Post by oldetowne on Mar 27, 2007 6:12:15 GMT -5
The article in today's Courant about the on-going Amann shakedown of lobbyists for charity and the Ethics Commission's ruling against him is pasted below. I found it to be reassuring that the Ethics Commission ruled against Amann, probably taking the position that 90% of the voters in the state would have assumed was the law - you can't use your public office for the private gain of your employer and yourself... What is most stunning is Amann's continued disbelief and his fear that nobody would serve in the legislature if they couldn't vote on matters which would serve their private financial interests. Call me naive, but I would hope that there would be 187 people in this fine state who would like to serve in order to do good for the public.
New Ethics Standards Proposed
By MARK PAZNIOKAS
Courant Staff Writer
March 27 2007
House Speaker James A. Amann's charity fundraising job prompted state ethics regulators Monday to propose strict new conflict-of-interest standards for the entire General Assembly.
In its first action on legislative conflicts, the new Office of State Ethics would tighten rules that now allow lawmakers to vote or take other action indirectly benefiting their private employers.
If approved Thursday by the Citizens Ethics Advisory Board, the new standards could force part-time legislators to evaluate how they make a living outside the General Assembly.
"The initial review by my legal counsel has made me concerned now about the impact on our traditional part-time legislature," said Amann, a Democrat from Milford.
The standards are embodied in an advisory opinion drafted in response to Amann's requested review of his $67,500-a-year job raising money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
The opinion by Barbara E. Housen, general counsel to the ethics board, says that Amann must stop soliciting lobbyists or their clients on behalf of the MS Society. Amann recently gave up soliciting lobbyists, but not their clients.
Amann had said he was ending the solicitation of lobbyists only to protect the MS society from recent adverse publicity - not because he sees any impropriety in raising money from lobbyists on behalf of his private employer.
But Housen's opinion explicitly rejects that view.
"It is the board's view that soliciting lobbyists undermines public confidence in the honesty, fairness and impartiality of a public official," Housen wrote. She concluded that soliciting lobbyists is "inherently coercive and creates an atmosphere of intimidation."
Republican State Chairman Chris Healy, who had criticized Amann's soliciting of lobbyists for a private employer as an obvious conflict, praised Housen's opinion.
"The ethics commission has validated what we have been saying," Healy said. "And I think the good news is that, so far, this commission has stopped `lawyering' and is giving simple answers that contribute to a clear understanding of the law."
An opinion issued in 2005 by a counsel to the now-defunct State Ethics Commission saw no conflict in Amann's outside employment, so long as he did not directly benefit from the contributions.
But Housen wrote that the ethics code's clear prohibition against a legislator using his office for direct financial gain would be meaningless if it allowed gain for an official's private employer.
"Financial gain for one's employer is in essence financial gain for oneself, whether direct or indirect," Housen wrote.
Robert Frankel, chief of staff to the House Democratic majority, called that conclusion "a radical departure from prior interpretations of this ethics code."
In the past, ethics rules have been interpreted to permit a lawmaker to vote on a matter of interest to his employer if the legislator did not have an equity interest in his company.
For example, legislators who work for nonprofit social service agencies have been allowed to vote on budget appropriations that benefit their employers.
Amann was told two years ago by a state ethics lawyer that he had no financial interest in the MS Society under the law.
Amann has been soliciting lobbyists for three years on behalf of the MS Society's Connecticut chapter. He originally was paid $60,000 and given a fundraising goal of $125,000.
His goal was raised to $180,000 in 2005, $197,500 in 2006 and $250,000 in 2007. He met or slightly exceeded his goal last year, and his salary was raised in September to $67,500.
Contact Mark Pazniokas at mpazniokas@courant.com.
Copyright 2007, Hartford Courant
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New Ethics Standards Proposed
By MARK PAZNIOKAS
Courant Staff Writer
March 27 2007
House Speaker James A. Amann's charity fundraising job prompted state ethics regulators Monday to propose strict new conflict-of-interest standards for the entire General Assembly.
In its first action on legislative conflicts, the new Office of State Ethics would tighten rules that now allow lawmakers to vote or take other action indirectly benefiting their private employers.
If approved Thursday by the Citizens Ethics Advisory Board, the new standards could force part-time legislators to evaluate how they make a living outside the General Assembly.
"The initial review by my legal counsel has made me concerned now about the impact on our traditional part-time legislature," said Amann, a Democrat from Milford.
The standards are embodied in an advisory opinion drafted in response to Amann's requested review of his $67,500-a-year job raising money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
The opinion by Barbara E. Housen, general counsel to the ethics board, says that Amann must stop soliciting lobbyists or their clients on behalf of the MS Society. Amann recently gave up soliciting lobbyists, but not their clients.
Amann had said he was ending the solicitation of lobbyists only to protect the MS society from recent adverse publicity - not because he sees any impropriety in raising money from lobbyists on behalf of his private employer.
But Housen's opinion explicitly rejects that view.
"It is the board's view that soliciting lobbyists undermines public confidence in the honesty, fairness and impartiality of a public official," Housen wrote. She concluded that soliciting lobbyists is "inherently coercive and creates an atmosphere of intimidation."
Republican State Chairman Chris Healy, who had criticized Amann's soliciting of lobbyists for a private employer as an obvious conflict, praised Housen's opinion.
"The ethics commission has validated what we have been saying," Healy said. "And I think the good news is that, so far, this commission has stopped `lawyering' and is giving simple answers that contribute to a clear understanding of the law."
An opinion issued in 2005 by a counsel to the now-defunct State Ethics Commission saw no conflict in Amann's outside employment, so long as he did not directly benefit from the contributions.
But Housen wrote that the ethics code's clear prohibition against a legislator using his office for direct financial gain would be meaningless if it allowed gain for an official's private employer.
"Financial gain for one's employer is in essence financial gain for oneself, whether direct or indirect," Housen wrote.
Robert Frankel, chief of staff to the House Democratic majority, called that conclusion "a radical departure from prior interpretations of this ethics code."
In the past, ethics rules have been interpreted to permit a lawmaker to vote on a matter of interest to his employer if the legislator did not have an equity interest in his company.
For example, legislators who work for nonprofit social service agencies have been allowed to vote on budget appropriations that benefit their employers.
Amann was told two years ago by a state ethics lawyer that he had no financial interest in the MS Society under the law.
Amann has been soliciting lobbyists for three years on behalf of the MS Society's Connecticut chapter. He originally was paid $60,000 and given a fundraising goal of $125,000.
His goal was raised to $180,000 in 2005, $197,500 in 2006 and $250,000 in 2007. He met or slightly exceeded his goal last year, and his salary was raised in September to $67,500.
Contact Mark Pazniokas at mpazniokas@courant.com.
Copyright 2007, Hartford Courant
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