Blog: Capital Focus
All of a sudden lawmakers are walking around with Blackberry phones on their hips. This is the first year the state has provided them, and already they’re causing something of a problem, or at least raising an issue.
On top of questions about whether it’s OK to make personal calls on a work phone (a question many of us have), state law bars lawmakers from using any state equipment for campaigning or fundraising.
“Literally some of us are now carrying two phones,” said House Minority Leader Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau.
The select committee on legislative ethics is scheduled to take up the issue today.
Despite last year’s “comprehensive” ethics reform, ethics is still big on the agenda. One issue now involves the amount of time a lawmaker or his staff is allowed to work on an individual constituent case. Another has to do with whether lobbying rules apply just to professional lobbyists or also to company officials who come down to give testimony and meet with legislators.
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