Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, reiterated the cost of a full-blown commission would be prohibitive. The idea, she said, is to set up a commission and expand its authority after renewing the kinds of complaints that come in. The Senate bill calls for the commission to report annually to the Legislature.
Condos said Vermont was one of three states without an ethics commission and said the state received poor marks from open government groups like the Center for Public Integrity.
“Vermont can and must do better,” he said. Condos told the committee he had not read the bill but had read summaries of what it contained.
White said the committee was taking the issue seriously.
“That’s why we’re taking it up,” she told Condos.
After the hearing, Condos acknowledged some senators appeared frustrated with his testimony.
“I think I was blunt but truthful,” he said.
As proposed in the bill, the ethics rules would prohibit lawmakers and high-level state officials from lobbying for one year after they leave office. The measure would also address conflict-of-interest questions and require candidates for statewide office and the Legislature to file financial disclosure information. Contractors bidding on or doing business with the state would be prohibited from making contributions to certain political campaigns.
Sen. Chris Pearson, P/D-Chittenden, questioned whether the Secretary of State’s office could keep a candidate off the ballot if they failed to file a financial disclosure form as proposed. Condos said he would “wrestle” with the question of whether it would be proper to remove a candidate from the ballot.
Some supporters have encouraged modeling an ethics commission on the Vermont Human Rights Commission, which investigates and issues findings on complaints that are filed.
Supporters of establishing an ethics commission include the Vermont Public Interest Research Group and the Campaign for Vermont Prosperity, formerly known as Campaign for Vermont.
On the House side, Rep. Heidi Scheuermann, R-Stowe, has been collecting signatures on a bill she said is much stronger than the Senate version.
