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No such thing as a free lunch? The adage is accepted everywhere but the Indiana General Assembly, where lawmakers insist they can accept a free lunch – and dinner, golf, a luxury suite at sporting events, resort travel and more – with no expectations attached.
Hoosier voters know better. The gifts come from groups and industries with deep pockets and an enduring interest in influencing public policy. They buy access not available to the general public, allowing special interests to exert undue influence over laws that affect us all.
Lawmakers insist otherwise, but policy is clearly shaped by the big spenders. Baffling alcoholic beverage laws? Anheuser-Busch, Monarch Beverage and the Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers combined spent more than $250,000 on lobbying expenses between November 2008 and May 2009. A gambling industry that rivals Nevada and New Jersey? The Casino Association of Indiana, Centaur, Blue Chip Casino and Harrah’s combined to spend more than $386,000 in the same period – just a fraction of the lobbying expenses related to casino gambling.
Economic recession notwithstanding, lobbyists spent more than $25.8 million in the last annual reporting period. Why? Because money buys Statehouse access; access buys influence.
This page has championed tighter restrictions on lobbyists for years, to little effect. Now we stand with the Indianapolis Star and 21 other Indiana newspapers to call for ethics reform in the 2010 session.
The power to change lies entirely with the General Assembly. To his credit, Gov. Mitch Daniels tightened restrictions on the executive branch when he took office, including a prohibition on employees leaving their jobs directly for a lobbying post. The state’s judicial community has a stringent code of conduct. But members of the General Assembly have long clung to their citizen-legislator status to claim exemption from a similar professional code.
Indiana received an “F” from the Center for Public Integrity in its most recent survey of financial disclosure laws. While other states have restricted gifts, barred lawmakers from moving directly from the Statehouse to a lobbying job and required more detailed reporting of lobbying activities, Indiana’s legislative leaders have responded to calls for reform by taking umbrage at the very suggestion they might be bought. They’ve quashed revolving-door limits by arguing they don’t want to limit a colleague’s right to earn a living.
Clearly, they recognize they have much to lose, particularly when it comes with the endless supply of pricey meals and hard-to-score tickets.
The bounty falls primarily to two camps: lawmakers with clout, as caucus leaders or committee chairman; and legislators who are eager to do the bidding of interest groups in carrying or supporting legislation.
The former represent the biggest stumbling block to ethics reform. Not only do they reap the best of the perks, but they also control whether any ethics bill succeeds. House Speaker Patrick Bauer and Senate President Pro Tem David Long have both expressed support for ethics reform in the upcoming session, but there are countless ways for the legislation to be rendered unacceptable along the way.
Not all lawmakers are enthusiastic players in the free-for-alls. Rep. Phyllis Pond, R-New Haven, has repeatedly offered legislation to end revolving-door practices and unrestricted gift-giving. Lobby registration records show the last gift she accepted was a movie pass from the Allied Theatre Owners in 2006.
Rep. Win Moses, D-Fort Wayne, also declines most invites. He said he has since reimbursed a $156 dinner paid for by Duke Energy representatives this year, the only gift recorded for him. Moses also has taken the unusual step of alerting the Indiana Energy Association that he will not accept campaign contributions from the lobby group’s members, even though his post as chairman of the House’s Commerce, Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee would make him an attractive candidate for the organization’s support.
But Pond and Moses are the exceptions rather than the rule when it comes to ethical standards. Rep. David Wolkins, R-Winona Lake, boldly defends the $3,200 in tickets and lodging he accepted to attend golf tournaments, Pacers games and more in a one-year period. “In my 20 years, I’ve gained a lot of friends in the lobbying community,” he told the Star. “They know that I like sporting events.”
Wolkins is a likable guy, but his benefactors are looking for more than friendship. It’s long past time for the General Assembly to raise its standards by approving long-overdue ethics reform.
