FEBRUARY 26TH, 2008 | Polis for Congress
Court revives rules without instruction
By Jennifer Brown
Colorado lawmakers and government workers were tossed back into confusion Monday when the state Supreme Court reinstated what some consider an ambiguous and invasive ethics law.
The court ruled it was premature to toss out Amendment 41 because a panel to hear alleged violations is not yet in place, but justices did not clarify how far the ethics-in-government measure’s power stretches.
While supporters of the measure celebrated the news, inside the Capitol there was widespread annoyance at the court for not clearing up the voter-approved law’s obscurity.
Legislators once again were struggling to interpret Amendment 41, wondering whether they should eat at a bankers’ association luncheon Monday or cancel a trip to a convention.
“The Supreme Court punted,” said House Minority Leader Mike May of Parker. “They sidestepped. We’ll be in limbo for a while.”
Colorado Common Cause executive director Jenny Flanagan, one of the amendment’s chief supporters, accused critics of pouring on the hysteria.
“This was their campaign tactic from Day One,” she said. “They were rejected on Election Day and they were rejected again today. All of those fears that were put out there were mere speculation.”
Amendment 41 was supported by 60 percent of voters in November 2006.
Congressional candidate Jared Polis, the measure’s main financial backer, said the ruling upholds the “will of the people” for strong ethics reform and “begins to erode the power that special interests and lobbyists have on government.”
The law — put on temporary hold by a Denver District Court judge last May — prohibits lawmakers from accepting anything from lobbyists and anything worth more than $50 from anyone else. It also bans state, county and city workers from accepting gifts worth more than $50.
Ask Jared a question!
