Robert Bentley for Governor 2010

Recent events in Birmingham are the latest example of the spate of questionable ethical activity in Alabama by public officials at all levels of government.  As Governor, I will work to pass tough ethics laws which will attract high quality candidates while reforming our current system.  I will make our state’s government one of the most transparent in the country by creating a strong executive branch code of ethics for myself, all cabinet officials, and our staffs.  Additionally, I will never take any gift for being Governor, and no member of my family will benefit from my election to the office of Governor of Alabama.  Furthermore I will require online reporting of all state spending and revenues.

Alabama needs these tougher ethics laws and political reform to ensure that all people, companies, and small businesses are subject to the same rules.  There should not be one set of rules for those with power, money, or influence, and another set for everyone else.  Government service is a public trust which demands the highest levels of integrity, and our citizens should be able to be confident that the public officials they entrust with their votes will serve with honor and be beyond reproach.

I have never been, nor will I ever be, beholden to lobbyists or special interests.  In fact, I have voted to ban transfers from one political action committee to another (so-called PAC-to-PAC transfers) every time this legislation has come before the Alabama House of Representatives in the past seven years.  I will continue to do so while during my service in the legislature.  I also support banning all political action committees, in order to maximize the transparency of money in politics.

As part of my efforts to maximize transparency, I will push to limit lobbying expenditures.  One way to do this is by mandating online reporting of all money lobbyists spend on every elected official or public servant in Alabama.  This will ensure complete transparency in the efforts of special interests to influence public policy so that voters can decide whether their representatives are serving their needs, or the needs of campaign benefactors.  I will eliminate the practice of awarding no bid contracts to ensure that the most qualified and competitive firms receive state contracts, instead of those affiliated with powerful legislators.  Finally, I will push legislation to make all political party funds transparent, whether it comes through party-affiliated foundations or donations to the parties themselves.

These will be some of the toughest ethics laws in the nation, and I will make sure they are enforced by empowering the ethics commission with subpoena power.  I will also require the Alabama Ethics Commission to redesign its website to be more user friendly for citizens so they can obtain the information they need.

I have no illusions these reforms will be easy to pass through the legislature.  After all, many of my colleagues are happy with the status quo, as are their lobbyist supporters. I will continue to work on these issues in legislature during the next year of my current term.

The people of Alabama deserve a Governor who is responsive to the needs of all the people, not just the well connected, and who will ensure that no one is above is the law and no one is below the law.  I will be that Governor.

(These remarks were published by the Montgomery Advertiser on January 1, 2010).