One of the important issues likely facing Alabama legislators during the 2024 session regards changes to the state ’ s ethics laws . And while a House committee has been meeting since the conclusion of the 2023 legislative session — and will continue to do so monthly until next session — legislators have been mum so far about specifics on the changes in consideration .
Just what do Alabama ’ s ethics laws entail ? One example concerns the amount of time former legislators or state employees must take off before registering as lobbyists . Another example revolves around the types of jobs elected officials can hold , while a third dictates what expenses of a politician can be reimbursed by his campaign .
Around 300,000 people directly fall under Alabama ’ s ethics laws , State Rep . Matt Simpson ( R-Daphne ) recently said during a House Ethics and Campaign Finance Committee . Indirectly , over 1 million people are subject to those laws . Those totals include elected officials , public employees , and their respective relatives . Anyone can file an ethics complaint against any public official .
“ Let ’ s put transparency in this . Let ’ s air it all out ,” Simpson said at a recent committee meeting . “ We recognize that there are problems in our ethics laws . Over a million people — which is around a quarter of our state — fall under these ethics laws . We can ’ t just duck our head in the sand and say , ‘ Hey , there ’ s a problem . We don ’ t want to address it anymore because we may get bad press or bad publicity from it .’ We really need to kind of take the bull by the horns and send the message out to people that ‘ Hey there ’ s a problem with our ethics laws . It ’ s time to address it . It ’ s time to see what we can do to come up with some clarity through this .’”
Although anyone can file an ethics complaint against any public official , the state ’ s ethics laws are enforced by the Alabama Ethics Commission and its staff . But the way the commission arrives at some of its decisions has been the subject of criticism recently .
In November 2022 , Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall sued the Ethics Commission , attempting to force the commission to provide evidence to accused parties that could lead to their exoneration . Legislation sponsored by State Sen . Arthur Orr ( R-Decatur ) requiring the commission to do just that was passed into law during the 2023 session .
Marshall filed the lawsuit against the Alabama Ethics Commission in Montgomery County Circuit Court , stating that their advisory opinion No . 2022-03 on exculpatory evidence “ directly interferes with and impairs his duties .” The opinion from July 2022 by the Ethics Commission stated that the latter was “ not required or permitted to disclose exculpatory information or Brady material to respondents of complaints filed with the ethics commission .”
During a recent interview with Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5 , Marshall said that the Ethics Commission should be part of the focus if the Alabama Legislature takes up ethics reform during the 2024 session .
“ I think we ’ ve had the ability successfully to enforce our ethics laws during my tenure ,” Marshall said . “ We ’ re going to continue to enforce the laws that are on the books . One thing that I do believe that the legislature can do is take a step back and look truly at kind of the function and the role of the Ethics Commission itself , creating greater transparency and what it is that they do . That ’ s a separate question from looking at the laws themselves .”
“ I ’ ve had that very discussion with Representative [ Matt ] Simpson about what that looks like ,” he continued . “ You ’ ve seen some very specific back-and-forth between my office and the ethics commission about the function and the role that they play in how it is some of their decisions are made , and I hope the legislature will take a look at that issue .”
Another aspect of the possible ethics law changes to watch out for is whether legislators will make it easier for themselves and staffers to set themselves up for a lobbying career after they ’ ve completed their time as an elected official . Under current law , legislators and public employees are subject to a two-year “ cooling off period ” before they can begin lobbying .
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