State Senator Jeremy Hutchinson resigned from office in August 2018 after being indicted for bribery. Senator Hutchinson, who was a lawyer, tried to disguise bribes as legal fees for representing clients. He pled guilty in June 2019. With several years having passed, many people forgot about him until he was back in the news this month when, after much delay, he was sentenced to years in prison by the court.
In 2017, Senator Hutchinson was representing the interests of clients on issues before the legislature, but obviously wasn’t calling it bribes.
A legislator cannot become a paid lobbyist for a client, but some legislators avoid the narrow definition of lobbyist by instead calling themselves a consultant or if the person is a legislator-lawyer by claiming he or she is merely representing a client, not lobbying. Senator Linda Collins complained to colleagues and friends about Jeremy Hutchinson’s actions. In early March, 2017, she, along with cosponsor Senator Terry Rice filed SB726 of 2017 to amend the law concerning prohibited appearances by legislators. The bill would have prohibited a legislator from appearing before the legislature on behalf of a client as their consultant or attorney. The new language said the legislator could not:
(2) Appear as the attorney or consultant of another person, firm, corporation, or entity before:
(A) Either house of the General Assembly;
(B) A committee or task force of either house of the General Assembly; or
(C) A joint committee or task force of the General Assembly.
If such a law had been in place years earlier Senator Hutchinson could not have even attempted to disguise bribery as payments for representing clients.
The bill would have been a big step in protecting the integrity of the legislature but obviously the bill could not have stopped all bribery, such as the cash in the pie box scheme of former Arkansas State Treasurer Martha Shoffner.
This brings us to an important point. Too often politicians think of ethics rules as the enemy, something imposed out of meanness. But as we saw with Senator Collin’s SB726 of 2017, ethics proposals sometimes come from the politicians themselves to protect their institution. It wasn’t just Senator Collins and Senator Rice who wanted to erect boundaries for the good of the legislature, a majority of the members of the Senate also voted for the legislation.
Even with over a majority of the Senate supporting Senator Collins’ legislation it wasn’t enough to pass the bill. Because the bill amended a law initiated and passed by the people, the legislation needed a two-thirds vote. A majority vote in the Senate is 18 votes. A two-thirds vote is 24 votes and the bill received 20 votes, which is four short of the two-thirds requirement.
We hope some members of the Senate and House of Representatives will take another look at Senator Linda Collins’ SB726 of 2017 and pass a bill based on it. It shouldn’t take another wave of corruption charges before the legislature addresses the issue.
More than half of the Senators who were in the Senate in 2017 are no longer in the Senate. Of the twenty Senators who voted for the bill, the following eleven Senators are still in the Senate: Caldwell, A. Clark, Flippo, Hester, Hickey, Irvin, B. Johnson, B. King, Rice, G. Stubblefield, and D. Wallace. Of the fifteen Senators who did not support the bill (by voting no, not voting, or voting present) only these four Senators remain: L. Chesterfield, S. Flowers, J. Dismang, and J. English. Perhaps they have changed their stance after six years.
We need to mention there is currently a Senate bill on a related ethics issue. SB231 by Senator Bryan King would close a loophole in the law which requires a cooling off period before the former legislator can engage in certain activities. The law currently requires a two-year cooling off period before a legislator can become a registered lobbyist, but the law doesn’t work because of a loophole. Some former legislators skirt the law by claiming to be paid as a consultant, not a lobbyist, even though the former legislators are trying to influence legislation. SB231 is good legislation, designed to protect the integrity of the Arkansas General Assembly. It would require the same cooling off period before the former legislator can:
(C) Enter into employment as a consultant or director with a firm, business, association, or other private entity with the primary purpose of lobbying an elected official.
SB231 does not address the problem Senator Collins and a majority of the Senate tried to address in 2017. Her legislation addressed the conduct of “legislators.” SB231 addresses the conduct of “former legislators” Both bills would help protect the integrity of the legislature.
Ask your Senator and Representative if they support such bills.
