Perks for public officials at center of Amendment 41 debate

Guest Opinions
October 23, 2006
By Jared Polis and Pete Maysmith

Pro: Measure restores trust in government

In Colorado, it is perfectly legal for a lobbyist to give an elected official a $100 steak dinner, a hand held computer worth $600 or season tickets to the Denver Broncos. You could even give an elected official a car or a house - though, thankfully, that hasn't happened.

We think this is wrong. Public confidence in government is already alarmingly low and the "freebies" given by insider lobbyists only makes things worse.

Special interests are fueling an unprecedented expansion of lobbying in Colorado - we now have the nation's fourth highest lobbyist-legislator ratio - eleven lobbyists per state legislator. Last year lobbyists spent $1.6 million on gifts, entertainment and other expenses to influence policy makers. State legislators and Gov. Owens received more than $200,000 in gifts and free trips from lobbyists in 2005. And yes, the examples cited above were actual gifts received by legislators.

We think Coloradans are fed up with the corrupting influence of all these freebies and the cozy relationships that lobbyists cultivate. Coloradans rightfully question whether public officials are fighting for their interests or for the special interests.

To restore trust in government, we are proposing common-sense, meaningful restrictions to protect the public interest. We want Colorado to join the 26 states that restrict lobbyist gifts, the 27 states that require a cooling-off period before former public officials can lobby their colleagues and the 39 states with an ethics commission. Today, Colorado has none of these protections.

That's why Coloradans for Clean Government supports Amendment 41. The Ethics in Government Initiative raises ethical standards by:

• Banning lobbyist gifts to public officials,

• Establishing reasonable restrictions on gift-giving from non-lobbyists,

• Preventing state legislators and statewide elected officials from becoming paid lobbyists for two years after leaving office, and

• Creating an independent ethics commission.

Not surprisingly, our efforts to pass meaningful reform have stirred up the lobbyists. A group of them, led by the automobile dealers and the mortgage lenders are opposing Amendment 41. They know that they'll get little sympathy arguing against the lobbyist gift ban, so they've resorted to scare tactics, trying to create a smoke screen. Their primary tools are phony concerns, bogus examples and quoting initiative language out of context. Voters should not be fooled.

Plain and simple, Amendment 41 raises ethics standards. It does not restrict scholarships, research grants or funds for injured firefighters. It will not restrict any gifts or discounts received by a government employee or family member when the gift or discount has no connection to influencing a public decision. The purpose of the ethics initiative is clear: Public officials must "avoid conduct that is in violation of their public trust; any effort to realize personal financial gain through public service ... is a violation of that trust."

The irresponsible examples cited by opponents are not even covered by Amendment 41. On the other hand, a "scholarship" arranged by a lobbyist exclusively for the child of an elected official might be restricted under Amendment 41.

Amendment 41 empowers the Legislature to set the rules under which the amendment will be implemented. The wild-eyed claims made by the lobbyists opposing Amendment 41 could occur only if the Legislature agrees. Don't be fooled by the lobbyists' campaign spin.

By approving Amendment 41 this November, Colorado will raise ethics standards for public officials and take an important step toward restoring faith in government.

Jared Polis and Pete Maysmith are co-chairs of Coloradans for Clean Government.