Legislation further enhancing ethics in state government will be among proposals authored and considered by state senators during the upcoming 2010 Indiana General Assembly session.
It’s important to note that these discussions are indicative of senators’ advocacy for more open and transparent government and not the result of scandals, corruption, indictments and prosecutions that have plagued state officials elsewhere.
Indiana is fortunate to already have in place many preventative measures, including public reporting of campaign contributions and expenditures, ethics training for state officials and employees, standing ethics commissions and committees, lobbyist registration and reporting requirements, and an inspector general whose sole role is to be a watchdog of the people’s business.
Our state continues to be among the best in providing easy access to legislation, amendments and roll calls, as well as real-time online coverage of committee and floor proceedings.
Still, a primary goal of our state’s elected officials should be to ensure that we who hold office are ever vigilant in protecting the integrity and reputation of our institutions. Government by and for the people can succeed only if it retains the trust and confidence of the people.
In recent years, there has been increasing scrutiny and comment over the decision by some legislators to shift from the inner halls of government to its outer hallways as members of the lobbying community. Those who have made this move are generally quite talented, and have done so because they need to earn a better living to support themselves and their families. The pay of an elected official is not lucrative, nor should it be. It is understandable why these individuals would make such a move, and why they would be in high demand by lobbying firms.
Switching from one role to the other without the passage of a little time can have the appearance of impropriety, however unfair that may be to the individuals making such a switch. Simply stated, it just doesn’t pass the smell test.
This issue will be the centerpiece of a lobbying reform package being proposed this coming session by Republican Senate leadership. Several bills will be introduced that will recommend the following changes in our state’s lobbying laws:
n Establishing a one-year cooling off period before former legislators can professionally lobby state lawmakers;
n Closing a longstanding loophole by requiring university officials who lobby legislators to meet the same registration and reporting requirements as other lobbyists;
n Further limiting and better defining gifts, meals and entertainment that may be provided to legislators by the lobbying community.
Senate Republicans look forward to an open and productive discussion about these issues in the coming session.
— David Long
president pro tempore, Indiana Senate
Flashpoint
FLASHPOINT: Indiana Senate plans to consider several ethics bills
- Flashpoint
-
-
FLASHPOINT: Graduation rates are up; great news for Indiana
As Hoosiers celebrate the conclusion of a truly remarkable Super Bowl experience, there is even more good news that should fill us with pride.
-
FLASHPOINT: Tech trail leading us into a dense, digital forest
It seems the Southwest Parke schools are the latest to play the laptop lottery game.
-
FLASHPOINT: Republicans enable war on middle class, unions
About six years ago at the pinnacle of the Bush/GOP Dictatorship, I began telling you that the wealthy and Corporate America were laying the ground work to politically, financially and physically take over America.
-
FLASHPOINT: Howey ignores truth to advance his agenda
Brian Howey’s Jan. 8 column about the U.S. Senate race proves once again that he will not allow the facts or journalistic ethics to get in the way of attacking Richard Mourdock and promoting his chosen candidate, Dick Lugar.
-
FLASHPOINT: Putting fairness first
This time of year, with chords of Auld Lang Syne still ringing in our ears, it’s not uncommon or unnatural to think of days gone by as being more desirable than the era we live in today.
-
FLASHPOINT: What really motivates right-to-work proposal?
You may have heard about the upcoming “right-to-work” legislation before our lawmakers in the next session of “law making.”
-
FLASHPOINT: The right-to-work debate: ‘Devil at Our Doorstep’
As the 2012 Indiana Legislative Assembly convenes, January will represent a tipping point for all Hoosiers’ individual freedoms as politicians and Big Labor draw battle lines to determine if Indiana will become the 23rd right-to-work state.
-
FLASHPOINT: State’s House Democrats will offer alternative for job creation
As the leaders of single-party control in state government outline their agendas for the 2012 session of the Indiana General Assembly, it is easy to be cynical about their intentions in the months to come.
-
FLASHPOINT: Community colleges must lead way in reshaping higher education
In the 1970s, I began what was three decades in the automotive industry. ... Today, in my position as president of Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, I see higher education confronted with some of these same challenges.
-
FLASHPOINT: There’s little right about ‘right to work’ proposal
The danger contained in these three simple words – “Right to Work” — is that they sound so innocent.
-
FLASHPOINT: The next big movement? Reform Congress
We are living through one of the most remarkable times in recent history.
-
FLASHPOINT: Christmas trees and crony capitalism
I’ve been involved in selling fresh Christmas trees for as long as I can remember.
-
FLASHPOINT: Salute to Rooney and all veterans
When I awoke to the news that CBS’s “60 Minutes” commentator Andy Rooney had passed away I was truly saddened.
-
FLASHPOINT: Corporate welfare for Menards?
As near as I can figure from a recent story in the newspaper, our government representatives, state and local, are scrambling to find money to give to Menards because of a distribution center they are thinking about building on the city’s North Side.
-
FLASHPOINT: State Archives needs permanent, safe home
The records in the Indiana State Archives are priceless, one-of-a-kind treasures not to be found anywhere else.
-
Flashpoint: State Archives needs permanent, safe home
The records in the Indiana State Archives are priceless, one-of-a-kind treasures not to be found anywhere else.
-
FLASHPOINT: Attracting foreign investment involves more than business climate
A week before I left Indiana to lead my fifth international trade mission, I met with students at Speedway High School who had visited Japan two years ago. They were sharing their advice on Japanese protocol.
-
FLASHPOINT: Scoring the Indiana Chamber
It is a question asked routinely — almost reflexively — during the last days of a General Assembly: “Will the Chamber score this?”
-
FLASHPOINT: The growing power of lobbyists
Back in 1982, Mississippi’s powerful U.S. Sen. John C. Stennis faced a tough re-election fight. Advisers told him he had an ace up his sleeve: as chairman of the Armed Service Committee, he could raise bundles of campaign cash from defense contractors. But Stennis balked. “Would that be proper?” he asked. “I hold life and death over these companies.”
-
FLASHPOINT: Fiscal hawks: Speak out on state’s largest publicly funded project
Indiana has a number of fiscal hawks among our elected officials who talk tough about ending subsidies and cutting wasteful projects.
-
FLASHPOINT: A great company will soon disappear from community
This is in reference to the Tribune-Star story of Aug. 6 concerning the Terre Haute Sherwin-Williams plant’s intention to close by end of the year:
-
FLASHPOINT: Collegiate relations committee proposal addresses neighborhood ills
With the beginning of the school year, it is apparent that Terre Haute is a college town in many respects, especially for those who live in the Farrington’s Grove neighborhood, south of downtown.
-
FLASHPOINT: Indiana learning from a founding Hoosier family
The Delph family excursion through southern Indiana over the Labor Day weekend was as memorable as it was enjoyable. Lilly turned 5 and got to spend her birthday at Holiday World riding rides and eating sweets. Abby got to drive Dad around on the pretend cars foretelling our new world order. Emma, Anna and Evelyn further cemented their status as rollercoaster girls dragging Mom and Dad on the Voyage, arguably the most brutal ride of all for parents.
-
Social media makes news more intimate, more disturbing In decade after 9/11
When a student recently asked what was “the hardest story” I had to cover during my 26 years working at CNN, the question caught me off guard.
-
FLASHPOINT: Better access to quality health care can happen
Over 50 million Americans live in areas where there are simply not enough health care providers to meet their basic needs.
-
FLASHPOINT: Seeking understanding from insanity of war
On the evening of Sept. 11, 2001, my family and I gathered to watch the unending news reports and the searing images of our homeland under attack.
-
How to listen to a politician
As summer draws to a close and next year’s political campaigns get down to brass tacks, you’re going to be hearing a lot more from politicians seeking your vote.
-
FLASHPOINT: Congress must help keep American dream within our reach
Since the 2010 mid-term elections, House Speaker John Boehner and his blindly dedicated Republican followers have not introduced a single bill for job creation.
-
FLASHPOINT: Howey’s Aug. 21 column was inaccurate
Elected officials accept public debate.
-
FLASHPOINT: Measles outbreak demonstrates the need for up-to-date vaccinations
Real incidents that engage national, state and local health professionals can be far more fascinating than television investigative dramas and are clearly more important.
- More Flashpoint Headlines
-
FLASHPOINT: Graduation rates are up; great news for Indiana








