Montanans must ensure legislators are held liable for ethical lapses – Missoulian Editorial

Too many of Montana’s lawmakers are also routine law-breakers. And too few recognize that as the glaring problem it is.

Publicly elected state legislators are ignoring ethics laws and the legal system designed to keep them accountable to the people who put them in office. As explored in a series of statewide reports on Ethics in the Montana Legislature, published in the Missoulian this past week, the rules guiding legislative ethics are so loose they are nearly worthless.

Montana’s bare-bones disclosure requirements call for close attention from members of the public, so that those lawbreakers who fall through the cracks of official accountability may still be held accountable – at the ballot box.

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/opinion/editorial/montanans-must-ensure-legislators-are-held-liable-for-ethical-lapses/article_8851485e-2a46-5bc1-bbd3-be9d0481e0f7.html