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Sunday, December 07, 2008

Legislative Benefits - More on: "Miller to seek lobbying curbs again" [Updated]

Updating this ILB entry from Nov. 23rd, the Indianapolis Star has an editorial today headed "No offense, guys, but you work for us," that begins:

How do citizens apply constructive pressure to their elected representatives without hurting their feelings?

That's the absurd challenge facing Common Cause Indiana and other groups and individuals as they prepare to approach the Indiana General Assembly again this year for lobbying reform.

A bill last session from state Sen. Patricia Miller, R-Indianapolis, seemed on its way to a floor vote until legislators became so incensed by public criticism at a committee hearing that the whole affair collapsed in acrimony.

"We'll be more understated this time," says Julia Vaughn of Common Cause Indiana, who nevertheless finds it appalling that public servants "bawled out John Q. Citizen."

We agree. We also suspect the show of indignation was just that. If the legislature wants more respect, it can earn it by joining a nationwide movement to curb the cozy relations between lawmakers and special-interest lobbies.

Miller's bill, expected to be introduced in the coming session, simply requires a one-year "cooling off" period between the time a legislator leaves office and when he or she returns to hit up ex-colleagues as a lobbyist. The so-called revolving door has spun so freely here that the General Assembly has been likened to a training camp for future favor-seekers. The Daniels administration has imposed a waiting period for executive branch employees who become lobbyists, but the example hasn't taken hold.

[Updated 12/8/08] Mike Smith of the AP reports today in a story that begins:
A bill that would require legislators who leave office to wait at least one year before they could become lobbyists got a chilly reception in a Senate committee last session and went no further.

That isn't stopping Republican state Sen. Patricia Miller of Indianapolis, some of her colleagues and some citizen groups from trying to revive the issue in the session that starts in January. They say a "cooling off" period before former lawmakers can lobby the General Assembly would establish a more trusting relationship with Indiana residents.

Nearly 30 states prohibit former legislators from becoming lobbyists for a time ranging from six months to two years after they resign or retire, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But Miller and other supporters of the concept know they'll likely have a tough time getting Indiana to join those states.

Efforts to regulate the career paths of Indiana lawmakers have routinely been thwarted, and now about two dozen former legislators lobby the General Assembly, including three former House speakers.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 7, 2008 11:14 AM
Posted to Legislative Benefits