State secrets

Lawmakers seem disinclined to fix a serious flaw in last year's ethics reform. Trust in government will suffer until they do

Try as they might, legislative supporters can't turn the sow's ear of secrecy in ethics hearings to a silk purse that ordinary North Carolinians can tote with pride. Lawmakers passed needed ethics reform measures last year, but they intentionally left some loose ends untied. In what seems to be a self-serving maneuver, lawmakers closed the State Ethics Commission's complaint investigation process.

For 30 years, the process had been open. Formal charges against state agency officials, their written responses and the resulting ethics hearings can now be closed to the public. So are hearings of the Legislative Ethics Committee, where lawmakers police ethics complaints against their colleagues. Punishments meted out to legislators or executive employees also can be kept from public view.

That's wrong, and the legislature needs to right it. Lawmakers who are dragging their feet over repealing the secrecy provision say closing the hearings protects legislators from being falsely accused by political opponents during election seasons. That's understandable. But it's a risk that someone who wants to hold public office simply has to be willing to take.

The principle of openness sometimes makes for discomfort, but the potential consequences of allowing little corners of secrecy are serious -- conflicts of interest hidden, self-serving deals made, etc. Besides, the likelihood of frivolous complaints could be drastically lessened if new legislation contained tough penalties for people who bring false ethics charges against innocent officials.

State Sen. Tony Rand recently told a Fayetteville newspaper that it was only right to provide secrecy for legislators, since ethics charges against judges aren't publicized. Rand is simply mistaken. Ethics complaints made against judges to the Judicial Standards Commission are made public when formal charges are filed.

Doctors and lawyers also are subject to public disclosure of complaints against them for professional misconduct. There is no good reason to close proceedings for lawmakers, other than legislators wanting, and having the power to grant themselves, special treatment.

Sadly, despite ethics reforms, it's clear that some members of the General Assembly just can't give up the idea that they are members of a ruling class, entitled to whatever special privileges they can put together. This one is particularly outrageous, and it undermines the claims of lawmakers that they mounted high, white horses and rode hard in the fight to clean up ethical lapses.

What we hope in North Carolina is that the various scandals and alleged scandals surrounding the disgraced former Speaker Jim Black have taught the members on Jones Street a few lessons about keeping their priorities straight and remembering that they are public servants first and last.

Granting themselves some special secrecy when it comes to ethics investigations flies in the face of that lesson and sends a message to the public that lawmakers really haven't learned much at all.

It is insulting to the public. It damages the credibility of the legislative institution. Secrecy is a protection North Carolina lawmakers don't need, should not have and ought not to want.

House Speaker Joe Hackney, Senate President pro-tem Marc Basnight and other legislative leaders ought to insist this be corrected immediately. Or just put a label on all ethics reform legislation: "We were only kidding."