Ethics and Good Government
Ethics and Good Government
Charlie has proposed a plan to root out corruption in government and the corporations and institutions that surround it.
* Term limits in the General Assembly (8 consecutive years)
o They will eliminate the temptation and ability of officials to build backroom networks for their own gain.
o They will continually rejuvenate the State House by injecting fresh faces and new ideas.
o They will eliminate the overpowering and undue influence of the special interests over members of government.
* Disclosure of every meeting between a lobbyist and elected official
o Rhode Islanders will have public access to see who lobbyists are meeting with, what bills they are lobbying for and to who's campaigns they are contributing.
o All information will be kept together by the Secretary of State through an online form.
o Lobbyists will fill out the form on a weekly basis. It will include who the meeting was held with, what the meeting was regarding, and what type of contact was made.
* Stronger revolving door laws
o Public officials will not be allowed to profit from any business or entity that they have regulated, funded or controlled for at least two years.
o General Officers and members of the General Assembly will not be able to become lobbyists for at least three years after they leave office.
* Increased financial disclosure
o Public Officials will be required to disclosure of all sources and amounts of income as well as the value of all of assets.
o In a sign of leadership and in the interest of open government, Charlie has already disclosed this information and challenged Governor Carcieri to do the same.
o Governor Carcieri has failed to meet Charlie's challenge and release this information..
Charlie's "2006 Public Accountability and Reform Act" has become law and will take immediate steps to fight corruption.
* Ethics training for public officials and lobbyists
* Annual lobbying reports by the Secretary of State to be made
available online
* Requiring all general officers to disclose amounts of income, not
just sources
* Reporting of campaign contributions to state and municipal officials
and PACs by lobbyists on lobbying reports
* Extending requirements for reporting of campaign contributions from state vendors to general assembly members in addition to general officers and providing this information on the Board of Elections website Requiring that members of the Ethics Commission are "independent"
from lobbyist.
As Governor, Charlie will build on his long record of working to make government more open and responsive.
* In the State Senate he led the fight to reform the state pension system.
* He has focused on initiatives to increase government accountability, tighten campaign finance laws and strengthen the state employee code of ethics.
* Charlie introduced legislation to stop the "revolving door" practice in which state elected officials would leave office and immediately move over to well-paid state jobs.
* Following disclosures about questionable use of state credit cards, Charlie passed legislation banning their use for personal business.
http://www.citizensforfogarty.com/index.php?Path=Public/[04]%20Issues/[6]%20Good%20Government&Language=en_us