State lawmakers target lobbying

BOISE – A North Idaho senator is co-sponsoring a bipartisan bill that would add more transparency to legislative lobbying by clarifying what lobbying is and which conversations lobbyists are required to report.

“The general public realizes that there are lobbying efforts going on at all levels of government,” said Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint. “They expect that sunshine is shining on those efforts.”

Senate Bill 1365 changes existing law to say that lobbyist conversations about legislation with all holders of public office – such as the governor, attorney general and secretary of state – must be reported, rather than conversations with only legislators. A hearing for the bill will be held before the Senate State Affairs Committee on Monday.

“The governor signs all the bills,” said Sen. Kate Kelly, D-Boise, another bill backer. “People lobby him, too, and it’s appropriate that they should be reporting that.”

Three members of Senate GOP leadership are co-sponsors of the bill.

Kelly said incidents last year with former state Sen. Jack Noble, who resigned last year on the verge of a Senate vote to expel him for ethics violations, and with Gov. Dirk Kempthorne encouraged her to look into ways of improving government transparency.

“I don’t want to appear to be making any allegations, but there’s bills obviously coming (from Kempthorne’s desk) that have to do with people who are involved in campaigns and lobbying,” Kelly said.

Kempthorne’s spokesman, Mike Journee, said the governor has many conversations with many people about a variety of legislative topics.

“I don’t know if the governor considers those conversations lobbying or not,” Journee said.

The governor’s office hasn’t looked at SB 1365 yet, but Journee said Kempthorne is open to the legislation.

“The governor is eager to talk, to deliberate on those issues. We’ll let the legislative process work,” Journee said.

Kelly said the bill is not in response to a recent incident regarding Kempthorne’s former chief of staff, Phil Reberger.

Reberger recently registered as a lobbyist after the secretary of state’s office opened a formal investigation into whether he was acting as a lobbyist for Unisys Corp., the Virginia-based company recently awarded a contract with the state to begin managing state Medicaid claims in 2008.

At the time, Reberger wasn’t registered as a lobbyist.

Kelly said the incident merely raised awareness about an already pressing issue.

Sen. David Langhorst, D-Boise, echoed that comment.

“Believe me when I tell you this wasn’t geared at any individual,” Langhorst said.

Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis of Idaho Falls, Assistant Majority Leader Joe Stegner of Lewiston and Majority Caucus Chairman Brad Little of Emmett joined Keough, Langhorst and Kelly in sponsoring the bill.

Langhorst said the bill’s bipartisan support increases its chances of passing, but he added, “Don’t underestimate how hard it is to get ethics legislation passed up here.”

The changes in SB 1365 are matched by current law in many other states, Kelly said.

“It’s not like we’re on the cutting edge or anything,” she said.

Keough said the bill is just one of many the Legislature will look at this session regarding ethics and transparency.

“We have a great system of government, and part of keeping our system of government alive and healthy is making sure that everything’s out in the light of day,” Keough said.