COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Gov. Nikki Haley has rejected a proposed House compromise on ethics oversight in South Carolina politics.
A House ethics reform panel on Thursday unanimously advanced a proposal to create an independent investigative commission. It would consist of 12 members selected by all three branches and have the power to investigate allegations of violations by officials and candidates.
The independent commission’s publicized findings would not be binding. Power to punish violators would remain with existing House and Senate ethics committees and judiciary and executive review boards. The commission would be composed of four legislators - two Republicans and two Democrats - elected by the Senate and House; four active judges chosen by the Supreme Court and four non-lawmakers appointed by the governor.
Spokesman for the governor Doug Mayer dismissed the proposed commission.
“There is nothing independent about legislators investigating other legislators,” Mayer said. “The House Judiciary Subcommittee’s decision to add judges to this same investigative body is a legislative poison pill - effectively ending any real chances of final passage. The Senate knows it, the House knows it and the public knows it.”
The panel’s proposal is a compromise attempt between the House and Senate, which passed different ethics reform legislation. A bill passed by the House last year sought to create a combined legislative ethics committee while the Senate’s version aimed at preserving the separate ethics committees.
The governor also rejected the subcommittee’s previous proposed idea of an omnibus commission with the power to investigate, judge and punish.
Sponsoring Rep. Walton McLeod, D-Newberry, said the proposed commission is constitutional as it would merely investigate and leave the responsibility of punishing violators to respective ethics committees.
“The general public has grown weary of confidentiality and they have grown weary of agencies policing themselves,” said McLeod. “They want the investigation done by a separate and distinct independent investigatory agency which applies to all public officials.”
The ethics reform panel also approved an amendment to the bill on Thursday to end petty cash under $25 for legislators by requiring them to use checks and credit cards. Another added amendment seeks to end employment of immediate family in state political campaigns.
The investigative committee bill will go before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
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