Restoring Trust And Confidence

Of all the state laws that took effect this week, few carried more symbolic importance for the state legislators who passed it and the governor who signed it into law than “An Act Concerning Comprehensive Ethics Reform.” It was their attempt to scrub away the last of the stains of corruption left over in the halls of power from the infamous Rowland era. John Rowland, who was tried, convicted, imprisoned, and released in the yawning gap between the impetus and implementation of this bill, will not be touched by the provisions of the new law. It is not retroactive. Legislators hoped, however, to restore the people’s trust and confidence in government so badly eroded by the Rowland Administration.

Chief among those provisions is a new authorization for State Superior Court judges to modify or even revoke the pensions of officials public officials and employees convicted of corruption on the job. The law also makes it a misdemeanor for a government employee to fail to report a bribe and limits the value of gifts given to elected officials.

While much attention has been given to how the new law ratchets up the consequences of corruption, it also includes a less noticed provision that strengthens the state’s open government laws in ways that will help prevent corruption in the first place. As of this week, notices and agendas of meetings in towns with public websites must be posted on the Internet not less than 24 hours before the meeting. Minutes of meetings, similarly, must be posted online within seven days.

Corruption rarely arises spontaneously in full force. The first step off the ethical path is almost always taken within the shadow of innocence. But it is the shadow that makes it possible — the place where light does not shine, where people are not looking. Installing the wide window of the Internet in those dim places will go a long way toward lighting the way to the straight and narrow.

While town officials around the state have complained that this provision of the law is yet another “unfunded mandate,” the expense will be negligible for towns like Newtown that already post much of this information to a town website. The dividends it will pay in terms of better and more responsive government will far outweigh the cost.