Bauer for reform???--I'll believe that-when pigs fly!

St.Joseph Register

Pat Bauer weighs in on reform for lawmakers. As a former candidate against Bauer I have to admit my skepticism towards this announcement. When it comes to reform in the statehouse it is hard to trust the speaker due to his record. How can he talk about reform when he holds a "made up" position at Ivy Tech, drawing a salary that would make Bernie Madoff blush. Might be an overstatement, but the concept remains the same. When Bauer gives up his salary at Ivy Tech then I will believe his statements concerning reform. I have nothing against the mission of Ivy Tech. However, their decision to garner favor by hiring representatives to fight for them in Indy is underhanded at best.

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From the Indystar---

Legislative ethics reform won some important but unexpected backers Tuesday: leaders of the Indiana House and Senate.

House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, laid out a package of reforms for the legislative session that begins Jan. 4, including a one-year waiting period before legislators could become lobbyists.

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Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said the Senate also would put out a package in the next few weeks, with the centerpiece being a cooling-off period for legislators who want to lobby.

In past years, reform efforts have died unceremoniously. This year alone, 11 reform bills -- five in the Senate and six in the House -- were filed. All were sent to the rules committees, the graveyard where legislative leaders often send controversial issues. None received a hearing.

The cooling-off period for lobbying has come to the forefront as legislators have jumped -- often in midterm -- from making laws to lobbying for them.

More than 30 former legislators, including four former House speakers, are lobbyists. In 2007, only a few months after winning new, two-year terms, Reps. Matt Whetstone, R-Brownsburg, and Robert Kuzman, D-Crown Point, resigned to become lobbyists. Also, in 2002, Rep. Mike Smith, R-Rensselaer, resigned only days after his re-election to head the Indiana Casino Association.

In 2008, one proposal to impose a cooling-off period received a Senate hearing, only to die without a vote. Senators in both parties huffed that they were insulted by the implication that lawmakers would use their position to win a lucrative lobbying job.

The new interest in ethics reform legislation surprised advocates who have been pushing for such bills.

House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, who earlier this year authored one of those doomed bills imposing a cooling-off period, said he was "quite pleased and, may I say, shocked" at what he called Bauer's conversion.

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And Sen. Mike Delph, a Carmel Republican who has pushed for a major overhaul of lobbying rules, called the backing by legislative leaders "a good day for Indiana."

"This is a step in the right direction in terms of rebuilding the public trust and fomenting the idea that government is accountable to the citizens and the constituents that elect their representatives."

Gov. Mitch Daniels -- who, in one of his first acts as governor, signed an executive order tightening ethics restrictions in the executive branch, including a one-year ban on employees becoming lobbyists -- called Bauer's proposal "a very good initiative. . . . Absolutely, I'm glad to see them moving on this front."

The announcements come as newspapers across the state were preparing to editorialize on the need for lobbying reforms, and Delph, among others, speculated that that might have spurred Bauer's new support for reform.

Bauer, though, said he and his staff have been working on his package for several months. And past bills, he said, "were filed against the legislature only, but they never included the executive branch, never included the lobbyists themselves."

"This brings a balance of all three," Bauer said. "If you just do one, you are not coming close to solving the problem. You need a balance."

Long said that one reason for pursuing reforms now is increased public interest.

"I think this has been building," he said. "Over time there's been some criticism of people leaving the legislature and moving right into a lobbying job. . . . It's gotten a little more topical every year, and I think it's time we discuss it in the open."

Included in Bauer's ideas is banning those getting or seeking state contracts from making political contributions to candidates for state office.

Lobbyists reacted by questioning the need for another proposal -- a ban on representing clients with conflicting interests -- saying ethics codes already bar that unless the clients give their OK.

Although such details might prove stumbling blocks in passing reform legislation, Julia Vaughn, policy director for Common Cause/Indiana, said the fact that Bauer put a package on the table sends a huge signal to other legislators that bodes well for the chances of passage.

"We'll quibble about the details later, but we are happy that the speaker has chosen to weigh in," she said. "This provides us a starting point, which is significant. It gives us a fighting chance."