WADING THROUGH A THICKET

The Ethics Sub-Committee of my House State Affairs Committee held its second session today. Object: Meld the 15 proposed ethics bills plus various amendments of the House and Senate, plus Governor Palin’s ethics bill, into one “committee substitute” which we can debate and possibly amend by the full House State Affairs Committee.

As Associated Press reporter Anne Sutton accurately described it, the sub-committee “waded through a thicket of ethics reform bills Saturday as they worked to craft one piece of legislation to address myriad concerns.” About half of the fifty proposed changes to ethics-related legislation were considered today. An attempt will be made to consider the remaining changes this coming Thursday.

The Sub-Committee is chaired by Rep. John Coghill (also House Rules Chairman), and he is joined by Rep. Bob Roses and Rep. Gruenberg. That's two Republicans and a Democrat. I’m very pleased with the work these representatives are doing. My appointment of this hard-working ethics sub-committee is one of the smartest legislative things I’ve ever done. The work they are accomplishing would be well neigh impossible before the full House State Affairs Committee.

All of us have the same goal: pass legislation to enhance the trust relationship between the people of Alaska and their representatives. The legislation is too important to rush.