EAVES ROLLS OUT ETHICS PACKAGE
JACKSON – Democratic candidate for Governor John Eaves today unveiled an
ethics package that would bring accountability back to Mississippi
government.
“The people of Mississippi should not have to blindly trust that their
elected officials aren’t breaking the law,” said Eaves. “The ethics package
I propose would ensure that the loyalty of those who make our laws stays
with the people, not the powerful.”
As the Attorney General has declared, so-called “blind” trusts would
continue to be illegal under Eaves’ proposed ethics regulations. The
package would shed sunlight onto the currently opaque inner workings of the
state ethics commission.
“Barbour’s blind trust clearly constitutes a conflict of interest, and even
the state ethics commission refused to rule that it doesn’t,” said Eaves.
“It’s time for Barbour to come clean and show us who he serves. The people
of Mississippi deserve to know whether he’s actually a former lobbyist, or
whether he still has a connection to the lobbying firm that bears his name.”
The package also includes provisions that would give teeth to current ethics
laws by punishing those who violate them with one to five years in prison
and a hefty fine, and would use the state’s legal definition of nepotism for
ethical conflicts of interest.
Following in the tradition of every candidate for Governor of Mississippi,
including Governor Kirk Fordice, Eaves also released his taxes today.
Governor Haley Barbour has not released his taxes, nor did he do so in 2003.
In keeping with a longstanding tradition here in Mississippi, Eaves also
provided what every Governor in the history of the state of Mississippi –
except our current Governor, Haley Barbour – has provided the media in
regards to personal income taxes. Even the late Kirk Fordice provided this
very same information to the media. Alimony information has been redacted
at the request of Eave’s first wife.
John Arthur Eaves, Jr. Campaign Release
10/31/7
Magnolia Tribune
