The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
April 13, 2008
The State Ethics Commission recently opened an investigation into reports that a lobbyist gave a legislator $80,000 last year.
But the agency isn't looking into the propriety of the arrangement or the size of the transaction — those issues aren't covered under state ethics law. Investigators just want to know why the lobbyist, Willie Green of Athens, did not tell them about the money, ostensibly a business loan, that he gave former Rep. Ron Sailor Jr.
Lobbyists and other donors may give up to $4,600 to a Georgia legislator's primary and general election campaign. But there is no limit on the financial value of other dealings between lobbyists and elected officials.
Lobbyists must disclose such transactions, but only if they were trying to influence an official action.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last month that Green, a lobbyist for payday lenders, gave Sailor the money in February 2007, weeks before a key vote on payday lending. Green, who said the money was unrelated to the payday bill, reported no expenditures last year but filed an amendment listing the $80,000 after a reporter contacted him in March.
For years, under both Democrat and Republican control, the Legislature has rejected proposals to limit lobbyists' gifts to legislators. It also has rejected proposals by Gov. Sonny Perdue and others to authorize the Ethics Commission to investigate alleged conflicts of interest.
Lobbyists in Georgia are required to register with the commission and file annual reports on their expenditures. If they fail to register or to file, they can be fined and have their licenses revoked.
"Our state ethics laws are full of loopholes," said Michael Jabloniski, general counsel of the Georgia Democratic Party. "The loopholes were put in intentionally by people who wrote them."
Sailor, a Democrat who represented parts of DeKalb and Rockdale counties since 2001, resigned March 18 when he pleaded guilty in federal court to money laundering. Prosecutors have said he is cooperating with a wider probe of public corruption but they are silent as to who is the focus.
In light of the Sailor transaction, political leaders in both parties are calling for an end to the loophole.
Jabloniski believes a complete ban on lobbyists' gifts is needed.
"If you are going to lobby, you shouldn't give anything of value to someone who is voting on a bill," he said. "If you try to restrict it, people will find ways around it."
Randy Evans, general counsel for the state Republican Party, supports a cap — but not a ban — on a lobbyist's spending on a legislator.
Perdue and Roy Barnes, his predecessor as governor, both banned gifts to the executive branch. Perdue also created an inspector general to oversee ethical issues in the executive branch and hiked the Ethics Commission's staffing and budget.
But the governor's efforts to set gift limits for legislators fell flat.
"The existence of a limit is far more important than the amount of the limit," Evans said. "We currently have a system where there are no boundaries. ... That is a dangerous thing."
Without limits, he said, some legislator invariably will be corrupted.
Perdue's office declined to comment on limits on lobbyists' gifts. But Rep. Rich Golick (R-Smyrna), Perdue's floor leader in the House, said legislative leaders will look carefully at Green and Sailor's actions to see if a tougher ethics law is needed.
"I'm sure we'll take a hard look at the mechanics of that situation and see how the current law addresses that situation — or not," he said.
William H. Jordan, chairman of the Ethics Commission and a partner at Alston & Bird, hesitated about advocating any policy changes, since he is an appointed official. But, in light of the Sailor incident, he said, "it's reasonable for the Legislature to consider a spending cap on lobbyists' expenditures."
Lawyers advising lobbyist clients said the rules could be tightened, but the Legislature should protect the First Amendment right to petition government.
Robert S. Highsmith Jr., a partner at Holland & Knight who used to work in Perdue's office, said businesses with lobbyists in the Legislature often have "commercially reasonable" financial transactions with legislators, such as a mortgage with a bank that employs lobbyists. State law should allow for those dealings, he said.
Douglas Chalmers Jr., a partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge, said he always advises clients about the law — and about politics. A transaction between a lobbyist and a legislator, while technically legal, may look bad when it's disclosed.
The Sailor-Green transaction, he said, was "bad politics."
Some lobbyists, he said, have legitimate reasons for taking legislators on trips to see factories or other places.
"I would worry not about how much is spent but what it is spent for," he said.