A recent letter from four legislators documents their ongoing opposition to the Measure 1 policies that voters approved last November - the ethics commission amendment that is now Article XIV of the North Dakota Constitution.
These legislators are just plain wrong. The facts:
- Regarding confidential reporting and anonymous accusers, legislators apparently never read their own attorney’s memo. The use of such informers is legally permissible and necessary to assure that unlawful activity is brought forward for investigation and enforcement, as law enforcement tip lines demonstrate.
- The amendment is native to North Dakota. We and a number of other North Dakotans wrote it over the course of more than a year. Based on the results of a 2017 statewide poll, it represents what over 80% of North Dakota voters most wanted.
- No ethics commission amendment donor stood to gain financially or politically from its passage. On the other hand, powerful lobbying and state-regulated organizations that pay for and benefit from special relations with the state ponied up $472,000 in six weeks.
In requiring the Legislature to implement the amendment, the voters trusted the Legislature to do its job - yet the legislative assembly’s bill has 21 provisions that likely violate the constitution, according to an expert attorney’s memo to the ethics commission.
Ironically, the Legislature has proven again that it cannot be trusted to faithfully implement the will of the people. The battle for transparency, integrity and accountability in state government is far from over. It’s just terribly sad that some of our own elected officials are so often on the wrong side. We have 12 months to be sure that whomever we vote for next time is on the side of citizens and democracy.
