Ethics bill clears Miss. Senate committee

The Sun Herald, 2/12/8

A comprehensive ethics and open-government bill could come up for Senate debate Thursday, and Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant says he hopes it will get unanimous approval.

“To me, it is the most important bill that I have been a part of. It was the top of my agenda,” said Bryant, a Republican who was elected in November and took office in January.

“We’ve talked about a sweeping ethics reform in this state,” he said. “Its time is now.”

The bill cleared its first hurdle Tuesday with unanimous approval of the newly created Senate Ethics Committee. Several ethics and open-government bills have been filed in the House.