Date: 03/14/2006
Final
House Ethics Committee - Rep. Stengel Response
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ETHICS
| Votes: View--> | Action Taken: |
| <none> | <none> |
[On March 14, 2006, Representative Kathleen Curry was appointed as a member of the House Committee on Ethics to replace Representative Betty Boyd who is resigning effective March 22, 2006, to fill a vacancy in the state Senate.]
01:07 PM -- Second Meeting of the House Ethics Committee: Review of Response Received from Representative Stengel
Representative Weissmann, Chairman, stated that the goal of the committee at today's meeting is to go through the responses received from Representative Stengel, and to determine whether additional requests for information need to be made. A copy of Representative Stengel's response to the complaint brought against him is attached as Attachment A. Copies of the exhibits that are part of Representative Stengel's response are available on file at the Legislative Council Staff office.
01:09 PM
Beginning on page 2 of the response, Representative Weissmann walked the committee through each response received from Representative Stengel. Allegation #1 relates to whether it is legal for leadership to be compensated for legislative work performed outside of session. Representative Weissmann stated that the committee has already requested copies of the relevant copies of the law, and that additional evidence on this allegation is likely not needed at this time. Allegation #2 deals with the ethical issue of legislators billing for days they did not work. Allegation #3 relates to the claim that Representative Stengel received payment for 240 out of 247 days outside of session. Representative Weissmann stated that evidence related to this claim had already been requested from Legislative Council Staff. He reiterated that the committee would be looking at per diem payment information from 2005.
Allegation #4 concerns claims that the seven days Representative Stengel did not work were major holidays. Allegation #5 relates to payment received while visiting Hawaii and while taking the Colorado bar examination. Representative Weissmann again stated that evidence already requested should help address these allegations.
Regarding allegation #3, the committee requested that when the evidence is received from the Legislative Council Staff, members would like it broken down more clearly since there was some confusion related to Representative Stengel's response to that allegation. The committee continued walking through each allegation and each response to the allegation. He stated that some of the requested information, such as the newspaper search for articles related to the complaint, will help fill in any gaps that the committee still needs.
01:12 PM
Representative Marshall asked whether the committee can request clarification if there are any parts of Representative Stengel's response that committee members feel are unclear. Representative Weissmann stated that some information, such as the need for clarification about allegation #3, may occur in the evidence requested from the Legislative Council Staff. Representative Marshall stated that she has some questions about allegation #5, but that the requests for evidence that are due Friday, March 17, may help clarify this one as well.
01:14 PM
Representative Weissmann stated that the requests for evidence are due Friday, March 17, 2006, thus the committee will meet at noon on Wednesday, March 22, to go over the information that is received. Representative Hefley stated that the committee's previous discussions had been about expediting this proceeding as quickly as is feasible. Representative Weissmann stated that the committee must determine whether there is probable cause to continue the inquiry by April 1, 2006.
01:18 PM
The House Committee on Ethics adjourned. [Next meeting: Wednesday, March 22, 12:00 noon.]