Starving Ethics Commissions of Resources - The Situation in Oklahoma
Money is not only the root of much of the evil in government ethics, it is also
the lifeblood of government ethics. Without money, ethics commissions,
at least in cities and states, as opposed to towns, cannot do their job.<br>
<br>
Do something the legislative body doesn't like and it has a good way to
get back at you: cut off your funds or fail to fund your new
obligations. At budget time, government ethics commissions, no
matter how independent, often become just another political football.<br>
<br>
This seems to be the story in Oklahoma. There appears to be no dispute
over the
fact that the Ethics Commission is underfunded. It still has the same
staff total as it did when it was set up in 1991, and the EC feels it
was underfunded then. It can only afford one
investigator, and its duties include campaign finance as well as
ethics.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/462">Click here to read the rest of this blog entry.</a>
<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://news.aol.com/story/_a/henry-ponders-ethics-bill-decision/n200805…; target="”_blank”">an
AP article</a>, it appears to be campaign finance rules that have
enraged the legislature: cutting by two-thirds the amount of money
lobbyists can spend on legislators, and preventing PACs from
transferring their funds to other PACs. There also appear to have been
some recent or ongoing investigations of legislators.<br>
<br>
The Oklahoma EC did get a $150,000 increase for next year, but the
legislature will not allow it to hire an additional employee with this
money. The legislature cannot tell the EC how to spend its money, but
it must authorize new hiring. The EC wants $238,000 more.<br>
<br>
The EC first tried to reach an agreement with the governor and
legislature, and then when that failed, it tried to get the legislature
to have a special session to approve an increase in funding. But that
too seems to have failed, according to <a href="http://www.kten.com/Global/story.asp?S=8533496" target="”_blank”">an article</a>
on the KTEN-TV site. <a href="http://www.commoncause.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQ…; target="”_blank”">Common
Cause threw its support</a> behind getting additional funding.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.ok.gov/oec/documents/PR2008.6-24.pdf" target="”_blank”">a
press release</a> yesterday, the EC will seek a supplemental
appropriation from the Contingency Review Board (Governor and
legislative leaders) to exhaust its non-litigation remedies.<br>
<br>
The state constitution mandates that the EC be properly funded, so the
EC has directed its staff to prepare legal papers for a lawsuit against
the legislature. The EC is an independent constitutional body and not a
state agency. In fact, it can promulgate ethics rules, which the
legislature may disapprove (and the governor can veto such disapproval).<br>
<br>
In its second year of existence, the EC sued the legislature, because
the legislature disapproved its ethics rules and passed its own, which
could not be enforced by the EC. The cause of action was usurpation of
constitutional authority, and the State Supreme Court found for the EC.
The EC also sued for insufficient funding, but the Supreme Court said
it could not make a determination of what sufficient funding
constitutes, and the EC did not pursue this issue at the district court
level.<br>
<br>
Things are not rosy in Oklahoma, ethically speaking. Last week the
State Auditor and Inspector (an independent, elected official) and his
wife were convicted on counts of conspiracy and accepting bribes,
according to <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080615/ap_on_re_us/okla_auditor_bribes;_yl…; target="”_blank”">an
AP article.</a> Just last year, <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080615/ap_on_re_us/okla_auditor_bribes;_yl…; target="”_blank”">the
Auditor evaluated the EC's own internal controls</a>. If this
conviction didn't get the legislature's attention, I don't know what
will.<br>
<br>
Funding has been a principal way for state legislatures and city councils to
punish ethics commissions. <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/ethics/report.aspx?aid=610" target="”_blank”">The
Center for Public Integrity did a survey</a> of state ethics
commissions in 2001, and 10 said that this had been a problem. Here are
<a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/ethics/report.aspx?aid=611" target="”_blank”">the
survey numbers</a>. Other favorite forms of punishment include pushing
out the executive director, getting rid of the commission, and taking
away its authority over legislators (which <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/450" target="”_blank”">Louisiana just did</a> with
its successful suit).<br>
<br>
For more background info, see <a href="http://newsok.com/ethics-commission-wants-special-session-for-increased…; target="”_blank”">this
article</a> in the Daily <span>Oklahoman</span>.
Here is the EC's <a href="http://www.ok.gov/oec/documents/Governor%206-13-08%20ltr.pdf" target="”_blank”">June
13 letter</a> to the Governor.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
</p>