Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has signed a measure that reshapes the state's ethics, lobbying and campaign reform laws, clamping down on lobbyists who give gifts and lawmakers who receive them.
The law followed several scandals in which state legislators face criminal charges of corruption.
"A series of troubling charges have shaken the confidence of our citizens in state government," said Patrick, who pledged to veto a sales tax increase in the fiscal 2010 budget unless the state legislature passed the reforms. "This law demonstrates our firm commitment to governing with integrity, with openness and with the public's interest foremost."
The bill bans lobbyists from giving gifts and prohibits public officials from accepting gifts of "substantial value" for or because of their position.
It increases the maximum punishment for bribery to $100,000 and 10 years imprisonment from the current penalty of up to $5,000 and to three years imprisonment. It increases the maximum civil penalty for bribery to $25,000 and the civil penalty for a violation of the financial disclosure law from $2,000 per violation to $10,000 per violation.
Changes to campaign finance laws include: A ban on individuals writing committee checks to themselves; required disclosure of expenditures and sources of funding for any anonymous third-party campaign mailings or ads that support or criticize a candidate or campaign; and increased penalties for late-filed campaign finance reports.
The bill also:
- Redefines lobbying to include background work, strategizing and research and planning.
- Reduces the amount of allowable incidental lobbying from 50 hours in each six-month reporting period to 25 hours in each six-month reporting period.
- Increases the amount of time the Ethics Commission can proceed on an ethics violation from three years to five years.
- Gives the secretary of state: new subpoena powers; authority to suspend or revoke lobbyist licenses for cause; the same civil enforcement authority over lobbying violations as the Ethics Commission has over ethics violations; authority to issue confidential, binding advisory opinions; and authority to convene a statewide grand jury with jurisdiction extending throughout the Commonwealth.
