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Gift-limiting ethics reform faces steep odds
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Errin Haines
Associated Press Writer
Updated: Feb 7, 2012, 8:00 PM
Published: Feb 7, 2012, 2:14 PM

ATLANTA — In a symbolic scene, state Sen. Josh McKoon stood alone Monday to announce an ethics bill that would cap lobbyist gifts at $100 and set a limit of $750 for travel, meals and accommodations for conferences and speaking engagements for lawmakers.

While eight Republican senators have signed onto Senate Bill 391, filed hours earlier, most are fairly new, and none of the signatures include the Senate's top leadership — raising concerns about the prospects for the bill's passage this session. A bill filed last week in the House with the support of Speaker David Ralston makes no mention of gift caps, focusing instead on changes to the ethics board's rule-making authority.

McKoon said setting a limit on gifts is at the center of the discussion on ethics reform, and should be the priority.

"It's clear that Georgians are out of line with the rest of the country," McKoon said. "We are having a crisis of confidence in our state. We have a cloud over everything we are doing."

The Columbus Republican campaigned on ethics reform in 2010 and called his legislation "a first step" towards restoring that confidence. McKoon said that Georgia is one of three that does not set some limit on lobbyist gifts, and that lobbyist spending on lawmakers at the Capitol has increased by $400,000 — from $1.4 million to $1.8 million — since 2008.

The gift cap could increase or decrease annually according to the Consumer Price Index or by 3 percent — whichever is greater— and the travel limit could have exceptions if approved by a review committee made up of legislative appointees. The bill would also ban anyone currently serving as a lobbyist or their family member from serving on the ethics board, and would prohibit employees of the governor and lieutenant governor from becoming lobbyists for one year.

Several groups, including the state tea party, are supporting the bill, which is being co-sponsored by several new senators. Common Cause Georgia Executive Director William Perry said the increased public awareness and support for ethics reform could make the difference this session.

"We're encouraging the public to call (Ralston's) office," Perry said. "He's the one man stopping this from moving forward. It's just a matter of getting it to the floor. We'd like to see him set his fellow Republican lawmakers free."

Ralston spokesman Marshall Guest said the speaker is "focused on cutting red tape, balancing the state budget without raising taxes and fostering an economic environment that promotes job creation among other issues facing our state." Guest said Ralston would say more on the issue "if the measure makes it out of the Senate."

"(Ralston) believes that transparency through disclosure and providing the information to Georgians with only the click of a mouse is the best system to hold our elected officials accountable," Guest said in a statement. "(Ralston) also supports restoring the independence of the commission by returning rule making authority to it."

Ethics reform at the Capitol has been a challenge in recent years, as the issue came into the spotlight amid a scandal involving former House Speaker Glenn Richardson. McKoon said he has had "spirited discussions" with his Republican colleagues and has not yet had a response from Senate leadership on whether the bill will make it to the floor for a full vote.

A call to Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers for comment was not immediately returned Monday.

The proposal will be assigned to a Senate committee on Tuesday. In the meantime, McKoon said he is willing to meet with anyone, regardless of party, to gain support for the measure.

Senate Democrats responded to the announcement of the Republican proposal as "a smokescreen for real ethics reform," and said they were approached after a bill was written, but not during the process. Senate Democratic Caucus Leader Steve Henson said the proposal also does not reinstate the commission's rule-making authority.

Democrats also have introduced ethics-related legislation this session, including proposals that would ask voters to approve a dedicated appropriation to permanently fund the ethics commission and to create an independent ethics commission appointed by the state supreme court's chief justice and the chief judge of the state court of appeals.

 

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Book review: Author digs into mining's complicated past and present in 'River of Lost Souls'
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Jonathan Thompson will speak about his book "River of Lost Souls" at the King's English Bookshop on Tuesday, April 3 at 7 p.m. - photo by Amanda Olson
Amanda Olson
Deseret News
Published: Mar 30, 2018, 7:39 AM
"RIVER OF LOST SOULS: The Science, Politics, and Greed Behind the Gold King Mine Spill," by Jonathan Thompson, Torrey House Press, 275 pages (nf)

Plenty has been written about the very small world of a mining town and the very broad reach of a beleaguered industry. From Loretta Lynns iconic song "Coal Miners Daughter," to the 2010 nail-biting coverage of 33 trapped Chilean miners, to the hit Broadway musicals "Paint Your Wagon" and "Billy Elliot," mining is a global story, and its one of heartbreak, hard work and hard times.

Jonathan Thompsons "River of Lost Souls" examines the many facets of risk involved in taking resources from below the earths surface. An environmental journalist, Thompson has reported on southwest Colorado for over 20 years. This book is special, however, because the Four Corners area of Colorado is his current and ancestral home. Thompson is writing about minings ecological, social, financial and political impact on his land, his landscape, his water, his people. That makes "River of Lost Souls" more than a regular reporting job.

Thompson begins with the Gold King Mine wastewater disaster of 2015, which the EPA caused while attempting to drain water near the mines entrance. The spill sent 3 million gallons of waste and tailings into Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River and part of the San Juan River watershed which drains into the Colorado, affecting the Utah, Colorado and New Mexico parts of that watershed as well as the Navajo Nation.

From there, Thompson jumps into far stretches of time to 1765, when a Spanish explorer named the Animas River; to 10,000 years earlier, when Paleo-Indians roamed the rivers valley; to the meridian of time, when the ancestors of the Zuni, Hopi and Rio Grande Pueblo people inhabited the land for 500 years; to the mid-1800s and the Swedes who came to Silverton, Colorado, to mine.

Its a grand scope, but telling any story of landscape is telling a very grand story.

It also makes a complex story difficult to follow. Thompsons time warps are important, but they are jarring. His time jumps need clear dates, and Thompson doesnt always make them available. A map would also be useful. Thompsons writing is good, but his sentences can be dense and require readers to do their own mining for the riches the writing embeds. The work is worthwhile, however, as there are many moving parts in any story about mines land, culture, policy, history, money, inevitable disaster and Thompson works to examine all of them.

"River of Lost Souls" is a thoughtful read, but not a quick one. Because Thompsons writings come from 20 years of his newspaper reports, the overall feeling can be disjointed and sparse, which is distracting if one is expecting to follow a tenable thread. This is not a typical narrative with a cast of characters and a traditional story arc. Readers should approach this text as the investigation it is: puzzle pieces of a larger-than-life story that is eons old. If you are the kind of reader who wants it laid out cleanly, this is not that book. But, to Thompsons point, nothing is clean about mining that has never been the case.

Thompsons best writing is in his descriptions of people and places. His telling of how he came to Silverton is familiar and engaging. If readers approach the book with care and attention, they will be rewarded with savoring these descriptive passages when they happen.
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