'Access to Power' targets lax lobbyist laws

sue.loughlin@tribstar.com

TERRE HAUTE - Led by the Indianapolis Star, a coalition of 23 Indiana newspapers is launching an editorial campaign to reform Indiana's "extraordinarily lax" laws governing relationships between legislators and lobbyists.

The Tribune-Star is participating in the project, called "Access to Power," a series of editorials and op-ed columns running today through Tuesday.

During the most recent annual reporting period, $25.8 million - which averages $172,272 per lawmaker - was spent trying to influence Indiana state senators and representatives, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Although most of the money went toward lobbyists' salaries, a significant portion paid for gifts to legislators, including tickets to athletic and entertainment events, meals and out-of-state trips costing as much as $2,000 to $3,000.

The ratio of registered lobbyists to Indiana legislators is now 5-1.

The Center for Public Integrity, a non-partisan center that conducts investigative reports on public policy issues, gave Indiana an "F" grade this year in a study that examined legislators' financial disclosure requirements.

Under current law, lobbyists don't have to disclose gifts, including meals, of less than $100 a day or $500 a year.

Also, the Indiana General Assembly places no limit on the value of gifts its members can accept.

Another potential problem highlighted in Access to Power is that a legislator can resign from the General Assembly one week and start work as a paid lobbyist in the Statehouse the next.

The Star's editorials also point out that Indiana lawmakers sometimes let lobbyists write legislation pertaining to their causes.

"We have been aware that legislators were accepting these kinds of gifts for some time," said Tim Swarens, the Indianapolis Star's opinion/community conversations editor.

"It's something that's accepted in the Statehouse," he said. "I've talked to legislators who say it's a culture of entitlement."

From their point of view, they work hard and put in a lot of time, and they're not paid much for their legislative duties, he said.

"These types of rewards or perks are seen as things that come with the job," Swarens said. "They don't see that it compromises how they make decisions."

Swarens said he has a problem with that argument. Companies and organizations use lobbyists for a reason. The $25.8 million spent trying to influence the General Assembly last year "was spent to achieve a certain end," he said.

While most of the money does go for lobbyist salaries, "The lobbyists, themselves, are buying time with lawmakers to make a case for their clients," Swarens said.

All of that money goes to influence the Legislature.

The editorial campaign came about after one of the Star's Statehouse reporters did a story in July that examined what lawmakers were receiving from lobbyists.

The Star's editorial board recognized there was a problem. "We decided in August we wanted to look at it in a systematic way and build an editorial campaign to try to bring about change," Swarens said.

Initially, the Star invited eight other newspapers to join them, including the Terre Haute Tribune-Star.

The Star later asked other newspapers that were members of the Hoosier State Press Association to join in the effort, resulting in the involvement of 23 newspapers statewide.

While Indiana newspapers have worked together on other projects, Swarens believes that the Access to Power editorial campaign may be unprecedented.

The Star decided to ask other newspapers to get involved to show that ethics reform had statewide support. Sometimes, if the Star is the only newspaper to write about an issue, legislators might say that's something "just the Indianapolis Star cares about it."

It's much harder to make that argument "when 23 newspapers from South Bend to Evansville, and from Terre Haute to Richmond, say we think this is important, too," Swarens said.

When the Terre Haute Tribune-Star received an invitation to participate in the project, "We quickly recognized that this was a very important topic and one that our readers would find interesting and compelling," said Max Jones, Tribune-Star editor. "We quickly accepted the invitation to participate and are proud to be part of it."

The 23 newspapers have a combined readership of 1.5 million people. The Indianapolis Star recognizes that a campaign for legislative ethics reform is an important topic that can bring about real change, Jones said.

"Being able to reach a larger number of people and extend their reach throughout the state really helps them be able to do that," said Jones, who has written a column about Access to Power that appears in today's Tribune-Star.

The project kicks off today and continues Monday and Tuesday with several editorials and op-ed pieces written by the Indianapolis Star. Later, the Tribune-Star will follow up with its own news stories and editorials. Also, "We'll invite local citizens and taxpayers to comment on their outlook once they understand what's at stake," Jones said.

In the coming weeks, there will be other follow-up articles leading to the start of the 2010 General Assembly.

The newspapers' campaign for ethics reform suggests the General Assembly needs to adopt the following reforms: