DENVER-
A House committee voted Thursday to ask the state Supreme Court to decide whether legislators can pass a law to make sure new voter-approved ethics rules don’t stop the children of state employees from accepting scholarships.
The resolution now goes to the full House.
The rules, included in a constitutional amendment, were meant to limit lobbyists’ influence by barring some state employees from accepting big gifts or meals. But the amendment has raised a litany of questions about whether the employees would have to quit to collect life insurance and whether nonprofits can meet with lawmakers, as well as throwing scholarships into question.
Supporters of the measure, Amendment 41, said they never intended to cause problems and they urged lawmakers to clarify their intent.
The State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee approved a resolution asking for the high court’s opinion on whether the Legislature can tinker with the measure. Another state law says they do not have the power to weaken constitutional amendments, only to implement them.
Several Republican lawmakers objected to the wording of the questions the resolution would put before the Supreme Court, saying the request was too narrow and would violate the constitution by attempting to limit which state employees are covered.
Rep. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, said Amendment 41 was very broad, covering any gift or contribution that would violate the public trust.
“The problem is, that is still not defined in the constitution. I don’t know what that means,” Lambert said.
House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, who proposed the resolution, said it was better to ask the court to rule on specifics rather than to rule on the entire amendment.
He wants to ask the court to decide if the amendment applies only to officials who breach the public trust for private gain, or if voters intended the law to be applied broadly to all state employees, even if the gift would not benefit them personally.
Amendment 41 bans lobbyists from buying meals or any gifts worth more than $50 for state lawmakers. It also bans gifts to any state employee or their families worth more than $50. Employees of cities or counties that have their own ethics guidelines are exempt from the law.
The State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee also approved a bill that would implement Amendment 41 and sent it to the House Appropriations Committee. The bill exempts anything of value given to a state employee’s spouse or child to cover accidents or illnesses, scholarships based on academic achievement, court awards and other gifts or awards approved by an ethics commission.
That bill now goes to the House Appropriations Committee.
Romanoff said neither the resolution nor the bill is intended to provide a blanket exemption for state employees. He said gifts or awards based solely on a state employee’s job would still be barred.
