Joe's Plan for Ethics Reform

My plan for ethics reform will raise the blinds and open the doors to our State government and hold public officials accountable to the people that elected them.

1. Strengthen ethics laws

Alabama's Ethics Commission is the only one in the country that lacks the power to subpoena documents and witnesses.  Alabama's ethics laws are among the weakest in the nation, so it's no wonder that public corruption is on the rise.

"Our State Ethics Commission should be given the authority to investigate and stop corruption before a grand jury gets involved."

The only way we are going to put an end to corruption in our Statehouse is to shed light on the political process by strengthening and enforcing the ethics laws we have.

2. Disclose expenditures

Our ethics situation is broken. But often, the light shows through the crack.

"We must shed light on all expenditures used to influence political decisions in our Statehouse, no matter how big or small."

Lobbyists and special interests should be required to annually report any and all expenditures they make on an elected official.

3. Ban PAC-to-PAC transfers

For far too long, politicians have been able to hide the sources of their campaign funds by transferring money from one political action committee to another to another. 

"Our laws, today, essentially authorize laundering political money through a PAC-to-PAC shell game."

We must have a law that bans the practice of transferring political money between PACs.  No public official should accept a campaign contribution that he would be ashamed to reveal to the people he represents.  We can achieve accountability only with transparency.

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