The McCormick/Goodin campaign adds a new ethics plan to its series of “common sense” plans

Indianapolis, Indiana – On Thursday, the Democratic ticket in the Indiana gubernatorial contest proceeded to unveil its “common sense” policies, this time emphasizing ethics.

A news release from the campaign of Jennifer McCormick, the Democratic nominee for governor and the former state superintendent of public instruction, states that the plan’s main objectives are to increase government transparency, regulate lobbyists, and hold elected officials accountable to Indiana’s state and local governments.

McCormick and former state legislator and educator Terry Goodin will take against Republican Micah Beckwith and U.S. Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.) in November’s general election. The Libertarian candidates are Donald Rainwater and Tonya Hudson.

The McCormick/Goodin campaign published its “common sense” property tax relief proposal and education plan during the last three weeks, which coincides with Thursday’s announcement.

In the press release, McCormick stated, “Hoosiers deserve a transparent, ethical government above reproach.” “Our commonsense plan locks the legislator to lobbyist revolving door at the Statehouse, better limits special interests’ influence of government, addresses decline in public access and openness, and offers a sexual harassment reporting mechanism.”

The six main components of the campaign’s ethics plan are intended to offer “more ethical and transparent government for Hoosiers,” according to the campaign. These measures include:

• Increased transparency and state and local government
o McCormick said that legal bias should be restored towards public disclosure, stressing that government records are public records unless a “compelling public benefit exists to limit their disclosure.”
o The state should ensure that the legislature is bound by Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act and the state should include links to campaign finance and statements of economic interests on the Indiana Transparency Portal.

• Total lobbyist gift ban
o McCormick said that lobbyists should be banned from giving anything of value to a legislative or executive official, including members of the Indiana General Assembly.
o The campaign believes that criminal penalties should be imposed for both lobbyists and legislative persons for gift ban violations.

• Remove lobbyists from political offices
o McCormick said that registered lobbyists should be precluded from holding a position on a political committee.

• Lock revolving door
o The campaign said that Indiana’s post-employment restriction on lobbying activity should be increased to three years after leaving public office.

• Reform campaign finance reporting
o McCormick said that candidates for public office in Indiana should file campaign finance reports with the state election division and standardize quarterly reporting in election and non-election years.

o The campaign said that state and local candidates, as well as elected officials, should also file the same statement of economic interest form with the state’s election commission.

• Sexual harassment reporting
o The campaign said that under this plan, the inspector general will establish a confidential reporting mechanism for sexual harassment committed by state or local, elected or appointed, officials and lobbyists.

o After the office completes its investigation, the inspector general will inform the state’s ethics committee of the findings. If criminal actions are warranted, the campaign said the findings would be referred to the prosecutor of record. If it is a noncriminal matter, the findings will be referred to the appropriate personnel department.

o The campaign said that if an incident involves an elected official, the ethics committee will publicize the findings.

At a press conference on Thursday morning, McCormick stated that the proposal is a pledge to Hoosiers that a McCormick/Goodin administration would uphold the greatest standards in governance, restoring citizens of Indiana’s faith in the government.

“There are certain areas in which Hoosiers have faith in their elected officials… but we believe that the state of Indiana should lead by example by implementing a robust ethics plan,” McCormick stated.

McCormick repeatedly emphasized that using the inspector general’s office is “one more avenue” to create a reformed reporting mechanism, specifically addressing the plan’s sexual harassment section. This will ensure that people are heard and have a private place to report actions taken by state and local government employees.

McCormick emphasized that changing a reporting system will take time and that it is not a recent issue in the state of Indiana.

The Democratic nominee for Indiana’s attorney general, Destiny Wells, commended McCormick’s ethics plan in a press statement. In the general election in November, Todd Rokita, a Republican incumbent, will face Wells.

According to government watchdogs, the state of Indiana’s government has continuously fallen short in terms of accountability and openness for decades, according to Wells. “It’s past time Indiana did more for citizens employed by state and municipal governments—and it’s past time that citizens’ confidence was rebuilt, particularly in light of the fact that our current Attorney General Todd Rokita is a walking scandal when it comes to ethics. The transformative ethics agenda of Jennifer McCormick will do more than Hoosiers have seen in decades in terms of rebuilding trust.

“Rather than just talking about reforms in a campaign press release, Mike Braun took action: he wrote the federal ban on lobbying for former members of Congress, forced votes to cut every corrupt earmark from every spending bill, and has fought constantly for transparency in government at the highest levels for Hoosiers,” said Josh Kelley, a senior advisor for the Braun campaign. The statement was released in response to McCormick’s announcement of the ethics plan. “Jennifer McCormick is a politician who says anything and does nothing.”