The Courant is till keeping the pressure on Jim Amann-D and Larry Cafero-R over their day jobs and whether those jobs constitute a conflict of interest or ethical issue. From the Courant:
In his life outside the legislature, House Majority Leader Christopher Donovan, D-Meriden, works for a state employee union that is a political player at the state Capitol.Across the aisle, House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, is a partner in Brown Rudnick, an international law firm with a subsidiary that lobbies the General Assembly.
Both leaders, who say they consult ethics rules to avoid conflicts, have little choice but to work a second job to supplement their annual legislative pay of $41,335.
…
For the first time in 20 years, a legislative committee is planning a hearing on whether Connecticut should abandon its ideal of the citizen legislature, a body that convenes for five months one year, then three the next.A less radical change, to be considered today by a bipartisan commission, would be to pay a full-time wage of $110,000, the salary now paid to the lieutenant governor, to the top leaders of both chambers in recognition of their added workload and as a means to avoid the appearance of conflicts.
Once derided as unthinkable, the ideas are getting public airing in the wake of the recent controversy over House Speaker James A. Amann’s outside employment as a charity fundraiser.
Amann, a Democrat from Milford, bowed to pressure last week and announced that he would stop soliciting lobbyists for contributions to his private employer, the state chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
“It’s a wider debate than just Jim Amann,” said Caruso, co-chairman of the government administration and elections committee, which is planning an informational hearing on a full-time legislature.
Dozens of other legislators face, at a minimum, the appearance of conflicts every session as they balance part-time legislative duties with their outside jobs. Only 29 lawmakers list their full-time occupation as legislator, a job that pays rank-and-file members $32,500 in salary and expenses.
The idea of a full time legislature is a good one. There are too many important issues that require long term strategic planning that we are not getting from our part time legislature. But the idea that ethical boundaries will be eliminated by the move to a full time legislature has strong counter points, the chief one being that loopholes always have a way of appearing.
Source: Courant, Playing Part-Time Politics, By MARK PAZNIOKAS, March 21, 2007
