Joe Turnham
Ethics should never become a partisan issue
Lest anyone be misled, Alabama history clearly shows that the creation, funding, improvement and strengthening of the Alabama Ethics Law and the Alabama Ethics Commission, as well as the creation of the Fair Campaign Practices Act, were the handiwork of Alabama Democrats.
In the post-Nixon Watergate period of the 1970s, Democratic Gov. George Wallace and the Alabama Democratic Legislature created the state's first ethics law and commission. In 1992, current Democratic Speaker Seth Hammett, then serving as a young state representative, sponsored a complete rewrite of the original Alabama ethics law. The ensuing legislation Speaker Hammett championed became today's ethics law and for its time, it gave Alabama one of our nation's strongest ethics laws.
Today however, more needs to be done to strengthen and update our law, and subpoena power is a needed instrument which I support.
Legislation to grant this power passed out of the House Judiciary Committee in 2009 on a bipartisan vote. I fully expect similar legislation to move again in 2010 again with bipartisan support.
This bill and numerous others are being introduced by Democrats for the 2010 session. A landmark bill that would have brought the state's Governor and Administrative Branch under the rules of the Alabama Ethics Law passed unanimously in this quadrennial only to be vetoed by Republican Gov. Bob Riley.
In addition to granting subpoena power, Democrats want to tighten laws concerning no-bid contracts, especially in light of recent revelations concerning a $13-million, no-bid contract given by the Riley Administration to a shell company with no address, phone number or Web site.
Democrats again will introduce bills to require former executive branch staffers to register and disclose their interests before entering a revolving door as lobbyists or attorneys whose clients have business before their former associates. Today, these persons can go out the governor's office today and secretly represent clients and companies without even disclosing these facts to the Alabama Ethics Commission.
In the 1980s, it was the Alabama State Democratic Executive Committee which voted to require any Democrat who qualifies with our party to file mandatory financial disclosure of campaign contributions and expenditures.
This requirement exceeded any law. These documents were available for public inspection. This action of our party led to the creation of today's Fair Campaign Practices Act, which is the law of the state today. Its birth was a direct result of the work of my predecessor, former Chairman John Baker, and other courageous Democrats who wanted to bring transparency and accountability to elections.
Just last year, both Chairman Hubbard and I met with officials of the Alabama Ethics Commission to see how we could ensure that our candidates qualifying for office in our respective parties file their Statement of Economic Interest in a timely way with the commission.
In September of last year, I invited county party chairs from around Alabama to Montgomery for training in ethics compliance in a class led by the executive director of the Alabama Ethics Commission, Jim Sumner. Our party has created forms, checklists, Web sites and trained staff that work diligently to assure that any Democrat running for office at any level understands and complies with ethics and campaign laws. It is a sacred obligation that a party should uphold.
Ethics should never become a partisan issue. Each party and every elected official should strive to do their very best to adhere to the highest standard. The 1,052 public officials serving as Democrats in Alabama today strive to meet that standard.
My hope is that in word and deed every Democrat and Republican alike running in 2010 will make strong ethics a top goal.
