State Ethics

Diebold Election Systems withdrew a sales brochure yesterday featuring Maryland Elections Administrator Linda H. Lamone praising the company's equipment after the governor and watchdog groups questioned whether the endorsement violated state ethics laws. Diebold labeled the glossy, four-page brochure a "case study" of Maryland's experience with the ExpressPoll-5000 voter check-in equipment, which made its national debut in the state last year. The marketing piece was distributed to potential clients at trade shows.

Consultants who get paid extra to negotiate bigger tax breaks for corporate clients have sparked concern among state ethics officials, who say the practice may violate laws banning contingency compensation for some people dealing with government.Even if consultant bonuses linked to tax breaks are found to be legal in Maryland, ethics officials are talking about changing state law to outlaw the practice."I'm troubled by contingent-fee compensation with respect to these [tax] incentive deals," said Donald B. Robertson, chairman of a state task force on lobbying practices.

The task force examining the state Injured Workers Insurance Fund recommended yesterday that the agency's governing board be expanded, and members hinted they'll abandon a proposal to exempt the agency from state ethics and public meetings laws.The task force voted unanimously during a two-hour session to recommend that IWIF's board of directors expand from seven to 11 members to better manage the $1 billion operation. They rejected proposals to require that some of those board members have expertise in a particular field, such as insurance.

Lance W. Billingsley, chairman of the University System of Maryland's Board of Regents and one of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's closest political friends, has begun offering his services as a lobbyist on behalf of clients with business before the General Assembly.Billingsley, 58, said he is not planning to leave the unpaid regents post from which he directs policy making for College Park, 10 other university campuses and two research institutes with a total budget of $2.2 billion."Unless I'm missing something," he said, "there's nothing that says I can't lobby.

AMENDMENTS are being drafted and coalitions are being formed in the back rooms of Annapolis.The issue isn't taxes or spending, but legislative ethics.During the next couple of weeks, the most far-reaching reform of state ethics laws in 20 years will take center stage in Annapolis. But the legislators who support the proposed legislation without reservations could likely be counted on one hand. Around Annapolis, Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, are voicing concerns about the bill.

While lauding proposed changes in state ethics law, Maryland House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. said yesterday that the real problem in Annapolis is not so much the law as it is the "internal culture" at the State House.Taylor said a proposal to hire a full-time legal counsel to educate legislators on ethics issues will have more impact on that culture than other changes in the law. The adviser would help make lawmakers more aware of potential ethics-related problems, he said.Taylor, noting "a disconnect between a very strong ethics code and the internal culture" of the legislature, suggested that legislators' insensitivity to ethics issues, not the law, has led to ethics problems.

Maryland's Senate president and most other Prince George's County legislators are running for re-election on tickets that include four lobbyists who represent a host of special-interest clients before the General Assembly.The arrangement, while legal, demonstrates just how cozy relations can become between lobbyists and the lawmakers they seek to influence.The Prince George's legislators recruited lobbyists Gary R. Alexander, Joel D. Rozner, John P. McDonough and Minervia W. Riddick to run for seats on the county's Democratic central committee.

A headline in yesterday's editions of The Sun inaccurately represented state Del. Gerald J. Curran's business relationship with a credit union. Curran, an insurance broker, collects a percentage of premiums paid by members of the credit union who purchase policies from an insurance company with which he is affiliated. He is not paid by the credit union.The Sun regrets the error.State Del. Gerald J. Curran, who has headed a General Assembly committee that considers legislation crucial to credit unions, at the same time has been collecting commissions as an insurance middleman for one of Maryland's largest credit unions.

Concerned about a possible conflict of interest, the state Board of Public Works approved a $150,000 state grant yesterday for the purchase of a 138-acre farm near Glyndon, pending a review by the State Ethics Commission.A group of investors this summer raised money to buy and preserve the farm, which Bonnie View Country Club had been eyeing for a golf course. After inquiries by The Sun, the board asked the ethics commission to review the dual role of John C. Bernstein, who is director of the state's Maryland Environmental Trust and one of the investors in the farm deal.

The group raising money to defend state Sen. Larry Young against ethical and possible criminal charges has itself entered a murky area where almost any involvement by Young -- even greeting guests at a fund-raiser -- could spark a new inquiry.Legal defense funds for legislators are rare but permissible under state ethics law. But Young's involvement -- if any -- in raising money for his defense fund could violate the prohibition against public officials soliciting gifts.That rule makes legal defense funds ethically treacherous, a problem that underscores how difficult it can be for public officials accused of wrongdoing to pay their legal bills -- Young's are expected to reach $65,000 -- without courting new troubles.

County Executive John R. Leopold has asked the Anne Arundel County Ethics Commission to issue a special exemption allowing off-duty police officers to work second jobs at bingo halls and other establishments that serve alcohol, a stance the commission has long opposed. The request came Friday, the same day that the Maryland Ethics Commission said that a county bill allowing police officers to moonlight at such establishments was invalid because it does not conform to the state's ethics law. The state ruled that permission could be granted only through a special exemption granted by the county ethics commission, which has argued in the past that police officers who work secondary jobs in alcohol-serving establishments may be tempted to overlook minor illegal activity there.

As government forms go, the 17-page financial disclosure required of members of the General Assembly is unambiguous. Lawmakers must list not only outside employment and investments but also gifts worth $20 or more. The ethics requirements of counties and other local government are typically just as crystal clear: Elected officials must not only report income but also recuse themselves from matters in which they have a direct financial stake. So while it's unwise to rush to judgment in the continuing federal investigation into state Sen. Ulysses Currie, the information that's come to light so far strongly suggests that the longtime Prince George's County lawmaker did not meet this minimum standard.

FBI officials intend to subpoena legislative records in connection with an investigation of Sen. Ulysses Currie, state government sources said, indicating a broadening of the federal probe of the powerful Prince George's County Democrat's previously undisclosed consulting work for a regional grocery chain. On Thursday, FBI agents raided Currie's District Heights home and also searched the Lanham headquarters of Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, for which the 70-year-old chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee was an "outside consultant," according to company officials.

Diebold Election Systems withdrew a sales brochure yesterday featuring Maryland Elections Administrator Linda H. Lamone praising the company's equipment after the governor and watchdog groups questioned whether the endorsement violated state ethics laws. Diebold labeled the glossy, four-page brochure a "case study" of Maryland's experience with the ExpressPoll-5000 voter check-in equipment, which made its national debut in the state last year. The marketing piece was distributed to potential clients at trade shows.

The state Ethics Commission has cleared Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s personal lawyer of wrongdoing, dismissing a complaint that meetings he arranged with top officials on behalf of his clients constituted illegal, unregistered lobbying. Attorney David Hamilton, who heads the government relations practice at the governor's former law firm, Ober/Kaler, attended meetings between clients who had business with the state and Ehrlich and other administration officials, according to appointment calendars released under Maryland's Public Information Act. Hamilton is not registered with the state as a lobbyist.

The spouse of a Department of General Services official who oversees the sale of surplus state property was allowed to purchase a used car directly from a Maryland agency at a price below what it likely would have sold for at auction, according to an audit released yesterday. Legislative auditors said the June sale "appears to have violated state ethics law and a prior ethics opinion" and referred the matter to the State Ethics Commission for review. The transaction -- which came to auditors' attention through a tip to a fraud hot line -- prompted General Services Secretary Boyd K. Rutherford to order policy changes in January.

The Maryland State Ethics Commission and a subcommittee of the state university system's Board of Regents are reviewing allegations that regents Chairman David H. Nevins violated state ethics rules by lobbying the legislature on behalf of his employer, Constellation Energy. The ethics commission received a complaint last week about Nevins, which by law triggers a preliminary investigation by its staff. Commission officials are prohibited from confirming whether they are investigating conduct by a public official.

Amid criticism of meetings he attended with legislators and energy industry executives, the head of the university system's Board of Regents said yesterday that he has asked state ethics officials to brief the regents on laws restricting their lobbying activity. David H. Nevins, the board chairman, recently attended meetings between Constellation Energy and key state politicians, The Washington Post reported yesterday. State law prohibits the University System of Maryland's regents from lobbying.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has released records showing he played in 18 charity golf tournaments since 2003, but he will not disclose his partners in those matches or the dates and partners for numerous other private games, according to the governor's office. "Private outings with friends are just that -- private -- and will remain so," said the governor's communications director, Paul E. Schurick, in a letter to the campaign finance watchdog group Common Cause Maryland. The letter was dated Aug. 28 and was released by the group yesterday.

A top Maryland transportation official inappropriately oversaw $3.3 million in poorly documented consulting work done for the state by a company that employs her husband, according to an audit report released yesterday. The auditors, who turned their findings over to law enforcement authorities for review, said the official's actions appear to violate state ethics law and internal policies of the Maryland Department of Transportation governing conflicts of interest. Auditors did not name the "senior management official" in their report, but a source familiar with the investigation identified her as Marsha J. Kaiser, director of the office of planning and capital programming for the Transportation Department.