Alabama Gets Serious about Ethics and Lobbying Reform
One isn't giving away state secrets to note that Alabama has historically been regarded as the political Wild West when it came to campaign finance, lobbying and ethics reform. Recent high profile criminal indictments and guilty pleas involving legislators and lobbyists alike have certainly helped solidify that reputation. Now, with a press announcement giving nod to Alabama's -- shall we say -- checkered penal past, Alabama Governor Bob Riley can claim triumph in transitioning Alabama from having "some of the weakest ethics and public corruption laws in the country to some of the strongest."
Earlier this month, pursuant to powers afforded by the Constitution of Alabama, the governor called the Alabama Legislature into Extraordinary Session to provide him with comprehensive Political Law reform. On December 16th, the Legislature adjourned having provided Governor Riley with the legislation he was seeking. In a photo op on December 20, surrounded by Boy Scouts whose stern little faces showed how serious their Governor is about corruption reform, Governor Riley signed seven separate pieces of legislation including provisions "to ban PAC-to-PAC transfers, put the first-ever limits on what lobbyists and those who hire lobbyists can spend on public officials, grant the Alabama Ethics Commission subpoena power, ban pass-through pork spending and double dipping by legislators, end taxpayer funding of political activity for special interest groups, and require lobbyists who lobby the executive branch to register and file disclosures."
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