DENVER-
Gov. Bill Ritter signed a measure Thursday that creates an ethics commission to decide what gifts to lawmakers and state employees are legal.
Ritter signed the bill hours after the state Supreme Court refused to step into the debate over how to clear up the confusion surrounding Colorado’s tough new ethics rules.
Ritter said the commission will help resolve some of the uncertainty. He said the new law “faithfully implements the ethics reform passed by the voters in November.”
Lawmakers had asked the court to issue an opinion on whether the state Constitution allowed them to set up a commission to define what the rules cover and decide how to enforce them.
In a tersely worded statement, the court turned the request down without explanation.
House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, said lawmakers will go ahead with plans to set up the commission.
“The court has spoken, and I respect its decision.The voters have spoken as well,” he said. “They demand—and deserve—a government that maintains the highest ethical standards. We will appoint an ethics commission that settles for nothing less.”
Voters approved the ethics rules last November as part of a constitutional amendment. The rules ban lobbyists from buying lawmakers meals or giving them gifts worth more than $50 .
The rules also ban gifts to state employees or their families worth more than $50. Employees of cities or counties with their own ethics guidelines are exempt.
There’s confusion, though, about how far the ban goes. Lawmakers say it isn’t clear whether state employees’ families can accept certain scholarships, whether professors can accept Nobel prize money and what gifts state employees can take.
Some lawmakers said their hands are tied because they are barred from passing any law that weakens the state Constitution.
