Ralston’s ethics proposal would be a significant step forward
It took public pressure from GOP and Democratic primary voters and a few years of cajoling (and, yes, lobbying), but the ethics reform package unveiled today by Speaker David Ralston represents a...
View ArticleIn defense of Georgia’s tax-credit scholarships
This month the Wingfield household, like millions of others across America, has received a growing number of tax documents. Among them are forms certifying that we gave $50 to this charity or $100 to...
View ArticleEthics quandary at the Gold Dome: What’s a lobbyist?
Of all possible obstacles to ethics reform, who thought the biggest one would be defining the word “lobbyist”? Yet, that’s where we stand today. For years, the biggest obstacle was getting legislators...
View ArticleOne message minority voters already sent Georgia’s GOP
The GOP’s post-election listening tour comes to Atlanta today, with a twist. Reince Preibus, the recently re-elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, is scheduled to meet this afternoon...
View ArticleWith House on verge of ethics reform, give Ralston his due
It’s dangerous to heap too much praise on an unfinished product, particularly when there’s still politics to play out. But with a major ethics bill headed for likely passage in the Georgia House of...
View ArticleDon’t move backward on school choice
Gerard Robinson recalls the first time people called on legislators to put income limits on Georgia’s tax-credit scholarships. He was one of them. “When the coalition in Georgia worked to create” the...
View ArticleHow to bridge the gap between House, Senate on ethics bill
A ban on lobbyist-to-legislator gifts with several big exceptions, or a $100 cap with fewer exceptions? That’s the main question legislators must answer by midnight Thursday if they are going to pass...
View ArticleMost important bill of 2013? A river runs through it
The final day of the legislative session is upon us, with a variety of high-profile bills from guns to ethics to education yet to be decided. But legislators already have taken what could become one of...
View ArticleEthics bill isn’t perfect, but it is progress
It appears we have an ethics bill. Speaker David Ralston just confirmed from the House side what the AJC had heard from senators earlier today. Namely, that the two sides, urged along by Gov. Nathan...
View ArticleThis ethics bill is hardly a stopping point
Shortly before the 2013 legislative session ended, the House and Senate passed an ethics bill by a combined vote of 225-0. Such overwhelming, bipartisan actions often are hailed. Should this one be?...
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