Ex-lawmaker Calls for "Cooling-off Period" in Lobbying

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) A former state legislator and ethics reform advocate is troubled that Utah has the second highest percentage of ex-lawmakers now working as lobbyists on Capitol Hill.

Former Representative Jordan Tanner says the transition is natural - since lawmakers know the system and the buttons to push in a lobbying capacity. He thinks legislators should be required to wait a year or two before returning to the hill for pay:

"If you have a legislator and then on December 31st, he's immediately a paid lobbyist, then of course he has immediate access and knowledge of what's going on and where bills are likely to go and how the legislature is feeling towards a certain bill," says Tanner.

Which gives ex-lawmakers a distinct advantage over citizen lobbyists, he adds. Tanner tried unsuccessfully for ten years in the 90's to get a cooling off period and other reforms enacted.

A report from the Center for Public Integrity finds 30 of Utah's 309 registered lobbyists in 2005 used to be state lawmakers. Only about half of states have mandatory cooling off periods.

Lawmaker turned lobbyist Brian Allen says a cooling off period would do little to improve the questionable ethics of some lobbyists. "It's an issue of integrity and we can't legislate that," says Allen.

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