by Maggie Lee / Staff

Experts on good behavior have been invited into the state House spotlight, but it is left to Ethics Committee Chair Joe Wilkinson (R-Sandy Springs) and his panel colleagues to balance voters’ expectations with human nature in a bill to clean up the Legislature’s image.

“One bad apple has spoiled the perception of the whole barrel,” said Wilkinson, (emphasis his) during a recent interview. 

He was, of course, alluding to ex-House Speaker Glenn Richardson, the Paulding Republican who swiftly departed the House in December after his ex-wife went to the media with threatening texts from him, as well as e-mails confirming his long-rumored affair with an Atlanta Gas Light lobbyist. 

“I think the people of Georgia need to know we are doing what is right,” Wilkinson said at the start of what will probably be several days of committee hearings. With several bills already in the House, some kind of ethics legislation probably will be passed this session.

“I’m not saying I’m for or against caps [on gifts]; I’m listening to everybody and all sides,” Wilkinson said, pointing out that the job is too important to rush.

The veteran compared the reform job to a naval “stand down” – when chiefs catch a bad process, get the crew together on the ship and review the rules and regulations.  If “the manual could be written in a better way, there’s a better way to teach, you go through the procedure, back up and recommend those changes,” he said.

HOW INFLUENTIAL?

One of the first things a Capitol visitor notices are the crowds of people wearing pastel picture IDs bearing a giant red word: “Lobbyist.”  This year, 1,581 lobbyists — representing groups from the Sierra Club to the Georgia Highway Contractors Association — are registered at the Capitol, and there’s concern about their influence over the 236 legislators.

“I urge you to pass a limitation on the size of gifts that lobbyists can give,” testified Bob Irvin. For 18 years, he was a Republican State Representative from Roswell and now he’s state chair of Common Cause, a nonpartisan nonprofit that aims to make government more transparent and accountable. “If it was just me, I would pick a limit of about $50.” 

Decatur Democratic Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, author of four bills on ethics reform this session, also prefers a low cap, somewhere around $25. 

But reform is not as simple as limiting gifts, argued Robert Highsmith, a prominent Republican ethics attorney whose clients have included Gov. Sonny Perdue and Wilkinson. 

“I suggest [that] before you increase restrictions on the money flow coming into the political process — campaign contributions — think about where it’s going to go,” he said. “It’s going to go somewhere,” he added, comparing the flow of funds to the dripping of water into a house with a leaky roof.

Oliver countered: “I like your image of water through the roof, but I’m not as fond of the mold issue. Even if it will always be true that money will its find its way … I think it’s our obligation to do what we have to moderate the influence of money.”  

She and Rep. Wendall Willard (R-Sandy Springs) argue that politicians leaving the job, such as Richardson, should be required to donate leftover campaign money to bona fide charities.

The language there — “bona fide” and “charities” — is important. Perdue’s political action committee, for example, picked up $400,000 in donations even after the election that made him a lame duck. As a registered nonprofit, his PAC now can spend the money as it likes.   

There’s talk of lowering contribution caps, coming up with a clear definition of “lobbyist” and “conflict of interest” and deciding how often lobbyists should file disclosures.

On the last point, Wilkinson said he already has House and Senate support for a rule to make lobbyists e-file gift reports within 24 hours during the session. Showing a Blackberry on his desk, he said: “Here it is — even I carry one of these.”  Reports already appear almost immediately on the State Ethics Commission’s website. Citizens can see the data and decide for themselves, Wilkinson said. 

Some compromise bill is likely to come out of the House this session, but only after more committee hearings, in a search for the right fix, not just a quick fix.  Wilkinson’s ears are still open. 

OFFENSIVE PERCEPTION

He and Oliver, however, already agree on one point:  Most legislators find it offensive that the public thinks they’re for sale, especially for the price of a meal.

Wilkinson was the House Ethics Committee chair during the years when many Capitol habitues were convinced of the Speaker’s affair with the AGL lobbyist.   

“‘Everybody knows it is not evidence,” Wilkinson said, turning up his palms. The House Ethics Committee can investigate only those complaints received from legislators or their staffs, and he received no official complaint or evidence. 

Wilkinson wouldn’t, however, expand the powers of the committee, likening it to a judge who hears cases. If he had more powers, he said, it would be like a judge going out to seek cases.

Besides, “with everything that happened with Speaker Richardson, what law could you have on the books?” Wilkinson asked.  “It goes back to Aristotle: How would you legislate morality?”

But within days of the TV evidence of Richardson’s conduct, Wilkinson was able to gather nearly twice as many Republican signatures as he needed to force a caucus vote of no-confidence on Richardson. Two other Republicans, it turned out, independently did the same. Richardson chose to resign rather than fight. 

Wilkinson already goes about some ethics issues with quiet diplomacy, calming squabbling legislators or working with colleagues in trouble for unpaid taxes. In the House there are three delinquents — Representatives Al Williams (D-Midway) and Roberta Abdul-Salaam (D-Riverdale) are on the public record for wage garnishments. The tax problems of the third, Willard said, he is trying to handle with care and deliberation because he’s the test case on a law passed only last spring. The delinquent legislators have until Feb. 14 to satisfy the Department of Revenue for 2009 taxes.  After that, Revenue must report any left out of line to Willard’s committee.

Though it’s legal now, Willard wants the removal of any Representative under a wage garnishment for taxes.

NEARLY ALL ARE HONEST

Rather than being necessarily corruptive influences, Wilkinson said, lobbyists provide valuable, practical information. Ninety nine point nine percent of them are honest, he emphasized during a long, thoughtful interview.

And the Legislature was never like a “frat house” — GOP gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel’s choice of words last year. Wilkinson said he knew what she was talking about, but that she painted with a “broad brush” – too broad.

What it comes down to, Wilkinson said, is a legislator’s personal code of ethics.  A lot depends on the thin tissue of conscience.

Imagine a legislator writes a bill to ban four –wheel, all-terrain vehicles for being unsafe, Wilkinson said. It’s legal for a lobbyist for the four -wheeler industry to invite the legislator and his wife for a tour of a Las Vegas plant to show how safe the vehicles actually are. It’s also legal for the manufacturer to lodge the couple in a nice hotel and give them tickets to shows.

It becomes illegal only when the manufacturer clearly offers a quid pro quo: a gift in exchange for a legislative favor. Wilkinson said it’s never happened to him.

“I’ve refused travel because it’s my belief … the bar that I’ve set,” he said. “I’d tell the four-wheeler guy to put me in touch with his safety manager — just send me a link, send me a DVD.”