The Texas Ethics Commission’s board convenes Thursday to choose new leadership for 2013. But before that happens, its commissioners will review an ethics opinion they did not agree on two months ago.
Bidness As Usual
With a conflict disclosure system rife with holes, virtually toothless ethics laws often left to the interpretation of the lawmakers they are supposed to regulate, and a Legislature historically unwilling to make itself more transparent, Texans know exceedingly little about who or what influences the people elected to represent them. And they have no way to differentiate between lawmakers motivated entirely by the interests of their constituents and those in it for their own enrichment.
The Texas Tribune’s Bidness As Usual Project — an extensive reporting and data venture that spanned the 2013 legislative session — looked at these lawmakers and the ethics rules that govern them, addressing issues like conflicts of interest and breaches in public accountability.
In addition to dozens of stories analyzing everything from individual lawmakers’ personal interests to the state’s disclosure forms and ethics laws, the project included the Texas Tribune Ethics Explorer.
This interactive tool was designed to educate citizens on the degree to which legislators’ personal interests conflicted with the public interest when passing bills and setting policy. It included extensive research into all 180 members of the Texas Legislature, plus the governor and lieutenant governor, and provided details on a lawmaker’s employment history and financial records, stock holdings, property listings, campaign finance data and ethics investigations. The Explorer was created with the generous support of the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
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Bidness As Usual
Some Public Business Remains in the Shadows
Politicians love transparency right now — or love to talk about it. But some of their efforts at providing it aren’t clear, and some that are clear aren’t timely. Some public records just aren’t readily available to the public.
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Bidness As Usual
Legislators Can Carry Bills That Benefit Them? Yep.
The common practice of lawmakers carrying bills or serving on committees that could directly affect their lives or livelihoods is permitted, so long as their efforts benefit all others in similar circumstances. But it still has vocal critics.
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Bidness As Usual
Lobbyists Who Dine From Both Sides of Plate
Lobbyists are competitive creatures, and don’t like it when somebody gets an advantage — like political consultants who lobby during the political off-season. But they haven’t found a way to regulate the practice.
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Bidness As Usual
Weak Disclosure Laws Keep Public in the Dark
Ethics reformers are looking to overhaul the personal financial statements state lawmakers must file. The form doesn’t ask for much detail, hasn’t been updated in years and has led to confusion and varying interpretations about what must be revealed.
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Bidness As Usual
Pension, Gas Investment Boost Perry’s Income
Thanks to his state pension — the subject of double-dipping controversy — and the sale of an interest in gas wells, Gov. Rick Perry got a pay bump in 2011, according to tax returns he provided to the Tribune.
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Bidness As Usual
Time to Take a Look at Cutting Ethical Corners
It’s been a long time since the Legislature took a good, hard look at its ethics laws and its own practices. With the Texas Ethics Commission up for review, a restive electorate and a herd of new lawmakers, they have a golden opportunity.
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Bidness As Usual
For Dean of Senate, Public and Private Blur
Critics say the dean of the Texas Senate, John Whitmire, D-Houston, is a poster boy for a legislative culture in which real and perceived conflicts of interest are commonplace. Whitmire says he’s proud of his four decades in office.
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Bidness As Usual
Slideshow: Sen. John Whitmire Through the Years
Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, served 10 years in the Texas House before becoming the longest-serving member of the Texas Senate. Here’s a photographic look back at the dean of the Senate’s 40 years in elected office in Texas.
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Bidness As Usual
For Ethics Commission, Big Hurdles to Reform
The Texas Ethics Commission stands poised for change during the 83rd legislative session. But any efforts to reform it will face a challenge, because the lawmakers the commission was set up to regulate are the ones setting the rules.