WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.Editorial: Securely funded Ethics Commission

Editorial: Securely funded Ethics Commission

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By Mark Wilder - email

  • Editorials

  • Friday, May 18 2012 7:20 PM EDT2012-05-18 23:20:53 GMT
    If you text and drive it's a matter of WHEN and not IF you will be involved in an accident. The odds are stacked against you when your eyes and hands are more focused on your cell phone than they are
    If you text and drive it's a matter of WHEN and not IF you will be involved in an accident.  The odds are stacked against you when your eyes and hands are more focused on your cell phone than they are the other motorists on the roadways.

  • Tuesday, May 15 2012 7:20 PM EDT2012-05-15 23:20:31 GMT
    On our editorial suggesting that the governor raise taxes to fund Medicaid, we received these comments: "If the budget is passed at this severely cut rate, the shortage of physicians, hospitals, and clinics
    On our editorial suggesting that the governor raise taxes to fund Medicaid, we received these comments:

  • Tuesday, May 1 2012 7:20 PM EDT2012-05-01 23:20:35 GMT
    If your commute includes I-85 in the mornings I'm sure you've noticed men alongside the roadways picking up trash and road debris and thought to yourself "who would want to do that?"
    If your commute includes I-85 in the mornings I'm sure you've noticed men alongside the roadways picking up trash and road debris and thought to yourself "who would want to do that?"

  • Friday, April 20 2012 7:20 PM EDT2012-04-20 23:20:42 GMT
    For the next sixty seconds I want you to give yourself permission to push pause on whatever you are doing and listen and reflect for a moment. I did this recently after reading an article titled "Top five

  • Wednesday, April 18 2012 7:27 PM EDT2012-04-18 23:27:31 GMT
    Representative Christopher John England (Tuscaloosa) has sponsored a bill in the Alabama legislature that would allow convicted felons of drug crimes to receive food stamps under certain circumstances.
MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -

Earlier this week Governor Bentley signed into law a bill that will guarantee adequate funding of the State Ethics Commission for the foreseeable future.   I applaud him and the current state legislators, many of whom promised to make this happen if elected.

The commission will be funded at one tenth of 1 percent of the state's General Fund budget, and it will take a two thirds vote of the house and senate to change this law.  Even though funding could vary depending on how the General Fund budget is written, at least this bill will keep legislators from threatening to de-fund the very commission that could investigate them…  a sad reality up until now.

It is a shame that we need an ethics commission at all, but we are reminded that one does need to exist by all the recent news of charges of corruption being brought against elected officials, both locally and nationally.

Our elected officials, like we who place them in office, are human, and processes need to be in place to keep them honest.  A securely funded Ethics Commission will help make that happen. 

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