Georgia Government, Georgia Ethics
Georgia has been making giant steps in reforming its ethics policy. Georgia ethics and public trust is very important cornerstone of Georgia government. When people elect a government figure, they expect them to not misuse their power. A Georgia ethics reform was created by the Governor of Georgia, Sonny Perdue, to make sure that the Georgia government had high standards of ethical conduct.
In 2003 the Honesty in Government Act was introduced in the General Assembly by the Governor of Georgia. Georgia government kept denying it for two years until the Georgia ethics reform was finally passed. This Georgia ethics reform package basically is the beginning of a change in Georgia government, ethics wise. This Georgia ethics plan puts more of a focus on prosecuting ethics violations and doing what’s right for the state of Georgia.
This Georgia ethics act has four legislative bills. The first bill has four main proposals including the structure of Georgia government Ethics commission, solicitation of funds, influencing the Department of Corrections and the Board of Pardons and Paroles and candidate to candidate transfer.
The Georgia ethics commission structure basically states that the terms of the existing members of the Georgia ethics Commission would end and the Governor and Speaker of the House could reappoint new members. Also this Georgia government legislation includes a new provision stating that any member of the Georgia Ethics Commission is required to recuse themselves if they contributed to a preceding or current election. The Solicitations of funds legislation prohibits public officers, members of the General Assembly and campaign members from soliciting campaign contributions. The legislation for the Board of Pardons and Paroles and Georgia Department of Corrections basically prohibits any Georgia government member, including General assembly members and state elected officials, from communicating with the Department of Corrections or the Board of Pardons and Paroles when making a decisions or dealing with a particular inmate. This proposed legislation does have its exceptions regarding third parties. The other main proposal deals with candidate to candidate contributions. This Georgia ethics proposal prohibits candidates from transferring funds to another candidate or their committee. Members also cannot loan campaign contributions to any other person, party or organization. These proposals were only from the first out of four ethics bills of the Ethics Reform Act of 2003.
The Governor of Georgia introduced this reform act to restore public trust and faith in Georgia government. This bill really was fought for in order to change the culture of the Georgia government. Throughout history there have been many political scandals and illegal activity. Most often, money is at the center of these scandals. Government officials who participate in unethical activities sometimes aren’t prosecuted as seriously as they should be. This Ethics Reform Act, proposed by Governor Sonny Perdue, sets higher standards on the punishment of unethical activities and focuses more on investigating fraud and corruption in Georgia government. This Act was just the beginning of a serious change and reform for the ethics policy in Georgia.