State Sen. Tom Wiens is taking flak these days for engaging in practices that constitute obvious conflicts of interest.
It was learned last week that the Castle Rock lawmaker runs a charitable organization to help military families and that in 2004, the group took in $100,000 from contractor Lockheed Martin only days after Wiens introduced a bill that directed the state to spend millions to buy a commercial satellite service to detect wildfires.
Lockheed happens to be a major player in the satellite business.
Wiens denies that there was any connection between the donation and his legislation. And Lockheed said it expected nothing in return for its donations. As it turned out, the state didn’t have adequate funding for such a program and Wiens killed the bill.
This week, we learned that Wiens created an independent fund-raising committee to help elect fellow Republicans, known as a 527 for the section of the tax code that creates tax-exempt political organizations. State law bans lobbyists from making or promising to make a contribution to a specific lawmaker or legislative candidate during the legislative session. But it does not prohibit them from making contributions solicited by a lawmaker for a group that would campaign on behalf of multiple candidates rather than an individual. Talk about a loophole! We hope lawmakers will move quickly to eliminate this practice – a gap created in recent years when the legislature reformed its own system of campaign finance.
Legal or not, what Wiens has managed to do in both cases is improper. Lawmakers should avoid conflicts of interest or the appearance of a conflict. Through his charity, Wiens is in a position to solicit money and exert influence over legislation. Lawmakers don’t always know what will come before them in a bill and should not put themselves in such a compromising position when executing the people’s business. The legislature needs to take a look at the propriety of lawmakers running charitable organizations while in office.
As to the political fund-raising group, suppose a lawmaker seeks a donation for a 527 group just when a lobbyist is lining up support to pass or block a bill? The temptations are obvious and invisible to the public. The legislature should prohibit any conflict of interest that would shake statehouse credibility.
