EDITORIAL: Gaping loopholes in state ethics rules

Just how gaping some of those holes are became clear last week, as the Indiana State Ethics Commission sorted through the cases of several in high-ranking spots in state government.

Tony Bennett, Indiana’s former superintendent of public instruction, was fined $5,000 after members of his staff used state computers to keep track of his political calendar and the keep lists of his top donors. Bennett paid a price, sure. But the ethics commission ruling included a caveat: If Bennett had come up with an office policy that covered “limited used of state property for non-official purposes,” he would have been within the letter of the law. So, basically, Bennett just didn’t realize the state gave him — and every other state officeholder working on the next campaign — an out.

Troy Woodruff, chief of staff for the Indiana Department of Transportation, came to the commission asking for dispensation from the state’s one-year “cooling off” period as he courts a possible job with a state highway contractor. Commission members didn’t seem comfortable with signing off on that cozy relationship, given Woodruff’s title and the fact that he’s signed off on hundreds of thousands of dollars in state work for the company in question.