Legislators must put residents' interests first

From the Office of State Rep. Ellen Cogen Lipton
Thursday, March 11, 2010

LANSING – Oakland County lawmakers today voted to ban legislators from voting on a bill when a conflict of interest is present. This legislation is part of a wave of government reforms the lawmakers have supported to tighten ethics laws and make elected officials more accountable to the people they represent.

"In this era of term limits we truly have citizen legislators," said State Representative Vicki Barnett (D-Farmington Hills), who sponsored the plan. "We need to be sure that lawmakers are making decisions based on the well-being of the thousands of people they represent, not the professional lives and interests they return to after leaving office. We must reform Lansing to ensure that lawmakers are using tax dollars efficiently and their priorities are where they should be – on creating jobs, helping small businesses grow and protecting the middle class."

This latest reform would prohibit legislators from voting on legislation that presents a substantial conflict of interest for them and would require them to state that fact on record. The legislation defines a substantial conflict of interest as a personal interest through which the lawmaker or someone related to them could directly profit or suffer a direct financial loss by voting on the legislation.

"Lansing is broken and it's time to hold politicians' feet to the fire," said State Representative Lisa Brown (D-West Bloomfield), a member of the House Ethics and Elections Committee, who sponsored legislation to dock lawmakers' pay for missing session with an unexcused absence.

"Our residents are sending their hard-earned tax dollars to Lansing and they deserve to have those used properly. These reforms are about bringing accountability and transparency to government and making sure elected officials are acting on behalf of the people they are paid to represent."

Last month, the Oakland County legislators voted for a plan to ban lawmakers from applying for or accepting state grants while in office and prohibit candidates, including elected officials, from accepting or soliciting campaign contributions in state or municipal buildings and offices.

The House also passed additional government reforms to cut lawmakers' salaries by 10 percent, prohibit legislators from becoming lobbyists for two years after leaving office and end taxpayer-funded lifetime health care for state lawmakers.

"Lawmakers must be held accountable to the citizens they are working for," said State Representative Ellen Cogen Lipton (D-Huntington Woods).

"With every vote, legislators have tremendous power to influence the direction of this state. By shining a light on potential conflicts of interest, we can protect taxpayers' dollars and help ensure that the well-being of our residents comes first."

Source: http://027.housedems.com/news/article/oakland-dems-legislators-must-put-residents-interests-first/reforms-passed-today-part-of-comprehensive-effort-to-bring-accountability-to-lansing/