AP: New Ethics Policies In Ohio

[Hissyspit]

Mar 9, 11:14 PM EST
New Ethics Policies in Ohio

By JoANNE VIVIANO
Associated Press Writer

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is toughening the ethics controls he established in the wake of the wide-ranging scandal overseen by his Republican predecessor.

People doing business with the state must sign a statement promising not to break ethics laws and many government officials, employees and appointees will receive ethics training under Strickland's latest plan, which was finalized Friday.

The new rules are an extension of Strickland's first executive order, signed just after he took office in January, that limited gifts to everyone in his administration to trinkets, food and beverages under $20.

All state employees who report to the governor must comply with the new policy, but it does not apply to state employees who serve under other elected officials such as the secretary of state, auditor or treasurer.

Strickland, a former congressman, was swept into the governor's mansion amid voter dissatisfaction with the state GOP's ethics record, including scandal started over the state's unorthodox investment in rare coins. Gov. Bob Taft, who himself had made ethics a public priority, wound up pleading no-contest to misdemeanor charges of failing to report some gifts.

[truthisfreedom]

1. Time to re-weave the governmental cloth in Ohio.

Too many dropped stitches.

[salin]

2. in the coingate story wake there were many allusions to similar

pay to play problems in the dept overseeing the state's employee pension plan and that overseeing transportation/highway funds. I hope that Strickland has started investigations to root out problems in those departments - to find whether there were problems or not.