It was mentioned yesterday, but Attorney General Dustin McDaniel’s House reception for his ethics legislation is worth noting. Speaker Robbie Wills didn’t get where he is without considering his members. He’s consigning the bills to oblivion in House Rules. Why? Simple. Too many members want to convert to lobbyists when their terms are limited and too many of them don’t want to give up using lobbyists’ credit cards to pay for drinks, meals and who knows what else.
The House, again, is living down to its reputation.
UPDATE: Still more on lax ethical standards in the House and on the part of Speaker Wills: Roby Brock notes new Wills’ legislation that would specifically allow people with financial conflicts of interest to oversee the coming of state investment in private enterprise, an idea so fraught with peril that it should be accompanied by the highest possible ethical standards. Not in the Arkansas House.