JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska state Sen. Shelley Hughes withdrew a health care bill she’s been working on for more than two years and declined meetings on health care policy to avoid running afoul of new ethics rules she and other lawmakers see as too restrictive. The ethics law passed last year details circumstances under which a lawmaker would have a conflict and limits what action the lawmaker can take if he or she has one. Under the legislative ethics committee’s interpretation of the law, legislators can participate in committee and floor debate and vote on bills where they have conflicts, as long as they declare those conflicts. But they can’t have similar discussions in private with fellow lawmakers or anyone else. Ethics laws should keep lawmakers from manipulating the system for their own gain, Hughes said.

Source: National Post February 10, 2019 15:45 UTC