I should have been surprised to read this (subscription) in the Journal, but I’m not:
State lawmakers on Monday endorsed stricter rules for gifts and campaign contributions to the governor and other constitutional officers.
They rejected placing themselves under the same restrictions [emphasis added].
And the rationale behind rejecting the very sensible amendment proposed by Senator Steve Komadina (R) to include legislators:
“This would be a very strict sea change … if legislators had to not accept contributions from people who do business with the state,” [Senator Dede] Feldman said.
Gee, I guess after being plagued by corruption scandals and kickback schemes on local and national levels, we wouldn’t want to make any changes that would be too “strict.” If someone has a chance, please send me the list of who voted for and against the amendment to include legislators.