Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 10A
runsi in uuuniV NtWb Wednesday, March 24,2004
Opinion
Spineless legislators
talk about ethics, do
nothing about it
By Sen. Preston W. Smith
For the Forsyth County News
Georgia’s ethics laws are
among the weakest in the
nation and there's a good rea
son tor this we have legis
lators who don't want to step
up to the plate and do some
thing about it. Lawmakers all
talk about ethics and how
important they are. but when it
comes to passing legislation to
reform our ethics laws, spine
less members are quick to take
a walk It has happened too
many times and for too many
years.
In a few short days, the
2004 Georgia General
Assembly will gavel to a close
and 1 am not optimistic that
we w ill have made any signifi
cant changes in our ethics
laws But it's not for lack of
effort. Gov. Sonny Perdue
made ethics reform a hallmark
of his 2002 campaign. He has
championed changes in our
legislative moral code for
years and I have stood by him
every step of the way Earlier
this week, his bipartisan
reform legislation was brought
before the entire Senate It is
sweeping legislation make
no mistake about that and
calls for changes affecting a
great many people who are
involved with state govern
ment. either as elected or
appointed officials, employees
of the state, or lobbyists.
The legislation calls for a
one year moratorium for any
former elected official or state
employee may lobby the legis
lature; it prohibits the gover
nor from appointing campaign
contributors to state boards
and commissions; prohibits
gifts" from lobbyists to public
officials and state employees;
bars members of the General
Assembly or state elected/
appointed officials from
appearing before the Board of
Pardons and Paroles or the
Department of Corrections on
behalf of an inmate or prison
er; and forbids a public
employer from retaliating
against an employee for dis
closing a violation or noncom
pliance with the law in
66
This is good legislation. It is important
legislation, but we have some mem
bers of the General Assembly who
obviously don't want to see reforms in
our ethics law. They laughed and
snickered as they amended the bill try
ing to make it unconstitutional.
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other words, w histle blowing.
This is good legislation. It
is important legislation, but we
have some members of the
General Assembly who obvi
ously don't want to see
reforms in our ethics law.
They laughed and snickered as
they amended the bill trying to
make it unconstitutional to
keep it from passing the House
of Representatives. These
amendments were not added
to this bill to strengthen it, but
to kill it. Last year, the gover
nor's ethics reform package
passed the Senate only to dis
appear into a partisan hole of
oblivion. This year, the House
leadership has yet to offer any
meaningful ethics legislation
even after promising to do so
during a press conference on
the steps of the State Capitol
earlier this year.
We cannot afford to put
this off for another year. We
are making a mockery of the
legislative process and I am
disappointed in some of my
colleagues on both sides of
the aisle who do not take this
important legislation serious
ly. We are here to do a job
It's not an easy job. but it s
one that we signed up for—
not one of us was drafted
against our will. Making
changes in our ethics regula
tions is something we should
all be committed to doing.
Right now. Before another
year passes us by. We have got
to work together for a com
mon goal of strengthening
these laws. Weakening or
killing good legislation does
n't benefit any of us. Not the
people of Georgia and not the
people they elected to repre
sent them under the gold
dome.
Sen. Preston H; Smith rep
resents the 52nd Senate dis
trict which includes all or
parts of Bartow. Chattooga,
Floyd, Gordon, Walker and
Whitfield counties, and serves
as Administration Floor
Leader for Gov. Sonnv Perdue
in the Senate. He may be
reached at (404) 651-7738 or
by e-mail at pwsmith@
gov.state.ga.us.
CARTOONISTS’ VIEWS ON THE NEWS
/Il
State Dems killing off liberal wing
Passing the Child
Endangerment Act has been
hailed as the greatest achieve
ment of the 2004 General
Assembly session.
Gov. Sonny Perdue takes
(and deserves) credit for this
stellar event, though Lt. Gov.
Mark Taylor started the ball
rolling to gain legislative
approval of the CEA. We
should applaud.
Georgia needs a strength
ened law to protect our chil
dren from abuse and neglect.
We allegedly had the weakest
child-safety laws on the plan
et. until Perdue and Taylor
went to work
However
In most past legislative
sessions, approval of the CEA
would have been considered a
footnote, albeit a bright one.
Despite its high-sounding
title, the Child Endangerment
Act is. after all. only a small
patch meant to fix a consider
able body of existing state
law protecting children. An
oversight that should have
been corrected long ago. the
CEA is hardly worthy of pro
longed breast-beating and
self-congratulation. A legisla
tive blockbuster it is not.
But. then, legislative
blockbusters measures
improving the lot of nearly al)
Georgians are as rare as
passenger pigeons these days.
Gov. Perdue and the divided
Legislature have spent much
of their time fretting over
lesser bombshells, to w it:
The state budget:
Georgia government's spend
ing plan has turned into a
shell game. No one seems to
know how much money the
state has or will have or
Bill z.
Shipp A
how it is to be spent. Georg
ia's economy is in the dumps,
yet the Statehouse is basing
its spending plan on 8.4 per
cent growth. (That number is
not a typo; it is an outrage.)
The Perdue administration
started the session by mis
placing nearly S2OO million
in tax receipts, which the
Legislature found. Now
Perdue has discovered $57
million to save Medicaid
from the collapse forecast by
the governor s office. Such
preposterous antics have gone
on since January. Can any
body say "budget reform?"
Probably not in this childish
atmosphere.
Legislative redistrict
ing: This dominant item in
the General Assembly has lit
tle to do with you and me and
how we prosper or don't
prosper.
Banning gay marriage:
See redistricting.
Legislative ethics: See
redistricting and gay mar
riage.
For most of the past three
months, the governor and the
Legislature have performed a
long and excruciating ballet,
produced for but one audi
ence: themselves. State gov
ernment has become so
enthralled by its own process
es that it is overlooking the
rest of us who are pay ing for
these wasteful theatrics.
Oh. sure, the Legislature
propped up the HOPE schol-
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arship. Gov. Perdue's floor
leaders continued to undo
school reform. The Georgia
Chamber of Commerce, sud
denly the most powerful (but
unofficial) branch of state
government, demanded enact
ment of tort reform.
Tort reform? That phrase
reminds us of perhaps the
most striking but little-noted
tremor of this legislative ses
sion: Speaker Terry Coleman
fired Atticus Finch and
replaced him with a Gloria
Allred act-alike.
As you may know.
Democratic Rep. Tom
Bordeaux of Savannah comes
close to being a real-life
Atticus Finch, the fictitious
all-wise and fiercely coura
geous lawyer in "To Kill a
Mockingbird." House
Judiciary Chairman Bor
deaux. a.k.a. Atticus, al
lowed his courage to get the
better of his wisdom last
week. Bordeaux tried to stand
his ground against the House
Democratic leadership on
several items, including tort
reform. So Speaker Coleman
dismissed him as chairman of
the House Judiciary Com
mittee. arguably one of the
three or four most important
legislative committees.
He replaced Bordeaux
with quick-tempered and
acerbic Democratic Rep.
Mary Margaret Oliver, an
Atlanta attorney who fits the
style and manner of West
Coast legal lioness Gloria
Allred.
So why would a nice hoy
from Eastman pick an angry
Atlanta lawyer to replace a
really good guy from
Savannah?
The answer boils down to
this: The Age of Atticus
the white, liberal Democrat
is over. Stubbornly hang
ing onto the old Democratic
agenda (pro-choice, pro-gay
and. yes. pro-minority issues)
and fighting conservatives on
tort reform, faith-based initia
tives and "right-to-life" meas
ures are now passe activities.
Bordeaux could not seem
to comprehend that emerging
political reality and refused to
compromise, according to
sources very close to the
speaker. Despite Rep.
Oliver's public give-no-quar
ter persona, she understands
the message and is willing to
cooperate with the House's
leadership's survival plan, say
the same sources.
The Bordeaux-Oliver per
sonnel shift is emblematic of
the upheaval among white
Democratic officeholders in
the state. "Unless white
Democrats move to the center
of the political spectrum,
there won't be any white
Democrats left It is as simple
as that," say the sources.
If white Democrats disap
pear, black politicians, with
little hope of participating in
another majority coalition,
may find themselves trapped
back in an era when they had
to ask "Mister Charlie" when
they wanted something from
the Legislature. The whole
state may find itself reeling
backward to a reactionary and
bigoted time, if it indeed is
not already heading in that
direction.
Bill Shipp's column runs
each Sunday and Wednesday.
His e-mail address is
bshippist bellsouth.net.