KR: Dunno Much About Ethics Reform

On Wednesday, a bipartisan panel dropped a conflict-of-interest complaint against state Sen. Monty Pearce. And that’s an indictment of the Legislature’s ambiguous and weak ethical guidelines. After hearings that were marked by inter-party squabbling, the three Republicans and three Democrats eventually exonerated Pearce, R-New Plymouth. They agreed that there was no evidence that Pearce would profit from industry-backed oil and gas regulations, even though Pearce holds oil and gas leases on his ranch. [0x14]The committee also concluded that Pearce was not in a unique position to capitalize on oil and gas drilling and was instead one of a large number of leaseholders in Payette and Washington counties. More importantly, the committee and Pearce found common ground on an important point. Pearce should have disclosed his leases sooner — not on the Senate floor, just before a 24-10 vote sent the oil and gas regulations to Gov. Butch Otter’s desk/ Kevin Richert , Idaho Statesman. More here.

Question: Do you think the public is fed up with all the ethics slips of the Idaho Legislature? Or is it simply too apathetic to care?