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Oregon House endorses bill calling for renaming
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 | No comments posted.
SALEM (AP) - They're putting the “ethics” back in Oregon's ethics watchdog agency - in name at least.
On Tuesday, the Oregon House unanimously endorsed and sent to the Senate a bill to officially give back the panel its old name of Oregon Government Ethics Commission.
That would undo a decision made in 1993 when the Legislature, upset by what it considered the commission's overly aggressive investigations of lawmakers, opted for the more bland sounding Government Standards and Practices Commission.
This year, a lot of emphasis is being given to beefing up the commission - and strengthening Oregon's ethics laws over public officials - in the wake of disclosures about a group of lawmakers failing to report lobbyist-paid trips to Hawaii and other locales.
House Majority Leader Dave Hunt on Tuesday called the bill giving the commission back its old name a “common-sense” move to help restore public faith in Oregon's ethics laws.
“It's symbolic on the one hand. But it is also focused on helping the public understand the commission's job,” he said.
He noted that lawmakers also are preparing to increase the commission's budget to $933,000 for the coming two years to allow the panel to hire two more employees to help enforce ethics laws and lobbyist regulations.
On Tuesday, the Oregon House unanimously endorsed and sent to the Senate a bill to officially give back the panel its old name of Oregon Government Ethics Commission.
That would undo a decision made in 1993 when the Legislature, upset by what it considered the commission's overly aggressive investigations of lawmakers, opted for the more bland sounding Government Standards and Practices Commission.
This year, a lot of emphasis is being given to beefing up the commission - and strengthening Oregon's ethics laws over public officials - in the wake of disclosures about a group of lawmakers failing to report lobbyist-paid trips to Hawaii and other locales.
House Majority Leader Dave Hunt on Tuesday called the bill giving the commission back its old name a “common-sense” move to help restore public faith in Oregon's ethics laws.
“It's symbolic on the one hand. But it is also focused on helping the public understand the commission's job,” he said.
He noted that lawmakers also are preparing to increase the commission's budget to $933,000 for the coming two years to allow the panel to hire two more employees to help enforce ethics laws and lobbyist regulations.
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