Ethics Commission Changes Recommended
The Sunset Advisory Commission took a close look at the ethics panel. Photo courtesy Lara Eakins at flickr.com/rhubarble/The state agency that oversees campaign finance disclosures is under the microscope. Changes to the Texas Ethics Commission were recommended this morning by the Sunset Advisory Commission.
The government watchdog group Public Citizen says reviewers dropped the ball when they didn’t require candidates to disclose their personal finances online. Smitty Smith with Public Citizen says much of the discussion there focused on fears of kidnapping for ransom if people knew how much money a lawmaker made.
“In 44 states personal financial disclosures are available to anybody who goes to the ethics agency and looks it up. And in 13 they’re online,” Smith said. “And to the best of my knowledge there’s not been a single kidnapping of a legislator’s kid in a state where these disclosures are online.”
You can actually already access that information in Texas, but you have to file a public information request.
The sunset recommendations will be filed as a bill for the legislative session that starts in January.
