LWV CCC program on ethics reform

The League of Women Voters of Carrollton and Carroll County is hosting William Perry, Executive Director at Common Cause Georgia, for a Program Item Meeting on Ethics Reform. The program will be held on April 23rd, Monday, 7 pm.

Perry has been in the state news recently speaking for the Georgia Alliance for Ethics Reform, which is a collaborative effort between Common Cause, League of Women Voters of Georgia, Georgia Tea Party Patriots and Georgia Watch.

They have all been calling for support of comprehensive ethics bills SB 391, HB 798 and HB 1105. They have advocated "to change provisions relating to public officials' conduct and lobbyist disclosure", to "change provisions relating to post employment restrictions on public officers" and "to substantially revise the "Ethics in Government Act". Specifically they want to limit lobbyist gifts to $100. All three of these bills did NOT pass the last legislative session despite that The Center for Public Integrity recently ranked Georgia highest in the entire country for risk of corruption. According to the AJC, "The report .... scored states on 330 “corruption risk indicators" including open records law, campaign finance rules, and auditing and budgeting procedures." Georgia's score of 49 out of 100, resulted in a failing grade! Actual past corruption was not a factor. The measures were based on current laws, procedures and policies that are made to prevent corruption and the effectiveness of the safeguards.

Perry will give us an update and a plan of where to go from here, including offering a pledge to Georgia lawmakers called the Lobbyist Gift Campaign Pledge, which states, "I pledge, if elected, to co-sponsor a bill during the 2013 legislative session to limit each lobbyist gift to $100. The proposed legislation will add the following language to a new section of the Ethics in Government Act, Chapter 5 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia." Perry will let us know who has and who has not signed the pledge.

The meeting will be held at the Carroll County Commission Chambers Auditorium at 423 College Street, Carrollton on April 23rd, Monday, 7 pm.

                                                        

Below are links to the failed bills:

http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2011_12/sum/sb391.htm

http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/en-US/display/20112012/HB/798

http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2011_12/sum/hb1105.htm

Below are links to the organizations in the alliance:

Georgia Alliance for Ethics Reform
http://georgiaethicsreform.com/

Common Cause
http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=4847583

Georgia Tea Party Patriots
http://www.teapartypatriots.org/tag/georgia/ 

Georgia Watch
http://www.georgiawatch.org/
http://www.georgiawatch.org/2012/01/30/urge-your-lawmaker-to-support-fair-practices-in-lobbying/#more-3909
League of Women Voters Georgia
http://lwvga.org/ 

And below are links to newspaper articles on the situation:

http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-government/georgia-last-in-public-1390032.html

http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-government/lawmakers-ready-to-race-1403131.html

http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2012-03-31/garland-ethics-should-be-focus-election-season

http://www.ajc.com/news/house-blocks-ethics-switch-1402984.html 

And here is info on the Center for Public Integrity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_Public_Integrity 

http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/icij/

The League of Women Voters of Carrollton and Carroll County is a non partisan, issue driven organization that supports voters as active participants in the democratic process. We do not support or oppose any political party or candidate. 

For more information on LWV CCC, visit www.lwvga.org/carrollton or find them on their Facebook. You can also contact Robin Collins at carrollton@lwvga.org.