Rhode Islanders want a government that is free of conflict-of-interest. That is why three decades ago, we created one of the strongest Ethics Commissions in the United States. Since then, we have worked to eliminate nepotism, minimize the size of gifts lobbyists can give to public officials, and put in place a comprehensive revolving door policy for public officials. There is still much work to be done to improve the Code of Ethics.

In June 2009, the Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled in favor of former Senate President William Irons in his suit against the Rhode Island Ethics Commission. In their opinion, the Court ruled that Article VI, Section 5, the Speech in Debate Clause of the Rhode Island Constitution, protects members of the General Assembly from prosecution by the Ethics Commission when it involves their “core legislative acts.”

In 2016, after a seven-year struggle, an amendment was put on the ballot by a unanimous vote of the Rhode Island General Assembly to close this loophole. On November 8, 2016 more than 78% of Rhode Island voters chose to restore the Ethics Commission’s full jurisdiction over members of our state legislature.

In 2012, reporting showed that legislators were taking otherwise undisclosed junkets paid for by non-profits funded by companies with business before the state legislature. Common Cause Rhode Island petitioned the Ethics Commission to add a question to the annual financial disclosure form that requires disclosure of out-of-state travel paid for by third parties.

There is still more work to improve government ethics in Rhode Island. We need to shore up the revolving door law, modernize financial disclosure, and tighten the class exception, among other work.