House and Senate conferees released the text of the final ethics bill that they have agreed on. The bill will be voted on tomorrow (certainly approved).
The initial read from informed observers is that it is a very strong bill that more or less takes the strongest ideas from the House bill, the Senate bill and the recommendations of the Governor’s task force.
It includes a strong gift ban and strengthens the powers of all three political regulatory agencies — the State Ethics Commission, the Secretary of State and the Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
Click here for a section by section analysis of the bill prepared by the House Ethics Committee and click here for the full text of the bill.