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timeswv.com

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Published: January 21, 2010 03:53 am

House passes ethics reporting bill

By Lawrence Messina
Associated Press Writer

CHARLESTON — West Virginia’s public servants would disclose more about their financial holdings and outside jobs, and for the first time report the same details about their spouses, under legislation advanced Wednesday to the state Senate.

The bill passed unanimously by the House of Delegates would also prevent an array of officials from becoming lobbyists for one year after leaving public service. Delegates amended the bill Wednesday to extend that provision to the state’s elected executive branch officers, while rejecting a bid to apply it to political party chairs.

The House also called on officials to disclose whenever they or their spouses are directors or officers for nonprofit groups. A third approved amendment would have disclosures posted online, starting next year with statewide officials.

The state Ethics Commission oversees the disclosure filings of officials, fielding more than 3,500 annually. It requested the bulk of the measure, after the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity flunked the state for its disclosure standards.

Commission Executive Director Theresa Kirk welcomed the vote. While commission members have yet to weigh in the amendments, Kirk said they generally support “changes intended to strengthen the Ethics Act.”

“I think they will be most appreciative” of the House’s embrace of what they recommended, Kirk said.

Those key elements would require officials to report specific kinds of assets that they or their spouses held: privately owned businesses, commercial real estate and stocks, bonds and other securities not held in mutual funds or retirement accounts that they don’t direct themselves.

The new language sets the reporting threshold at assets worth $10,000 or more. The law now requires a listing of business interests worth more than $10,000, and does not include spouses.

More . . .

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Kudos to WV for passing this bill. I wish all other states would also adopt similar bills.  Often the special interests and conflicts are sitting in the spouses name.

Separate but related..

I believe there is a need for real cleanup of the different types of corporation possible and major reporting requirements for those that are tax exempt - specific information on source and use of funds should be clearly available for people to look up easily on any non-profit corporation's home page.  I am very leery of non-profits in general but there are good honest non-profits.. The bad ones simply muddy the waters greatly.


-- Edited by Sanders on Thursday 28th of January 2010 04:19:12 PM