Indiana state senators now have an obligation to withhold their vote on any legislative proposal that stands to provide a substantial financial benefit to themselves or a family member.
The Republican-controlled chamber recently agreed without opposition to update its conflict of interest rule to clearly exclude from voting any member who has a direct personal or pecuniary interest in a proposed new law.
Senate rules previously set guidelines for senators to consider when evaluating potential conflicts of interest. But the rules did not explicitly require senators to sit out votes on those matters.
The updated rules state that a senator "is precluded" from voting on legislation when his or her personal interest in it is "so substantial as to affect the senator's independent legislative judgment."
"When that is the case, we feel it's appropriate that member of the body not vote," said Senate President Rod Bray, R-Martinsville.
The new conflict of interest rule, similar to the old one, allows a senator with a conflict to still participate in committee and floor debate on the legislation, so long as the senator openly discloses his or her conflict prior to speaking.
Senators may also continue to request an opinion from the Senate Ethics Committee to determine whether a potential conflict of interest is sufficiently substantial as to require the senator to sit out a vote, according to the rules.
The Senate's updated conflict of interest rule more closely aligns with the longstanding Indiana House rule that specifies any representative with a direct personal or pecuniary interest "shall" ask to be excused on any vote related to that interest — except the state budget or general revenue legislation.
"Any member requesting to be excused from voting may make a brief statement of the reasons for making such request and the question then shall be taken without further debate," according to the House rules.
In general, both state senators and state representatives are expected to vote on every question that comes up when they are physically present in their chamber at the Statehouse and not otherwise ineligible to vote due to a conflict of interest or another excuse permitted by the Senate or House rules.
The four-month regular session of the Indiana General Assembly is set to begin Jan. 8 when the 100 representatives and 50 senators return to Indianapolis focused primarily on devising a new, two-year state budget, while also potentially tackling property tax reform, education policy, health care costs, and gambling expansion, among other issues.
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