PROVIDENCE, RI – Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis is joining with Operation Clean Government and Common Cause today to ask two key legislative committees to approve bills that would let voters determine whether lawmakers should be subject to oversight by the state Ethics Commission.
“Asking the voters to decide the issue through referendum is the only sure way to determine their original intent, settle any debate surrounding the issue, and improve the perception that people have of their government,” said Mollis.
The bills are scheduled to be heard this afternoon by the House Committee on Judiciary and the Senate Committee on Constitutional and Regulatory Issues. Mollis will deliver letters to the committee chairs and members formalizing his support for the legislation.
H 7357 and S 2391 would put a question on November’s ballot asking voters to approve a change to the state constitution that would allow an exception for the Ethics Commission in the “speech and debate” clause that shields lawmakers from prosecution or civil suits based on their actions as legislators.
The legislation addresses a state Supreme Court decision that had the effect of exempting members of the General Assembly from the state ethics code for their core legislative acts, such as introducing or voting on a bill.
H7357 is sponsored by Speaker of the House Gordon Fox and Representatives Chris Fierro, Joy Hearn, Chris Marcello and Donna Walsh. The Senate version is sponsored by Senators Michael Lenihan, Edward O’Neill, James Sheehan, Dennis Algiere and David Bates.
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