Ethics reform bill may return

State Rep. Chris Caruso has a reputation for being a crusader. And while he can come across too strongly at times, I tend to agree with him on the ethics bill that failed to go anywhere in the 2008 Legislature.

I don't know the details of the ethics bill, but it seemed to be a question of House Dems vs. Senate Dems... with the Senate Dems refusing to revoke state pensions for employees (including elected officials) who commit crimes in the course of their state jobs... and House Dems (particularly Caruso) wanting the pensions revoked.

For my part... I recognize the concern about ex post facto laws, but think that the goal of revoking state pensions for criminals is worth sending AG-for-life Blumenthal to bat... defending the law and seeing if it sticks. And if you can't get legislators to agree to that... then you ought to at least be able to find a compromise in which all pensions are revoked going forward.

Regardless, thankfully there's a chance that the legislature will hold a special session for ethics reform.

Tim White