Ethics reform could have done more

There is little doubt that ethics reform was needed in Alabama. The string of recent scandals made passing new laws imperative.

That is why the recent special session called to address ethics was not nearly as effective as it could have been. It never really was about ethics and reform; it was for political power and payback.

There were some good bills that passed. There was final passage on a ban on PAC-to-PAC transfers, the political money laundering of our time. It was something that had passed the House unanimously for years, only to be voted against by some of the very Senators who finally passed it this time.

Other bills that passed were measures governing how lobbyists deal with the administration. Riley has been responsible for more no-bid contracts than all other governors. Yet, he vetoed a bill passed back in 2006 that would have made open to public scrutiny the action lobbyists and others, including family members, who try and get deals with the administration.

Now he’ll be signing a bill just as he leaves office.

Yet, a bill that limited how much lobbyists could spend wining and dining legislators is riddled with holes. The new legislative leadership made sure House members were unable to read the final version of the bill before voting on it by using parliamentary tricks.

There were other bills put under the guise of ethics that were only concerned with politics and power.

A bill passed banning whole classes of people from serving in the Statehouse. There now is a prohibition to keep people like teachers and state troopers from ever serving in the Legislature and remaining in their profession. It was done under the name of “double dipping.” Yet, when you read the fine print, it was really about choosing who could serve, not how public funds are accounted for.

Deep within the bill are exceptions for certain legislators who get contracts from public entities. Insider contracts and sweetheart deals for legislators are now ethical, working as a teacher or police officer and keeping track of your hours to serve in the Statehouse is now illegal.

The most controversial bill, and the one that almost everyone could agree was not about ethics was the bill GOP leaders demanded first, and it almost derailed the session. It was about stopping payroll deduction for public employees to their associations. The bill now makes it illegal for teachers, firefighters and police officers to advocate for themselves or their profession if they use payroll deduction for dues to their groups.

For example, it will now be illegal for a teacher to work for passing a local tax referendum, criticize publicly an elected official for raiding a school budget, or doing any kind of advocacy on behalf of their students if they use payroll deduction to pay membership dues.

This isn’t ethics—it is political payback. It almost killed the session when a bipartisan group of legislators opposed it in the House, sustaining a filibuster that lasted through the night. Only after threats and what will certainly turn out to be empty promises did the bill barely pass.

It is no great mystery why people like Bradley Byrne and Bob Riley wanted this so badly. Members of the Alabama Education Association chose Dr. Robert Bentley over Byrne in the GOP gubernatorial primary, and their support proved critical. Byrne wanted to get back at teachers and he ended up hitting all public employees in the process.

There is little doubt that the special session should have been done better. There is no doubt that much of the legislation passed could have been done so years earlier with the cooperation of those who are still running the show.

The needless attacks on certain groups for petty political payback at the heart of the session made it a sham. There is a good possibility incoming-governor Bentley will have address ethics bills in another session to fix what was done.

Such is the outcome when motives do not even come close to the stated goals.

Johnny Mack Morrow is a state representative for Franklin County. His column appears each Wednesday.