State Senator Edward Meyer
September 13, 2007
Meyer Proposes Creation of a Legislative Ethics Committee
Full-time bipartisan, bicameral legislative group would investigate peers
Citing the criminal convictions of two state senators in the past two years--former state Sen. Ernest Newton for taking bribes and misusing campaign funds, and Sen. Louis C. DeLuca for conspiring to threaten a family member, while at the same time offering to use his elected office to help a man associated with organized crime --state Sen. Ed Meyer (D-Guilford) is calling for the creation of a legislative Ethics Committee empowered to investigate and recommend sanctions against legislators who have engaged in misconduct.
"The Connecticut General Assembly does not have an adequate structure to deal with certain forms of misconduct by its own members, be they House or Senate members. That vacuum results in both an uncertainty of process and the loss of public confidence," Sen. Meyer said. "To fill that void, I'm proposing the creation of a legislative Ethics Committee whose sole business would be to address accusations of ethical transgressions by its own members."
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has determined that at least 24 states--including Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey--have ethics committees responsible for the investigation and enforcement of a legislators' ethical conduct. Other, large states such as California, Ohio and Michigan also have legislative ethics committees, the NCSL has found.
A legislative ethics committee typically differs from a state ethics commission or other law enforcement/ethics groups (e.g. the State Elections Enforcement Commission) in several ways, including:
- They author and enforce their own Code of Conduct, which is different and separate from state ethics laws and elections laws.
- Members are elected legislators, not citizens or public officials who are appointed by the governor or other leaders.
- They provide 'internal' oversight, versus the 'external' oversight that an ethics commission provides.
- They concern themselves only with legislative branch matters, versus the executive branch matters that an ethics commission also considers.
"In the next legislative session that begins in February, I will be introducing either legislation or a rules change that will create a legislative Ethics Committee. As I envision it, this committee would be composed of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans who are empowered to receive complaints concerning the alleged misconduct of state legislators," Sen. Meyer said. "This committee will write its own ethics code, and will have the power to issue subpoenas for the production of relevant documents and to compel the testimony of witnesses."
Sen. Meyer said such a committee, after an investigation, would then recommend to the full House or Senate an order of censure, reprimand, a fine, suspension, expulsion, or that no action be taken--much in the same way the Senate's Bipartisan Committee of Review is now charged with making a recommendation in the DeLuca matter.
Senate President Donald E. Williams, Jr., (D-Brooklyn), said he welcomes Sen. Meyer's initiative.
"I thank Senator Meyer for bringing this initiative forward," Sen. Williams said. "It's time to look at some form of ongoing oversight for those times when discipline within the legislature is necessary."
Sen. Gayle Slossberg (D-Milford), co-chairman of the Government Administration and Elections Committee, said she will work on the issue with Sen. Meyer and other supportive legislators next session.
"Given the last several incidents with legislators, there are some obvious holes in our ethics system in Connecticut," Sen. Slossberg said. "Establishing a legislative ethics committee could address some of them by providing an established procedure to deal with such unethical conduct. I look forward to working with Senator Meyer next session to continue to restore public confidence in our public officials."
|
Senator Meyer’s |
Listing of Senator Meyer’s recent press releases and a Press Kit with official head shots and bio. |
Press Aide Lawrence Cook |
