Issue Position: Ethics of Elected Officials

Issue Position

We have pretty decent ethics laws in the state of Utah. I feel that we need to modify some of those laws in order to prevent legislators from making a living on being in the Legislature. I have concerns with a legislator who doesn't really have a job, forms a PAC and then pushes money from lobbyists, businesses, other legislators, etc., into the PAC. The legislator then takes a fee from his/her own PAC for management of that PAC. In my opinion this is wrong, and something I would like to address next year. At the end of the day, it is much like what my father taught me: everything comes down to the personal integrity of an individual. No matter what laws we have in place, there will always be ways around them, so it comes back to the individual. I play a lot of golf and when I play with lobbyists or others, I always pay for my own way, and I also pay for my son if he is playing with me, just to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. My character means everything to me, and I have done and will continue to do all I can to uphold the values of honesty and integrity my parents taught me.

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