Ethics bills went nowhere in Carson City

According to the Review-Journal’s Laura Myers, Democratic leaders of the Nevada Legislature celebrated the end of the 2011 session with $400 bottles of Dom Perignon champagne.

If those bottles were paid for by a lobbyist, the chances are we’ll be able to find out who, by scanning expense reports due to the Legislative Counsel Bureau within 30 days from the close of the session.

But if a lobbyist wanted to shower a lawmaker with champagne 31 days after the session ended, he or she could do so in total anonymity.

That’s because public ethics took a beating at the 2011 Legislature, as bills aimed at promoting good behavior — or just documenting the exercise of influence — died, usually without much notice.

One of those bills, state Sen. Sheila Leslie’s Senate Bill 206, would have required lobbyists to disclose all spending on lawmakers when the Legislature is out of session. Currently, lobbyists are only required to report spending on lawmakers 30 days before, during and 30 days after a legislative session.

That’s how Poker Stars was able to treat Assemblyman William Horne, chairman of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, and Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson to a trip to London to observe the company in action; or to treat Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford to a holiday in the Bahamas to attend a convention.

Because those trips were outside the reporting window, they won’t ever be reported. And because Leslie’s bill died in the Assembly Legislative Operations and Elections Committee, we’ll remain in the dark.

That wasn’t the only setback. A proposal contained in a campaign finance reform bill would have required lawmakers to wait for two years before becoming lobbyists and returning to ask their former colleagues for favors.

During an April 7 hearing on the bill, however, Horne objected to that provision.

“There are lobbyists in this building representing Clark County, the City of Las Vegas, the City of Henderson, Washoe County, etc,” Horne said. “They represent taxpayers. Now you would be telling them that someone who may have served in this body, who knows the process, the legislators, and how to get legislation passed to benefit those taxpayers, cannot bring that expertise to bear on behalf of the taxpayers.”

Yes, that’s precisely what the bill was saying: A former lawmaker cannot sell his or her “knowledge of the process, the legislators and how to get legislation passed” to the highest bidder once he or she is done with public service. It hearkens back to that whole public trust thing.

Speaking of public trust, state ethics laws start out with a simple statement: “A public office is a public trust and shall be held for the sole benefit of the people. A public officer or employee must commit himself or herself to avoid conflicts between the private interests of the public officer or employee and those of the general public whom the public officer or employee serves.”

But this being Nevada, the law goes on to essentially legalize conflicts of interest. Take state Sen. Allison Copening: She took a job with a homeowners association while overseeing the passage of legislation that affects homeowners associations. Instead of committing herself to avoid conflicts, Copening actually maximized them. It must be said that Copening is hardly the only lawmaker to violate at least the spirit of the ethic law, nor is she even close to being the worst violator. But the public can’t have confidence their lawmakers are making just decisions when they are being paid by players on one side of an issue.

Whatever else the 2011 Legislature accomplished, plenty of work remains when it comes to public ethics.

Steve Sebelius is author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/SteveSebelius or reach him at 387-5276 or SSebelius@reviewjournal.com.