Senate committee removes requirement for ethics commission to answer candidates' disclosure questions, moves language to temporary session law

The Senate Committee on Government Operations on May 13 moved to remove a sentence from a bill that would have required the state ethics commission to answer candidates' questions about the statutory candidate financial‑disclosure form and instead place the remaining disclosure provisions into session law, lawmakers said.

Legislative counsel Tim explained the contested language in section four: the bill directed the ethics commission to make the disclosure form and informational materials available on its website and — in language that drew objections — to provide answers to candidates' questions by email or phone upon contact. Several members and staff said neither the Secretary of State's office nor the ethics commission had agreed they should take on that direct advisory role.

"I think that needs review," one senator said about assigning answer‑capacity to the ethics commission, and other members noted the Secretary of State's office historically posts and collects the form. Committee members worried that requiring the ethics commission to field candidate questions would create new capacity needs and possible conflicts about who provides legal guidance.

After extended discussion, members agreed to remove the sentence that obliges the commission to answer candidate questions and to put the remainder of the section into session law that would sunset after one year. The committee also asked the Secretary of State and the ethics commission to return to the committee with a recommendation by January 2027 on who should administer the disclosure form and how candidate questions should be handled going forward.

Committee members said the change is a temporary fix intended to preserve the bill's other provisions while giving agencies time to draft a long‑term administrative solution. Legislative counsel and staff said they would draft the technical language to implement the committee's direction and return to the committee with the draft amendment.

Next steps: staff to draft the amendment language and the committee will consider the redrafted section before final action on the bill.