It is plain to see that as the honorables on Jones Street watched former pooh-bah Jim Black get slapped with five years and then some in the Big House, they -- some of them, anyway -- began to wonder if maybe they ought to pass a few more ethics regulations.

It's one thing, after all, for the ink-stained wretches in the editorial biz to take out after a legislative leader or cause. The world of the General Assembly can be a fairly isolated one, and if somebody's a champion fund-raiser and also a very big wheel, lots of people might be inclined to hold their tongues. They anticipate they might need the wheel's help one day to get something for the folks back home so they can pose by a highway sign or a new prison for a re-election ad.

But seeing a person as influential as a speaker fall from power gets the attention of the gang on Jones Street. And it doesn't hurt that, according to an N&O report, the folks back in the districts, the ones who sent those public servants to Raleigh, are expressing their displeasure, as they say, with what's doing here in the Capital City. (They may have more luck than your correspondent, who's lost count of how many times the pols have ignored the profound wisdom offered herein. OK, maybe not profound. OK, maybe not always wise. OK ...)

So now we're seeing other "ethics reforms" being formulated by those lawmakers who want their constituents to know they're right up there with Snow White and Popeye and the rest of the wholesome do-gooders. Among those reforms at some stage in the legislative process: Open ethics hearings that involve state government officials or legislators, which would be tougher than reforms last year that provided for the hearings to be private. A proposal to open the records of legal defense funds for candidates and those holding elective office -- that's a good one and is a direct response, really, to Black's defense fund, which wasn't regulated.

And an excellent idea is to have some test runs with public financing for a few select campaigns. Public financing, typically pooh-poohed by those in power as too complicated, don't you know, would be a significant step toward diluting the influence of people who think they can run the political show because they have the Big Moolah.

If they pass them all, ethics standards would indeed be stronger, in that they'd be more open. And additional changes would be welcome after those reforms already passed (even if some lawmakers weren't crazy about them). The best step overall, however, would be to go further, and have public financing everywhere.

One point musn't be overlooked in all of this, and it's that you can't legislate honest government. Oh, you can punish lawbreakers. You can make rules. You can have micro-specific regulations ("Try not to have your socks hanging around your ankles because that's just sorry and looks awful on television. No plaids with stripes...") thicker than the Manhattan phone book.

But when it comes down to it, the key to honest government is honest people in government. And it must be said that while North Carolina's reputation as a "good government state" may be a little frayed right now, those who have served as governor in modern times have been straightforward people. And yes, many of the leaders in the General Assembly have been and are sincere, straight-up folks who want to do good for the public.

With Black, the poison was money, which can develop into a sort of never-ending circle with power. Raising and contributing money to fellow legislators creates power. Once the power's achieved, more money can be raised. To give to legislative colleagues who will give you more power. Which will bring you more money.

I don't think Jim Black came up here from Mecklenburg County for his first term in the state House with the idea that one day people would hand him money in restaurant bathrooms (as some chiropractors did, prosecutors noted), or that he would be so powerful that a lobbyist would be willing to give him a $500,000 loan. (His attorney notes the loan was legal at the time.) But the power-and-money cycle was already there.

So, sure. Let's have us some more ethics regulations. And how's about, for now, legislative leaders like Marc Basnight, the Senate president pro tem, and Joe Hackney, the speaker of the House, passing out a pledge card one day in their chambers decrying special interest influence and supporting public financing -- voluntarily. A non-binding pledge -- well, binding to one's conscience, I suppose. But more like an altar call.

Can I get an "Amen," brothers and sisters?