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Senate committee to hear testimony on ethics commission bill that would change complaint routing
Summary
The Senate Committee on Government Operations said it will take testimony on H.1, an ethics commission bill that committee members said would add staff capacity and has prompted discussion about whether legislators fall under commission jurisdiction.
The Senate Committee on Government Operations on March 20 agreed to take testimony next week on H.1, a bill that would change aspects of the ethics commission’s operations, including staffing and complaint routing.
Speaker 2, a member of the committee, described H.1 as the ethics commission bill and said it would request new staff capacity within the commission; Speaker 2 said, “I’m gonna say 1 and a half positions,” describing the committee’s understanding of the proposal’s staffing impact.
Committee members discussed a contested provision that the house removed: whether senators and representatives would fall under the ethics commission’s jurisdiction. Speaker 2 said the house stripped out that provision because the house leadership felt the legislature already has internal panels that handle ethics complaints. The committee discussed the current process in which individuals may submit complaints to the ethics commission, which then routes them to the appropriate legislative panels for follow-up.
Witnesses requested to testify included Jillian (or Carolyn) Brown Anderson and Merrill Bent; committee members said they would invite those witnesses to appear together next week. Committee members also noted that officials from the ethics commission and from professional-responsibility bodies had indicated interest in testifying.
No formal action or vote on H.1 was taken at the March 20 meeting; the committee scheduled the bill for testimony and review pending the arrival of witnesses and any companion-house actions that could alter the bill’s language.
Next steps: the committee will receive testimony from the listed witnesses when they appear and may take further action after reviewing testimony and any revised bill language.
