The North Carolina House is gearing up to look at the ethics and lobbying bill that passed in the state senate on July 19. Last year, the so-called "goodwill" lobbying loophole that allowed lobbyists to wine and dine lawmakers as long as legislation was never discussed was closed. With ethics and lobbying reform in the public eye, the NC legislature is now trying to define what, exactly, constitutes a "gift." The state senate is now looking to exempt anything deemed "personal."
"That would completely undermine the bill passed last year that closed the goodwill lobbying loophole," said Bob Phillips of
N.C. Common Cause. Phillips leads the coalition that's still fighting to toughen ethics laws. He said he worries that watering down reform legislation would shut out sunshine in government. "It should be clean," he said. "Anything a lobbyist gives a lawmaker should be reported regardless of the relationship, unless it's family."
While some lawmakers and lobbyists argue that it's not that simple, saying gift bans could be too oppressive, lawmakers defending the ethics legislation as it stands have pointing out that the bill will make noteworthy changes in monitoring how government does business.
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