A state lawmaker is pushing to make all financial disclosure statements filed with the Texas Ethics Commission available online so the public can easily find them. In that spirit, the Tribune presents the disclosures filed by scores of state agency heads, regents and others that you can’t get online now.
Texas Ethics Commission
Posted in
Politics
Analysis: How Private Opinions Can Diverge From Public Votes
Tax cuts and politics ethics legislation have this in common: When lawmakers have to vote in public view, they’re often forced to set aside their private opinions.
Posted inState Government
Senate Strengthens and Passes Ethics Bill
The Senate voted in often odd coalitions to reveal more about the money members make, prohibit themselves from immediately becoming lobbyists, post their financial statements online and even subject themselves and other elected officials to drug testing.
Posted in
State Government
Ethics Legislation Headed to Senate Floor
A heavily watered-down ethics reform bill will soon be taken up by the full Senate. Lawmakers on Monday rejected an amendment that would have required legislators to publicly disclose their tax returns each year.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Politicians Pick New Way to Get Prosecuted
State politicians, high court judges and top bureaucrats would get public corruption cases against them moved to their home counties under a controversial bill that cleared the Texas House on Monday.
Posted inState Government
Committee Waters Down Ethics Reform Legislation
Proposed ethics reform legislation underwent a significant overhaul Thursday in a Senate committee. Gone is the plan to take state pensions from lawbreaking lawmakers. Also out: a proposal to stop legislators from cashing in on a piece of the public debt business.
Posted inState Government
Facing Blowback, Ethics Bill Could Lose Punch
Gov. Greg Abbott wants ethics reform, but the legislation working its way through the Senate faces major revisions as early as Monday. The debate demonstrates how difficult it is for legislators to change the rules that govern their own behavior.
Posted in
State Government
Analysis: Moving Integrity Unit Won’t Curb Conflicts
Legislators frustrated and angry with public corruption prosecutions in Travis County want to move them somewhere else. But the problems are likely to tag along: It’s always hard to prosecute the people who pay for the prosecutors.
Posted in
Politics
Analysis: Shock Therapy From an Ethics Reformer
A frustrated regulator’s letter suggesting the state drop enforcement of its ethics laws might spark some legislative action. That would be a gift for Gov. Greg Abbott, who wants ethics to be a signature issue this session.
Posted in
Politics
Clancy: Ethics Commission Should Stop Enforcing Law
The Texas Ethics Commission can’t do its job if compliance is “wholly voluntary,” says one member who thinks the commission should stop all enforcement activities in response to a judge’s recent dismissal of its ruling against conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan.
