The Thicket at State Legislatures

Movies about Ethical Dilemmas

by Peggy Kerns

Want another top 10 movie list? Try this one: The Top Ten Best Ethics Films by Carla Miller and Don McClintock at CityEthics.org. Their favorites include familiar ones like A Man for All Seasons, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (this movie makes every list), 1984, Bulworth and one I hadn't heard of—The Ideal Husband.

To this top 10 list, I'm going to add two of my favorites.  But first, what makes a movie an "ethics movie?"

Simply put, ethics is about doing the right thing. Doing the right thing can be based on laws or values. At NCSL's Center for Ethics in Government, we discuss both types. We track, research and publish information on the Web about ethics laws in all 50 states. In our training sessions, we present ethics as values—how people behave and the ethical conflicts they have, based on moral duties and values.

Dilemmas in these two categories play out differently. Public officials usually are not conflicted about law-based ethics, called right-versus-wrong dilemmas. They obey their state's ethics laws and, therefore, act in a legal way. Dilemmas based on values may be tougher to solve. Ethical dilemmas occur when the choice is between two ethical values, called right-versus-right dilemmas. Both choices may be ethically "right," but the person can pick only one way.

Movies that deal with the conflicts between competing ethical values are ethics films, and they are rich sources for training programs.

I like two movies that are not on the CityEthics.org list: Brubaker (1980) and The Insider (1999). Both contain strong right-versus-right ethical dilemmas based on true stories.

Brubaker is a raw film starring a young Robert Redford. Brubaker is a fictional character based on the experiences of Arkansas prison warden Thomas O. Murton who is hired by then-Governor Winthrop Rockefeller to reform the state correctional system. He embarks on a crusade that uncovers awful conditions, corruption, extortion, and horrific prison torture.

Fund-raising Bans During Legislative Sessions

by Karl Kurtz

Are bans on campaign fund-raising by legislators during legislative sessions a good idea?  That's the question that A.C. Kleinheider addressed in Nashville's TheCityPaper last week.  His commentary focuses on a proposal by Tennessee Lieutenant Governor (and Speaker of the Senate) Ron Ramsey, who wants to run for governor in 2010, to repeal his state's ban on fund-raising during session:

“To tie someone’s hand when they’re in the legislature when they’re running for another office doesn’t seem fair. The governor himself can raise money, if you’re a sitting congressman you can raise money, why shouldn't someone in the legislature, if they’re running for an office also be able to raise money? So that’s something we need to look at seriously,” Ramsey said discussing the law.

Kleinheider goes on to give a history and argue in favor of the repeal:

New Speakers in Florida and Massachusetts

by Karl Kurtz

In an unusual turn of events, two house speakers have stepped down in the last week.  Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom joins Massachusetts Speaker Sal DiMasi on the leadership sidelines for similar reasons of pending investigations into ethical wrongdoings.  Here's the story from the Tallahassee Democrat:

Embattled House Speaker Ray Sansom's political future continued its freefall Monday as his replacement announced a major staff change and his party's members set the stage to replace him permanently.

Sansom on Friday stepped aside as speaker and said his second-in-command would take over temporarily as he dealt with legal issues. Republican members late Monday night replaced him permanently save for a formality vote in four weeks.

Rep. Larry Cretul (photo right), a Republican from Ocala and the speaker pro tem, was voted leader of the Republican conference, tantamount to his election as speaker when regular session starts March 3. Earlier in the day, Cretul named a new chief of staff, former Rep. Dudley Goodlette of Naples.

Goodlette is a former member of NCSL's Executive Committee while he was a member of the Florida House.

In a belated followup to our previous post on Sal DiMasi, Rep. Robert DeLeo (photo left), who had been chair of the Ways and Means Committee, was elected speaker of the Massachusetts House on Wednesday last week.

A Tough Choice on Her First Day in the Legislature

by Karl Kurtz

The Chicago Tribune has this story about an Illinois legislator on her first day in office:

Moments after being sworn in, freshman state Rep. Deb Mell (D-Chicago) cast the only vote against impeaching Gov. Rod Blagojevich, her brother-in-law.

Mell, the daughter of Chicago Ald. Richard Mell (33rd) and sister of first lady Patricia Blagojevich, declined to talk to reporters but issued a statement saying she could not "in good conscience" vote for impeaching Blagojevich.

"Given my unique relationship to the governor, this is a vote to which I have given a great deal of consideration," Mell said in the statement. "I have known the governor for more than 20 years and the charges in the impeachment were difficult to reconcile with the man and brother-in-law I know."

"I could not in good conscience vote for his impeachment," she wrote. "I regard him as innocent until proven guilty and many of my constitutents have expressed this view."

The second impeachment by the House was necessitated by today's seating of a new legislature reflecting the results of the Nov. 4 general election. It was a procedural vote, but one needed to start the impeachment process during the new legislative session.

In a later story, the Tribune adds:

Asked whether Mell should have abstained because of her relationship to the governor, a spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan said it's up to individual lawmakers to decide how to vote.

The readers' comments on this story are often vitriolic, many of them saying that Rep. Rell should have recused herself.  But I don't think this is an open and shut case.  As our web page on conflict of interest points out, the rules about recusal for conflict of interest on legislative votes vary widely from chamber to chamber.  The most widespread agreement is that members should not vote on issues in which they have a direct financial stake.  In this case Rep. Rell voted against impeachment because of her knowledge of her brother-in-law, not because she would benefit personally.

I agree more with Rich Miller's comments in The Capitol Fax Blog:

She could’ve abstained, but members are not barred from voting on issues where they have a conflict of interest. But hitting the “yellow” button would’ve been the easy way out. Frankly, I appreciated her guts....

S.T.E.M. - The Key to Our Country's Future?

by Meagan Dorsch

In a global economy, many argue that America needs to emphasize STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) in its schools.

Several states are starting to focus on making STEM a priority in education across the country.

In this edition of The Buzz at State Legislatures Magazine, we sit down with Heather Chikoore, an education policy analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures. Heather explains how strong skills in science, technology, engineering and math could help our country remain a economic player in the global economy.

In this podcast (3:39), you will learn what action legislatures have taken, what incentives states are using to get students involved in STEM careers and how far we need to go as a country in order to close the STEM gap.

Open for Business

by NCSL Staff

NCSL's election room is up and running in Denver. You can see our elections experts are starting to assemble and track early returns.

Stay with The Thicket through the night for the latest on control of the nation's state legislature. 

Dual Employment Provisions in Illinois and Other States

by Karl Kurtz

Last Saturday's Chicago Sun-Times has an interesting article about Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's efforts to prohibit dual employment--holding two positions simultaneously in state or local government--in a new ethics bill that the legislature has presented to him.  Illinois is one of seven states that currently allows a legislator, for example, to also be employed by state or local government as long as he or she doesn't get paid twice for the same hours of work. 

Blagojevich proposes to ban the practice, with exceptions for teachers, university instructors, police officers, firefighters and elected officials.  Half of the 20 Illinois legislators who currently have dual employment would have to quit one of their jobs, while the other half would fall under the exceptions proposed by the governor.

Drawing on information provided by NCSL, the Sun-Times has produced a nice summary map of state provisions regarding dual employment, or "double-dipping" as some call it in Illinois.  The map highlights the fact that there is little apparent regional pattern in state laws on this subject, nor is there a big state-small state explanation.  What neither the map nor the story does, though, is link to the NCSL Ethics Center's excellent web page, "Ethics: Dual Employment: Public Jobs for Legislators."  This page contains details on each state's dual employment laws that a map cannot possibly capture.  It also links to a similar web page on dual office-holding.

Rules of Legislative Conduct

by Karl Kurtz

Colorado Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon passed out these thoughtful suggestions for future legislators to his fellow senators yesterday on his last day of his last session in the Colorado Legislature (he is term-limited):

Gordon's Rules of Legislative Conduct
(Suggestions for future legislators)

1.  Think for yourself. If you don't have any internal values that inform your conduct here, find another occupation.

2.  Leadership: You can't always be liked and always do the right thing. If you don't have the courage to sometimes do the right thing even though it will anger some person or support group, you should find another occupation. If you don't have courage, you may be an elected official, but you are not a leader.

3.  If you are in the majority and you can't pass a bill that you want to pass without abusing the process, then you shouldn't pass the bill.  If you can’t kill a bill that you want to kill without abusing the process, then you shouldn’t kill the bill.

Oregon Ethics Law Results in Resignations from Office

by Karl Kurtz

[Note: Based on additional information received, this post replaces an original version published on April 28.]

A new ethics law in Oregon appears to have caused 150 local government officials to leave their jobs rather than comply with the rules, according to the Los Angeles Times.  The provision that has drawn the most ire is a requirement that all government officials, even volunteer members of certain boards or commissions, disclose not only their sources of income and those of their spouses and adult household member but also the names and addresses of all children and siblings who are not members of their household.

Whenever new ethics laws or rules are debated, it is often alleged that strict ethics codes will drive some incumbents from office and hinder recruitment of candidates for office.  Aside from occasional anecdotes about someone stepping down because of new rules or a potential candidates saying that they don't want to lose their privacy, there is scant evidence that this actually occurs.  So is the fact of 150 local government officials quitting their jobs in Oregon rather than comply with the new law a big deal and evidence that this measure went too far?

According to the story, Oregon Gov. Theodore R. Kulongoski is concerned about the problem and has convened a work group to review the rules, citing the need for "balance between a public official's public responsibility and their private life."

My colleague, Peggy Kerns, is quoted in the story as saying that the Oregon law is unique in its extent and reach.  Russ Kelley, spokesman for the Oregon speaker's office, says that the financial disclosure requirements for public officials have been in place for several decades without any problem.  The only thing different about financial disclosure in the new law is that it expands these provisions to a number of local governments that were previously exempt and adds the disclosure of the names of adult relatives.  While 150 or so local officials, mostly volunteer members of commissions, have resigned rather than file the forms, thousands of others have complied with the law. 

Kelley points out that commissions made up of volunteer appointees often have major impacts on public policy and should be held no less accountable than paid, elected public officials.  Nonetheless, he said that legislative leaders are considering the need to make some adjustments to the new rules in the next session.

Update on Expulsions from State Legislatures

by Karl Kurtz

Earlier this month we reported on the expulsion of a North Carolina lawmaker from that state's legislature.  In that post we said that seven other legislators had been expelled from different legislatures since 1970.  That number should have been 15, as indicated by this more up to date list--Download expulsion_2.DOC--compiled by Brenda Erickson.  Brenda's list includes 19 other expulsions before 1970, going back as far as 1757. 

See also an ongoing story about an expulsion procedure under way in Arkansas in which the loser of a 2006 Senate race is claiming fraud in the election process and demanding that the winner be expelled from the Senate.