By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Attorney General Dustin McDaniel unveiled his ethics reform package Thursday, including a proposed a one-year moratorium on lobbying by elected officials and department heads after they leave government.
The package of two bills, which McDaniel said would be filed next week, also proposes a ban on “absentee lobbying.”
The attorney general said he is still seeking input from legislators.
“We wanted to try to find some areas that do need tweaking and then address them,” McDaniel said, noting that compared to other states, Arkansas has “pretty strict ethics laws.”
One bill will address the increasingly common practice of lawmakers leaving office and then taking jobs lobbying the Legislature.
Under his proposal, legislators, constitutional officers and their chiefs of staff and deputy directors, as well as state agency and department heads would have to wait at least one year after they leave government before going to work lobbying at the state Capitol
“This is a real concern,” McDaniel said.
The attorney general insisted his proposal is not anti-lobbyist.
“Being a lobbyist is not a bad thing,” he said. “What I think the public is more concerned about is, what do you do in your last six months or year of service, and are you doing the business of those who put you in office, or are you attempting to secure employment after your service expires. Are you attempting to garner favor with those you are currently responsible for regulating?”
In a separate bill, McDaniel wants to double the amount of money that elected officials can keep as “carryover funds” after a campaign ends. The elected officials would then be allowed to use the money to purchase meals, travel or lodging for political purposes.
The same bill also would require lobbyists to be present at dinners and most other gatherings where food or beverages are provided to lawmakers, and would raise the penalty for those who work as lobbyists but are not registered to $1,000. Penalties currently range from $25 to $500.
The measure also would require online filing of lobbyist reports and impose penalties for soliciting a lobbyist to falsify a lobbying activity report.
