“My colleagues and I in the Assembly have been passing strong ethics reform measures for years now. We’ve made strides towards combatting corruption in our state including passing pension forfeiture legislation. I am proud to have been one of the original co-sponsors of pension forfeiture. Consistent with the required procedure for a constitutional amendment, this legislation has been passed twice already and is ready to be voted on by the public this fall.

“But there is still work to be done and the conversation about ethics is far from over. We need the Governor to join us in this fight for reform. Year after year, I’ve voted for measures that would institute public financing of elections, close the LLC loophole, limit outside income, and provide for stricter controls to prevent leveraging of a public position for private gain. I will continue to work for these to become law, but for that to happen, the Governor and the Senate need to be on board – the Assembly can’t do it alone.

“We must also continue to push for more accountability and transparency, including significantly reforming the Regional Economic Development Councils (REDC), to ensure that there are no conflicts of interest. We need to overturn conservative Supreme Court decisions like Citizens United, which give the wealthy an unlimited right (and advantage) to influence public policy.

“We must make sure when it comes to this issue, we need to go beyond rhetoric, such as ‘term limits.’ Remember, the Iraq War and Trumpism would not likely have occurred if the prior office holders had not been term limited out. Term limits also decrease the power of elected representatives of the public in comparison to the permanent government bureaucracy.

“What we need is real action with real results. Our communities deserve nothing less. We must hold our government and our representatives to a higher standard.”