Iowa ethics panel backs off plan to remove dismissed complaints

DES MOINES - The Iowa House Ethics Committee is stepping back from a rule change that could require the chamber's chief clerk to lie.

That wasn't his intention at all, Ethics Chairman Rob Taylor, R-West Des Moines, said, when he raised the possibility of removing the permanent record of ethics complaints that are investigated and dismissed.

'It was just a discussion,” he said about the conversation he initiated at the first committee meeting of the year on Wednesday. So after a couple of days of 'round-tabling” the topic, Taylor said Friday he thinks lawmakers can be protected from unfounded ethics complaints without a rules change.

'We want to protect the innocent,” Taylor said. 'My point was that if a complaint is filed and we dismiss it, it shouldn't be seen as guilt by association. I don't want the Ethics Committee to be used in a partisan way to falsely accuse a member.”

So Taylor asked the committee to think about changing House rules so that complaints that are dismissed would not be part of the permanent record, and the chief clerk would answer 'no” if asked whether a complaint had been filed.

That would put the clerk in an 'awkward position,” said Carmine Boal, a former GOP House member in her fifth session as chief clerk.

The permanent record of a dismissal might be a lawmaker's best defense, said Joe Romano, a longtime House Democratic staff member.

'That's the record you lean on,” he said. 'If you get rid of the evidence, what do you have?”

He also pointed out that even if the complaint is dismissed, it would remain in the committee minutes, which, unlike the permanent record, are available on the Legislature's website.

Ethics complaints are rare, Boal said.

During Taylor's three years on the Ethics Committee, none have gone to the full committee.

Currently, the chief clerk refers ethics complaints to the committee chair and the ranking member from the minority party. They determine whether the complaint is 'sufficient as to form” to merit action by the committee that has three members from each party.

If the committee determines a complaint is valid, the most common action is to issue an admonishment and advise the lawmaker to exercise care, Boal said. Or the committee can issue an order to cease and desist the conduct that led to the complaint. Finally, it can recommend the House censure or reprimand the member.

When the committee meets Wednesday, Taylor plans to suggest protecting lawmakers from ethics complaint abuse through procedural changes that would make it more apparent when complaints have been dismissed.

'If there is an erroneous claim - and it happens - and we dismiss it, we need to make it easier for the clerk, for us and for the media to see that,” Taylor said. 'If someone asks, the answer should be ‘Yes, it was dismissed.' ”

l Comments: (319) 398-8375; james.lynch@thegazette.com