Utah Voters - Snookered Again

Ex-legislators can still register as lobbyists, it seems, immediately after losing or vacating their seats

By Curmudgeon

Well, we [the voters] have been snookered yet again by Utah's Republican legislative majority. Remember the ethics reform package that passed this term? The one papers like the Standard-Examiner thought involved, at best, minimal reform but was at least a start in that direction? And remember one of the lynchpins of that so-called reform was that it banned former legislators from lobbying the legislature for at least a year after they left the house or senate? It closed "the revolving door" for at least a year?

Well, guess what? It didn't. The bill the boys in Salt Lake passed has a loophole which permits former legislators to register as lobbyists immediately after leaving the house or senate. No delay at all. The SL Trib has the story in one of its lead editorials this morning:

• Revolving door - Lobbyist law may have a loophole

Rep. Brad Dee [R-Washington Terrace], one of the bill's lead sponsors, insists the loophole was not intended. That it was inadvertent. A mis-understanding. He needs to talk to Sen. Bramble [Troglodyte, Provo]. If the boys are going to sell this scam to the public, they need to get their stories straight. Here's Bramble on the loophole:

Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, tells The Tribune that he believes "most legislators were" aware of the loophole. "The bill was plain on its face."

So, the great ethics reform bill [politely so called] was a sham. And Rep. Dee either didn't understand what was in his own bill, or [as Sen. Bramble, one of Dee's party's own legislative leaders, implies] he did know what the bill said and would do, and so is now not being honest when he claims he didn't.

Yes, ex-legislators can still register as lobbyists, it seems, immediately after losing or vacating their seats. What a surprise....