By Shannon McCaffrey
ATLANTA - Georgians will be able to keep closer tabs on what lobbyists spend wining and dining state lawmakers. But new ethics legislation set to take effect Jan. 1 doesn't set a limit on what those lobbyists can spend.
Reeling from a sex-and-lobbying scandal that toppled Georgia's powerful House speaker, state legislators earlier this year ushered through what they touted as a sweeping ethics reform package.
But watchdogs say while the new law makes some needed improvements - such as requiring lobbyists to disclose expenses more frequently - it failed to tackle some of the more pressing ethical issues that have dogged Georgia.
Common Cause Georgia pushed to include caps on what lobbyists can spend entertaining public officials. The group also sought to ban, or at least limit, the transfer of campaign funds between political action committees, a popular way to disguise who is giving to a candidate.
But neither made it into the bill signed into law in the spring by Gov. Sonny Perdue. Alabama recently adopted both as part of a wide-ranging ethics reform package in that scandal-plagued state.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Wendell Willard, a key Republican lawmaker, said he will try again in the coming year to cap lobbyist gifts.
But he could face push-back from House Ethics Committee Chairman Joe Wilkinson, who said such limits would simply force lobbyists to go underground so the public would have no accounting of their actions.
"Our philosophy is full, open and immediate disclosure," the Sandy Springs Republican said.
Perhaps the most significant change in the new ethics rules is one that has received little notice: A provision requiring candidates for local office to report campaign contributions and expenditures through the state's electronic system.
"That is the best thing in there, but it's also really the only significant thing in there," said Bill Bozarth, the head of Georgia's Common Cause branch.
He said the change would provide uniformity to what has otherwise been a patchwork of county reports that often have been difficult to access.
Bozarth said parts of the bill mark a step backward, such as a provision that allows attorneys fees to be awarded if a complaint is found to be frivolous. He said that could have a chilling effect, discouraging members of the public from filing complaints.
The new ethics law also:
* Increases fees and fines for lobbyists and legislators.
* Outlaws sexual harassment.
* Requires members of the state Transportation Board to file annual financial disclosure statements.
* Changes the name of the state Ethics Commission to the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission.
The law was pushed by House Speaker David Ralston, who rose to power in December 2009 following a scandal that sunk his predecessor. Glenn Richardson resigned last year after a suicide try and allegations of an affair with a utility lobbyist who was working on behalf of a pipeline bill he supported.
Rick Thompson, former executive secretary of the state Ethics Commission, called the new law "a very good step in the right direction" and urged lawmakers to give the new rules time to work before considering any more changes.
Among the other laws set to take effect Jan. 1 is a measure designed to help property owners with rising tax bills.
The law requires governments to send homeowners a notice of assessment every year. It also extends the appeals process from 30 to 45 days and orders local assessors to apply all comparable sales - even foreclosures - when setting an assessed value.