NCPE Town Hall Meeting

Join us on June 28, 2008 for the Third NCPE Town Hall Meeting.

NCPE in the News: 2008

"Court Hopeful Says Consultant Pitched Deal" (Las Vegas Review Journal)

"Given $50,000 He Decides to Run" (Las Vegas Sun)

Acting President Julie Tousa on Jon Ralston's "Face to Face: Ethics Complaint"

Meet the Acting President of NCPE, Julie Tousa

"New Watchdog of Public Ethics Continues Enforcing Vital Unwritten Law" (Las Vegas Review Journal)

"Partying Away As Taxpayers Pay and Pay" (Las Vegas Sun)

Ethics Legislation 2007

NCPE at the 2007 Nevada State Legislature: Summary and Details

"Article 6 Commission" to study and recommend improvements in the Nevada judiciary
See Dr. Craig Walton's summary of May Meeting

NCPE statement about the danger of big donors contributing to Supreme Court justice election campaigns.

Judicial Ethics & the Complaint Processes

Craig Walton's letter, to the Las Vegas Business Journal in favor of the new plan for judicial selection

Candidate Pledge

Email NCPE Treasurer

News and Reports

NCPE at NV Legislature
AB 143 - changes the NV. Commission on Ethics deadline for completing an inquiry from 45 days to 1 year, and also allows the complainee to be told what is happening to his or her complaint.

To:                               Chairwoman Senator Barbara Cegavske  and members,
Senate Legislative Operations and Election Committee
FAX 1-775-684-6500

Date:                           May 2, 2007

Subject:           Support for Amended AB 143
 
            My name is Craig Walton, President of the Nevada Center for Public Ethics, and on behalf of our members, we speak in support of the amended AB 143. This bill came to our attention as we have sought Republican and Democratic responses to our own legislative proposals, and have asked for their ideas as well.  The problems being resolved here are 2 – the timelines for completing an ethics request or complaint by the NV. Commission on Ethics (NCOE), and whether a citizen who lodges a complaint with them can be allowed to know anything about what happened to it after it reached the Commission. 
            The current law gives a 45-day time limit for the NCOE to respond to a request or complaint – one rule for both of those issues.  First, this is, if anything, plenty of time when a request comes from a public official asking whether a contemplated action will or will not be acceptable under NRS 281.411-581.   But second,  it has never been close to the time needed for the NCOE to respond to a complaint.  Mr. Hearn told the Assembly Committee that the average over the past 5 years is about 150 days, and in one year, 297 days !  Moreover, as Mr. Goedhart explained, there were cases where the complainee could stall the  NCOE investigation, the 45 days would lapse, and then the NCOE would declare the complaint null and void because its time had run out!  That kind of thing will not be allowed to happen under AB 143.
AB 143, as amended, recognizes the difference between these two kinds of things, sets up 45 days for the first and 120 days for the second.  With current staffing and budget, Mr. Hearn thought that 120 days could work in most cases, and AB 143 allows for a postponement under certain circumstances.
            The other change, repairing a weird flaw, is at p.5, Sec. 1, sub 8, ll. 4-21, whereby the person who requests the opinion (or submits the complaint) to be told the general status of the item.  With this change, it is no longer necessary for the Nevada citizen to wait until there is a story in the newspaper, to find out what happened to his or her complaint.  This takes us one step closer to allowing the people of Nevada to serve as watchdogs over public integrity, and to take an active role.  There was never a good reason for putting Nevadans in the situation faced by Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, before she saw behind the green fog and the Wizard’s screen. Now the fog machine is turned off and the screen is pulled back. No investigation will be jeopardized by the information given to the citizen here, but at least the current status can be shared.

            We have seen Republican and Democratic contributions to this bill, we see it as non-partisan and beneficial to Nevadans.  We ask that you support it.

Thank you for your consideration.

Respectfully,

Craig Walton

Go to other 2007 testimonies

AB 80, to require Limited Liability Corporations (LLC’s) to report contributions. As to the relationship to NCPE's 11 proposals, AB 80, is close to NCPE's proposal on p. 1 of our doc.

AB 109, - allows leftover campaign monies to go to a public-purpose Trust Fund.

AB 143 - changes the NV. Commission on Ethics deadline for completing an inquiry from 45 days to 1 year, and also allows the complainee to be told what is happening to his or her complaint. Click to read status as of 3/29/07

SJR 1 - removes the requirement that affidavits be provided with ballot initiative petitions.

SB 79 - brings our statutes into line with a court ruling that the affidavit requirement for ballot petitions is a violation of the First Amendment.

SB 144, to require Limited Liability Corporations (LLC's) to report contributions.

AB 142, to require ethics instruction and lobbyists to the Executive Dept. to register and report expenditures.

AB 335 - dealing with campaign disclosure

SB 425 - to new detail on political contributions, and to include legal defense funds in that category.

AB 312, dealing with campaign disclosure

AB 605 requires ethics training for new public officers and also for lobbyists, forbids the use of one’s office staff or equipment for campaign purposes, and doubles the three levels of penalties for violating ethics laws.

SB 495 provides a one-year cooling off period for persons leaving the Public Utilities Commission, the Gaming Control Board, or “former public officers or employees”.
         Original Testimony
         Revised Comments

SB 494 - dealing with primary, general, and municipal elections, SB 494 changes the filing deadline for campaign contribution reports.