An Indiana Senate panel endorsed a measure aimed at cracking down on nepotism and conflicts of interest in local government Wednesday afternoon.
The Senate Local Government Committee passed the bill on a unanimous 9-0 vote, sending it on to the full chamber. It gives Gov. Mitch Daniels, who made both items a part of his 2012 agenda, a step toward a victory in his years-long push for local government reform.
Senate Bill 170 would prohibit government officials from hiring family members to serve in roles that they would supervise.
“It’s time Indiana removed the cloud of impropriety that arises each time an elected official uses taxpayer dollars to pay a family member salary,” said its author, Sen. Connie Lawson, R-Danville. “I believe this legislation is fair for all and will help make Indiana government more accountable.”
It would also bar Hoosiers who are police, firefighters, parks workers or otherwise municipal employees from serving on the elected budget-writing bodies that oversee the finances of the agencies that employ them.
“By making this adjustment, we can help ensure trust in local government by eliminating conflicts of interest that could arise when a public employee serves as an elected official and makes decisions on things like budgets and office policies they will directly benefit from,” Lawson said.
The two items included in the bill are ideas that were once part of a much larger discussion about local government reform. Daniels has said he knows the push for those reforms will have to be incremental.
He is also urging lawmakers to abolish township trustees’ three-member elected advisory boards – a step that might be tougher to convince the General Assembly to take.