Report the Wheelbarrow - And the Cash Filling It, Senate Says
The Senate moved Tuesday to close a loophole in state ethics laws that allows public officials to receive unlimited cash gifts without disclosing the amount – as long as they simply report receipt of a check or other negotiable instrument as a gift. The loophole was opened up last fall when the Texas Ethics Commission ruled that a $100,000 gift to a member of the state employee retirement system board did not have to be disclosed on his personal financial statement other than to be listed as a check worth more than $250 – the current dollar limit for disclosure.
The ruling prompted criticism from Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who prosecutes wrongdoing by state officials. Mr. Earle said that under the ethics commission interpretation, it would be “perfectly legal to report the gift of a wheelbarrow without reporting that the wheelbarrow was filled with cash.” He urged the commission to rethink its position, handed down in a case involving former state Rep. Bill Ceverha, a member of the retirement board, who was given $100,000 by a prominent Republican donor after Mr. Ceverha filed for bankruptcy.
With no further action by the commission, the Senate stepped in and voted Tuesday to remove all doubt about the disclosure law by requiring that lawmakers and other state officials report not only the receipt of a check, gift certificate or other negotiable instrument, but also the dollar value of the gift. The measure by Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, was approved and sent to the House on a unanimous vote.