Colorado’s new ethics law permeates state Rep. Anne McGihon’s life so deeply that she says she is torn even about whether to eat an appetizer at a party.
“I’m not kidding you, I think about everything I go to – can I literally have a piece of cheese?” the Denver Democrat testified Monday, the first day of a civil hearing to challenge the law. “Amendment 41 impacts everything I do all day, every day.”
A group of elected officials, government workers and nonprofit groups are suing the state over the ethics-in-government law, claiming it invades private lives and violates the First Amendment.
Witnesses testified that Amendment 41, passed by voters in November, is chilling free speech and elected officials’ access to information.
Amendment 41 bans lawmakers from taking anything from lobbyists and prohibits government workers and their families from receiving gifts worth more than $50, except on special occasions.
Backers of the ethics law say public hysteria about scholarships, inheritances or personal gifts is unwarranted. In their interpretation, the amendment applies only when there is a “breach of public trust for private gain.”
But McGihon and Arapahoe County Commissioner Frank Weddig interpret the ethics law to mean they cannot solicit anything of monetary value from a lobbyist. That includes research when they’re deciding how to vote.
And Weddig said he is breaking his budget this year as he pays for his own meals at community events – even though he said food would not sway his vote.
“The cup of coffee or the lunch has nothing to do with it,” he said. “Never has. Never will.”
McGihon told Denver District Judge Christina Habas that she is unsure if a friend who is a lobbyist can watch her dogs when she’s out of town. And she avoids eating lunch with any lobbyist because someone could assume she didn’t pay her own way and report her to the ethics panel.
Colorado is the only state that has a broad ethics measure in its constitution, said Peggy Kerns, director of the Center for Ethics in Government at the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Other plaintiffs include former Republican state Sen. Norma Anderson, who says she can no longer spend more than $50 on her grandchildren because her daughter is the Jefferson County clerk and recorder.
And Doug Abraham, police chief for the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, says his free-speech rights were violated when he couldn’t collect more than $50 a person to help a co-worker whose son died.
The group is asking the court for an injunction and to declare Amendment 41 unconstitutional. The hearing is expected to last until Wednesday.
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-954-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
