PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — An ethics reform initiative proposed for Rhode Island’s November ballot could be tweaked again by lawmakers before it goes to voters.
Judiciary committees in the state Senate and House are holding hearings on the legislation Tuesday.
The legislation seeks voter approval of a constitutional amendment that would allow the state’s Ethics Commission to investigate lawmakers for potential conflicts of interest.
It would restore powers taken from the commission in a 2009 court ruling.
A spokesman for Democratic House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello says lawmakers might drop a provision that would have created a blackout on ethics complaints before an election. Critics opposed putting an election-season moratorium in the Constitution.
Mattiello was concerned about frivolous, politically motivated complaints, but the Ethics Commission is now looking at creating its own administrative moratorium.
