NC Coalition for Lobbying & Government Reform
19 W. Hargett Street, Suite 701
Raleigh, NC 27601
919-833-0092
www.nclobbyreform.org

For Immediate Release March 8, 2007

Contact: Louisa Warren Phone: 919-833-0092

Coalition Issues Sunshine Progress Report

Raleigh— In honor of “Sunshine Week”, the annual initiative aimed at highlighting the public’s right to know and encouraging media and citizens alike to become involved in government, the NC Coalition for Lobbying & Government Reform has issued a Sunshine Progress Report to track where the legislature is in promoting transparency.

Over the last year, the North Carolina legislature has taken significant steps forward to improve transparency and accountability in state government. But the sun could shine a little brighter if several more steps are taken.

Below is a summary of “The Good” of the new lobbying and ethics law—items that lawmakers should rightfully be applauded for—and several areas that clearly “Need Improvement”.

NC’s New Lobbying & Ethics Law

THE GOOD
• Requires full and frequent disclosure of all lobbyists’ spending on lawmakers and top Executive branch officials. Lobbyists will no longer be hidden from public view.
• For the first time ever, Executive branch is regulated.
• Independent Ethics Commission now means that there is a broadened scope of public information being collected in order to prevent potential conflicts of interest and ethics violations. Economic Interest Statements are now required for many more people than before.

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT
• Open Ethics Commission hearings: For 30 years, we’ve had open ethics meetings. The new law closed these meetings, going against what most other states have.
• More sunshine on “pet projects” (special appropriations): The budget process should and needs to be open but it’s not when lawmakers are allowed to slip in pork under the public’s nose and without any due process.
• Better access to meetings and timely information: The public should be able to attend meetings at the legislature—they’re supposed to be open, that’s what the Open Meetings Law is for—but sometimes they’re not. And the public also deserves to have timely access to amended bills, meeting minutes, and voting records.

“Our Sunshine Progress report indicates that there have been significant gains made over the past year in reforming our lobbying and ethics laws,” said Louisa Warren, Director of the Coalition. “But we cannot effectively achieve full accountability unless we have more transparency in our government. More can be done.”
The NC Coalition for Lobbying & Government Reform is a non-profit, nonpartisan group of more than 50 organizations and individuals that have been working since 2005 to strengthen North Carolina’s lobbying, ethics, and open government laws.

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