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Sunday, November 28, 2004
Indiana Government - Daniels plans to overhaul ethics rules
"Daniels plans to overhaul ethics rules: Clarifications of lobbyists designed to slow down state’s ‘revolving door’" is the headline to this story by Niki Kelly in Sunday's Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Some quotes:
[Gov.-elect Mitch Daniels] has proposed a series of changes that his administration contends will take Indiana from the bottom of the nation’s ethics scorecard to among the top.In the meantime, dozens of people departing state government as Gov. Joe Kernan leaves office will be the first to abide by a new cooling-off period meant to slow down the revolving door between top officials and the lobbyist ranks.
“Raising ethical standards is a big part of our administration,” said Ellen Whitt, Daniels’ deputy chief of staff. “The rash of scandals in state government demonstrates that the current code of ethics is not sufficient and the ethics commission alone is not an effective deterrent.”
Of Daniels’ 14 proposals, Whitt said several could be instituted through executive order on his first day – Jan. 10. But others must either go through the rule-making process or be included in a bill to change state law.
Some of his ideas include banning all gifts to state employees, barring any employees or vendors who steal from or defraud the state from public service, requiring those who lobby the executive branch to register and disclose financial data, putting in place a revolving-door rule that forbids all state employees from lobbying any agency for a year after they leave and increasing criminal penalties for official misconduct.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 28, 2004 05:38 AM
Posted to Indiana Government