BillHobbs.com is an archive of seven years' worth of regular and frequent blogging of original reporting and commentary by Bill Hobbs, a longtime Nashville journalist and media relations adviser. I am currently serving as communications director for the Tennessee Republican Party, a job I began on Oct. 29, 2007.
Est. Nov. 30, 2001 Regular updates suspended Dec. 10, 2008.
A Call for Ethics Reform in the Tennessee Legislature
Tim Chavez is urging readers to get involved in encouraging the Tennessee legislature to pass good legislator-ethics legislation. Chavez:
Unfortunately this session, as always, Republicans and Democrats are disputing the worth in the other's attempts to pass ethics legislation. So we're again headed toward the House passing one version of an ethics bill and the Senate another. Lawmakers then will declare victory for doing the right thing to the folks back home. But nothing becomes law. And wrongful conduct remains unchallenged.
It's a neat trick to fool us. The only question is whether we're going to remain stupid enough to take it, particularly after the outrageous conduct of Sen. Ford.
This Wednesday in the House elections subcommittee, an important ethics bill will come up for consideration. And it is sponsored by a lawmaker who has made ethics his career crusade. No lawmaker in either party can hold a candle to Rep. Frank Buck's work on this issue. And he has absorbed a lot of abuse for it.
The best thing about the Democrat's bill is that he made sure to get a Republican sponsor for it in the Senate. And like Buck, Sen. Diane Black is a lawmaker of integrity and a fighter. This ethics bill crosses party lines. And it will be considered at 10 a.m. in Legislative Plaza Room 30.
The bill would simply let you the taxpayer know how much is being spent on lobbying to buy influence from your lawmakers and how much lawmakers are making through consulting fees. The Ford scandal revealed that the Memphis Democrat initially opposed putting TennCare dental services out to a vendor. Then a year later, he supported the action. Ford chairs the Senate committee that considers all TennCare bills. And Ford ended up with a consulting contract with the TennCare dental vendor that netted him a cool $237,000.
Up to $50 million is spent annually on Capitol Hill to buy the influence of your lawmaker. But that is only an estimate, because the General Assembly has refused to pass disclosure laws to show the extent of the money game. The Buck/Black bill is only a start.
But it's a good start, and it deserves your support - and your taking the time to call your legislator and urge them to support it. See Chavez' column for contact info.
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