House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014 Regular Session

Posted:	May 8, 2013 02:02 PM
From:	Representative Fred Keller
To:	All House members
Subject:	Legislation Amending the Ethics Act, to Include Members of the Judiciary

Ethics in government can, in many cases, be a simple proposition. Our current Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (Ethics Act) provides clear guidelines about avoiding conflicts of interest. Further, it requires officials and employees to publicly report the receipt of gifts, transportation, lodging and hospitality on an annual basis. I believe these standards should apply across-the-board to government officials in all three branches. In 1983, in Kremer v. State Ethics Commission, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that the financial disclosure provisions of the Ethics Act are unconstitutional as applied to judges. In 2000, in L.J.S. v. State Ethics Commission, the Commonwealth Court limited the authority of the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission to enforce the Ethics Act concerning judicial officers and judicial employees. In the near future, I intend to introduce a resolution to amend Article V, § 17 of the Pennsylvania Constitution to provide as follows: Justices, judges and justices of the peace shall be governed by any law related to ethics which applies generally to the Governor and members of the General Assembly.
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Introduced as HB1687