Soon-to-be Lt. Gov. Greg Bell will bring a high ethical standard to the
office that oversees lobbyist and candidate financial disclosures, but
his departure from the Senate will mean the loss of an intellectual
voice.---
During
his years in the Utah Senate, Greg Bell seemed to spend a fair amount
of time exploring the political wilderness alone, and he seemed to do
so deliberately. He operated, at times, as an independent, running
bills that seemed to be opposed by both Republicans and Democrats,
possibly because they made sense without having a political agenda.
One
of those issues was gay rights, about which my co-worker Brandon Burt
has written a separate post. Republicans hated the issue because the
Eagle Forum lit up their phones, many Democrats did not want to be
saddled with their support of civil unions come election time, and
every senator loathed the topic because it meant that almost assuredly
Sen. Chris Buttars would speak.
The other bamboo stick Bell would
poke in legislative fingernails was ethics, and multiple times he ran
bills trying to lower the limits on gifts and require greater
disclosure. This irritated his fellow senators, especially when the
old-guard Democrats were in charge of the minority side, because they
all liked their gifts.
Yet Bill would barrel forward on these
ethical reforms, seemingly puzzled by the debate because he was
possibly the most ethical legislator. He almost never accepted gifts,
and he could not understand why anyone else needed to accept gifts. He
also did not seem to care about either the political implications of
bringing it up publicly (which highlighted those who really loved their
free golf, front row Jazz seats, and regular lunches at the Alta Club)
or the political benefit of pushing ethics reform. He just seemed to
want legislators to stop taking gifts, because that seemed like the
sensible thing to do.
This is how Bell operated, in many ways. He
was a patient and intellectual lawmaker who did not consider the
politically-expediency of a position.
He studied bills deeply and
seldom seemed to rely on what others, especially lobbyists, told him
about proposed laws. When he spoke, whether during floor debate,
committee hearings, or in the hallway, the intelligence level of the
conversation immediately elevated. When others spoke, he listened with
interest.
Now, he is moving to an office where so many others have
become lost to the political landscape, leaving a void in the Senate
that will likely be filled by a Republican who toes the line
established by leadership, steps lightly around the Senate chambers,
and works with lobbyists over golf games and fancy lunches.
While he
cannot sponsor legislation anymore and, considering the 2010 elections
are knocking on the door, and will probably stay out of most issues
that cast him as a moderate, he still can leave a mark that his
predecessor has failed to do.
He can enforce the ethics laws, especially on the side of public disclosure.
Right
now, so many loopholes exist in the enforcement of financial
disclosures that even if a disclosure report can be found, there is no
guarantee it is accurate or that it will stay the same. The
implementation of laws by future governor Gary Herbert is one of
clarity=enforcement. If any question exists about what a law actually
requires, then the administrative rule sides with those making the
disclosures, not the public right-to-know.
If Bell wants to truly
have an impact on state politics, he should turn that approach on its
head. If there is a question about ethics laws, rule in favor of public
information. When a lobbyist reports a $49 golf game with a legislator
at a $65 course (as they have done, when the gift limit was $50, with
the legislator footing the difference), tell them it's not okay. That
is only one example of many, but the point in every action would be to
force legislators to stand-up and be accountable.
He will not be able to enact any stricter laws, as he wanted to do as a legislator, but he can enforce the current laws which were passed, at least ostensibly, with nearly full disclosure as a goal. In the end, that may actually be a better check on gift-giving than an actual ban, since with every ban there would be a loophole.