Conferees OK Sweeping Legislative Ethics Measure

SACRAMENTO —  In a move to clean up the Legislature’s image, leaders of both parties reached agreement Tuesday on a wide-ranging ethics plan that would ban honorariums for legislators while setting the stage for a hefty pay raise.

The proposed constitutional amendment, which would be placed before the voters next June, is designed to curtail a variety of practices that have brought criticism on lawmakers in recent years.

Among its provisions, the measure would limit the acceptance of gifts by legislators, restrict lobbying by former lawmakers for a year and require legislative committees to hold their meetings in public.

The new ethical standards for legislators would be linked to the creation of an independent salary commission that would have the sole authority to decide on the level of compensation lawmakers should receive.

Legislators now receive $40,816 a year plus a tax-free expense allowance of $88 a day. Some legislators have suggested that their salaries should be more in line with the $84,765 paid to Superior Court judges.

“It’s a great deal of movement forward on legislation which will open up the process of the Legislature and will restore a degree of confidence on the part of the people that our compensation primarily comes from them,” said Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), author of the measure.

By a vote of 5 to 0, a two-house conference committee that included the legislative leadership of both parties adopted a final version of the proposed constitutional amendment. The measure now goes to the Assembly and Senate, where it must be ratified by a two-thirds vote in each house before it can go on the ballot.

Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), a committee member, did not cast a vote for the constitutional amendment, saying he wanted to study the final version. But later, the Speaker pledged through a spokesman to sponsor the measure on the Assembly floor.

Legislative leaders hope the measure will improve the image of the Legislature, which has been tarnished by a lengthy federal investigation into political corruption. So far, Sen. Joseph B. Montoya (D-Whittier) has been indicted on charges of racketeering, extortion and money-laundering. At least five other elected officials continue to be subjects of the probe.

Gifts and Payments

Montoya and many other legislators have regularly accepted thousands of dollars in honorariums, gifts and other payments from special-interest groups that stand to benefit from the Legislature’s actions.

Although the conference committee took steps to end many perceived abuses by lawmakers, they balked at adopting conflict-of-interest provisions for legislators that now apply to local elected officials throughout the state.

Under existing law, legislators are prohibited from voting on matters that affect their own financial interests. However, there is no penalty for violations.

California Common Cause, the citizens lobbying group, urged the conference committee to remove the legislators’ exemption from penalties. Instead, the panel included a vague provision requiring the Legislature to enact a statute to “strengthen the enforcement of existing laws.”

Loose Ends

In fact, many of the provisions of the constitutional amendment would require the Legislature’s adoption of statutes to spell out details of the new ethics standards.

Roberti said he expects the Legislature to pass at least four bills well before next June’s election defining such matters as the ban on honorariums, the limit on gifts and the open-meeting laws.

“The constitutional amendment is very important, but it’s the first step,” Roberti said.

Demonstrating the delicate nature of the conference committee’s deliberations, the panel included the top leadership of both houses. Roberti, Brown, Assembly GOP Leader Ross Johnson and Senate Republican Caucus Chairman John Doolittle were among those on the committee. Senate Republican Leader Ken Maddy also sat in on most of the deliberations.

Specifically, the proposal would:

* Prohibit members of the Legislature from accepting honorariums.

* Require the Legislature to enact laws banning or limiting legislators’ acceptance of gifts from sources that have an interest in legislation.

* Prohibit legislative committees from meeting in private except to discuss personnel matters, security or litigation.

* Prohibit former lawmakers from lobbying the Legislature for a year after leaving office. Current members of the Legislature, however, would be exempt from the ban.

* Ban legislators from receiving income from a lobbyist or lobbying firm. However, income earned by a legislator’s spouse would not be covered by the prohibition.