Proposal comes in response to Governor’s contract scandal

Today, the Rhode Island Ethics Commission began the process to strengthen the state’s “gift rule” after Common Cause Rhode Island’s advocacy in 2024. The national ethics group raised the urgent need to strengthen rules for gifts to public officials after a report showed Governor Daniel McKee accepted tens of thousands of dollars of free consulting services while steering a multi-million dollar state contract to the ILO Group, LLC with ties to the organization providing the gift.

“We are grateful the Rhode Island Ethics Commission took this necessary and urgent initial step,” said John Marion, Executive Director of Common Cause Rhode Island. “This is just the beginning of a process that must result in Rhode Island strengthening  ethics laws so that our leaders are accountable to the people, not the highest bidder., We will continue to press the Commission to make our gift laws a strong one so we can have total and full confidence in how our state leaders are representing us.”

In December 2024, Common Cause Rhode Island petitioned the Rhode Island Ethics Commission to, among other things, categorically include registered lobbyists among those who are limited to giving public employees and officials gifts of greater than $25 in value. Currently gifts are only limited if they come from someone who is an “interested person” because they may benefit financially from decisions made by the public employee or official. Common Cause Rhode Island believes that gifts from lobbyists are a conflict of interest regardless of whether the lobbyist or their employer benefits financially.

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