A bill to ban fund raising from lobbyists during sessions, House Bill 280, was referred to the House State Government Committee yesterday. Richards said late yesterday that the bill has a good chance of passing the House and that he supports it. It just doesn't look right. It doesn't pass the smell test, and so we're not going to do it. He said contributors would not gain disproportionate influence with Republicans and said the beginning of a session is an artificial threshold because much of the heavy giving by lobbying interests occurs immediately before a session.
People are ethical or unethical.
They will be influenced or they won't be influenced by campaign contributions. Williams said his bill could provide a starting point for negotiations on changes to campaign-finance laws, including limits on contributions and spending in races for governor. Democrats generally favor it. Richards said he was willing to accept small increases in both limits. Richards would like to run for governor in 2003, and many Republicans consider Williams their likeliest nominee for the job.