A gift is a gift
Dallas Morning News | House gifts draw fines
Legislators get message: Ignorance of the law is no excuse
AUSTIN – Leading lawmakers discovered in harsh terms this week that they better pay closer attention to the ethics laws they wrote – and that ignorance of the law is no excuse.For generations, members of House and Senate committees have chipped in to give “appreciation gifts” to the panels’ chairmen without giving second thought to whether they should let the public know. But on Monday, the Texas Ethics Commission fined the second of two House committee chairmen in the past few months for failing to report their 2005 committee gifts – one a $600 gift certificate and the other a pair of cowboy boots emblazed with the state seal – on personal financial statements this year.
Rep. Allan Ritter, D-Nederland, and Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, were fined $1,000 each, a sign that the commission has taken to heart criticism that it is weak-willed in enforcing ethics laws.
It is good that the Texas Ethics Commission is starting to enforce the laws it is there to enforce. You would have to wonder what part of any gift over $250 dollars needs to be disclosed they didn’t understand? Of course it means gifts from other legislators because it means ALL gifts. You can find our Texas legislators disclosures here.
I haven’t had time to look through them all but the few I looked through last night are mighty interesting.
Filed under: Texas Ethics Commission, Texas Legislators, Texas Legislature, Uncategorized, ethics, financial disclosure, politics, texas
