INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Medical Licensing Board on Thursday lifted the emergency suspension of a Fort Wayne oncologist who in January was charged with leading police on a high-speed chase while having illegal drugs in his system.COLUMBUS, Ohio – A federal court has struck down an Ohio law that has required former state lawmakers to wait a year before lobbying their old colleagues.
The decision could affect similar legislation currently moving through the Indiana General Assembly. The one-year cooling-off period is the centerpiece of ethics overhaul packages from both the Indiana House and Indiana Senate.
In recent years the number of lawmakers leaving office – sometimes in the middle of their term – to immediately lobby the legislature has increased.
“We’ll take our chances,” said Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne. “It’s important for a period of time to pass. To me, it eliminates any perception of conflict of interest.”
House Bill 1001, which contains the provision, is set for a final vote in the Senate next week before lawmakers from both chambers would have to work out differences on the bill.
In Ohio, the U.S. District Court ruled in favor of former state Rep. Tom Brinkman Jr., a Cincinnati Republican who left the legislature at the end of 2008. He brought a lawsuit when he wanted to immediately start lobbying on behalf of an anti-tax group he founded but was barred from doing so under the state law.
In Wednesday’s ruling, Chief Judge Susan Dlott of U.S. District Court writes that the state failed to show the one-year waiting period addressed its concerns about corruption.
Brinkman says winning the case is “a great feeling.”
State officials are reviewing the ruling, which can be appealed to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Niki Kelly of The Journal Gazette contributed to this story.
