by Jesse Hughes, Senate Republican Press Secretary
posted January 5, 2006
NASHVILLE — Sen. Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) is preparing to file an ethics bill in the upcoming Special Session on Ethics that would ban conflict of interest votes.
“There are too many built-in loopholes in current laws and in proposed legislation,” stated Sen. Beavers. “The Ethics Bill passed last year does not solve many of the tougher problems regarding conflict of interests in the legislature. A ban on conflict of interest votes is a key factor that should be present in any quality ethics legislation. My bill to ban conflict of interest votes would not require a member to remove himself or herself from discussion or debate about a bill. But it would require legislators to abstain from voting on matters that directly benefit them. This gets to the heart of a real problem on Capitol Hill.”
Sen. Beavers is having SB 2129 from Regular Session drafted with an amendment incorporated into the base bill for the Special Session. Regular Session bills cannot be considered in Special Session. The bill is modeled on a Kentucky law, but it doesn’t go as far as Kentucky law in that legislators in Kentucky can’t even argue on a bill that directly benefits them.
Her bill would plug loopholes in the laws and create new felony and misdemeanor offenses for violations of the ban. One item addresses the legislator’s spouse issue head-on and would apply even when spouses choose to live apart, whether for a real separation or merely as a sham to circumvent the law.
Another section of the bill would prohibit a member from using his or her official position or office to obtain financial gain for himself or herself, any members of the legislator’s family, or a business associate of the legislator. A violation would be a Class D felony for this offense.
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