DENVER—A bipartisan panel of Colorado senators decided Thursday to ask for more information from Senate Democratic Leader John Morse in an ethics probe of whether he claimed excessive payments.
But panel members also expressed doubts about whether the complaint has any merit.
The three Republicans and three Democrats have until April 15 to decide whether to order a formal hearing into Morse, a Colorado Springs lawmaker accused by a government watchdog of improperly claiming a daily $99 allowance afforded legislative leaders for days they do official work.
The complaint points out that some of the days claimed by Morse in 2009 had no official duties listed on his public calendar. Morse has responded with a written argument to the panel claiming that he worked on all the days for which he claimed payments, even if those activities weren’t listed on his public calendar.
“When you read the complaint, you can see on its face that it’s nonsense,” Morse said Thursday. He did not attend the hearing but said he expects the panel to dismiss the complaint.
Morse may have good reason for optimism. A legislative specialist told the panel that Senate ethics rules don’t require a lawmaker to submit proof of what he or she was working on, nor does the senator even need to be in Colorado. Morse’s per diem claims that year included days he was traveling in China and attending legislative conferences in San Francisco and San Diego—all work-related, he said.
Rules allow per diem payments for any day a senator works on “matters pertaining to the General Assembly.”
Senators on the panel also learned that while the complaint alleges “ethical questions,” it does not specify which rule Morse is accused of violating.
Democratic Sen. Pat Steadman questioned whether the complaint was worth even an initial review.
“We don’t really have a specific allegation,” Steadman said. Morse’s prominence in the Legislature, rather than the substance of the complaint, may have prompted the ethics panel, he said.
“I’m wondering if … there was some sensitivity around the fact that the majority leader was the subject of the complaint,” Steadman said.
No Republican senator challenged that assertion. But Republican Sen. Shawn Mitchell said lawmakers were being too picky by expecting ethics complaints to be extremely specific, and that members of the public should feel free to ask for reviews of how lawmakers spend their money.
“We’re starting to sound like lawyers dancing on the head of a pin,” Mitchell said. Regarding Morse’s per diem payments, Mitchell pointed out, “There were a lot of days claimed, more than for other members of leadership.”
The senators agreed to ask Morse if he has further documentation of what he was doing on some days he claimed, and they also said they’d ask the watchdog if she has anything to add suggesting Morse did no official work on the days he claimed.
The ethics panel planned to meet at least one more time before deciding whether to call for a formal hearing.
