Attorney General Blumenthal added a new chapter to the developing story of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport’s effort to fight an investigation by the Office of State Ethics. The Enforcement Division of the OSE recently sought to investigate whether or not the Church should register as a lobbyist after their activities surrounding legislation being considered during the regular session. Blumenthal yesterday wrote that the OSE should cease its investigation and instructed the legislature to clarify the lobbying laws to provide better guidance on the definition of lobbying.
Anyone who has been regulated by the ethics laws can appreciate the need for clarification. Freedom of speech has always been the pull on the other end of the rope but in recent years the pull of the public’s need for transparency has been stronger. The regulated community has the ethics code, regulations, and years of advisory opinions and staff opinions to provide guidance but the rules remain incredibly complicated. When the news first reported the OSE’s investigation of the Diocese, this blogger wrote that entities must be held to the same standards, regardless of tax status or organization type, when it came to the lobbying laws. With the AG’s decision, the Church’s case now provides the opportunity for the legislature to truly find some clarity. Let’s hope that they rise to the occasion.
