Bill to Increase Legislative Accountability
Sacramento____ Wednesday May 31, 2017, the California State Senate
voted to approve Senate Bill 679 (link is external) by
Senator Mike Morrell (R-Rancho Cucamonga), which would take a step toward
further discouraging the revolving door of legislators resigning office and
becoming lobbyists.
“As
public trust of elected officials has eroded, it has become more apparent that
the legislature needs to take steps to increase confidence in representative
government,” said Morrell. “While the current one-year lobbying ban provides a
buffer, it still leaves open the possibility that a legislator who resigns from
office could introduce a bill at the beginning of a session and work for an
outside party to influence votes before the end of the same session and that is
simply wrong. Californians should be
assured that a legislator cannot lobby on a bill that was introduced while he
or she was in office.”
Under
current law, state legislators are prohibited from lobbying the legislature for
one year after leaving office. SB 679 originally sought to increase that
restriction to five years. It was amended in the Senate Committee on Elections
and Constitutional Amendments to increase the limit to two years and apply only
to legislators who resign from office.
According to the National Conference of State
Legislatures (link is external), at least 34 states have cooling-off
periods, during which former legislators are prohibited from working at the
legislatures as lobbyists. Eight states ban former legislators from lobbying
the legislature for two years.
“I
continue to believe that a longer lobbying ban is appropriate across the board
when a legislator leaves office,” continued Morrell. “However, the amended
version of SB 679 still represents a significant change that works toward
reducing the revolving door.”
Senate Bill 679 required a two-thirds vote and was
approved in the Senate on a bipartisan vote of 38-0. (link is external)
It will next be considered in the State
Assembly.