The House State Affairs Committee has approved legislation from Speaker Lawerence Denney making changes in the House's ethics rules, and sent it on to the full House for a vote, where it needs two-thirds approval to pass. The key change: Clarifying that "any member" of the House, not just "any person," can file an ethics complaint against another member.

This year, the House received two ethics complaints from citizens, one from Hayden businessman Howard Griffiths, a write-in candidate this year against Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, against Hart; and one from Hart supporter Larry Spencer against Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, who had filed an ethics complaint against Hart. Both were found to be without basis and "frivolous."

"I think that those were both political, and that's one of the things I would like to stop with this, by changing this," Denney said after the committee meeting. "If there's a legitimate ethics complaint, I think we're going to be the first ones that want to prosecute it." Plus, he said if he received a legitimate ethics complaint from someone outside the House, he'd file it himself. Denney said, "When you get one that complains about somebody for complaining about somebody, i think that's a little bit outside."

The ethics rule had been interpreted by the Idaho attorney general's office as applying only to members already, because it's part of the internal rules of the House - which apply to the House. Denney noted that the Senate's rule is similar, and instead of "any person," it says, "any senator."

The proposed rule change also "clarifies some of the things that we need to take care of so that everyone is treated fairly," Denney told the committee. It gives the target of a complaint the opportunity to write a written response, which already has been the practice; requires complaints to be confidential until an Ethics Committee has found probable cause to look into them; and requires the Ethics Committee to meet in executive session until it's found probable cause, at which point the process would become open. That's in accordance with a separate House rule that already permitted closed sessions for preliminary reviews of ethics complaints, Denney said. The change also adds a provision, which Denney said was added in consultation with House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, to cover ethics violations for "conduct unbecoming a member of the House."