By Maggie Lee / Staff

A bill that would limit Georgia Insurance commissioners from accepting campaign contributions and gifts from insurance companies passed a House subcommittee last week.

And the author, Rep. Austin Scott (R-Tifton) said it's not a swipe at his rival for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine.

Scott's legislation would completely ban campaign donations from insurance companies to their commissioner, no matter what office the commissioner is seeking.

It also requires that the commissioner disclose any gifts received by he or family from an insurance company or executive.

This bill, as massaged to pass subcommittee, nearly matches gift and donation rules for members of the Public Service Commission, the body that regulates utilities.

Ethics laws already prevent incumbent politicians from accepting campaign donations from businesses they regulate, but Scott has alleged that existing language is too fuzzy.

In fact, the legislator claims the Ox has accepted $1.2 million in campaign dollars that blur the lines of the Ethics in Government Act.

The ban only applies to top company officers and employees, not, for example, all of the thousands of employees of State Farm.

But, noted Rep. Rusty Kidd (I- Milledgeville), bosses have been known give bonuses to funnel campaign money through employees.

"My father [state Sen. Culver Kidd] used to do it in the company he had. I said, 'Dad, you've got to stop this. You're going to get into trouble.' And so he stopped it."

When Scott filed the bill earlier this year, Oxendine, who leads GOP gubernatorial polls, called it politically motivated.
Scott demurs.

"If it was a dirty trick, I'd have made him return what he's already taken," said the legislator.

The bill is expected to get a full hearing at the House Committee on Governmental Affairs this session.