Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 0107
Committee Amendment CA_A_H591 (House)

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A "to H.P. 107, "Joint Order, To Add Joint Rule 
Requiring Agreement with the Legislative Code of Ethics" 
Amend the Joint Order by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'Joint Order, To Amend the Joint Rules To Require Agreement with a Statement of 
Legislative Ethics' 
Amend the Joint Order by striking out all of Joint Rule 108 and inserting the 
following: 
'Rule 108. Legislative Statement of Ethics. 
All members shall sign and file with their Presiding Officer, and agree to abide by, 
the following statement that serves as the statement of pumose for the laws that govern 
legislative ethics: 
"The Maine Legislature enjoys a high reputation for progressive accomplishment. 
The vast majority of its members are public officers of integrity and dedication, 
seeking at all times to maintain high standards of ethical conduct. 
The public interest is best served by attracting and retaining in the Legislature men 
and women of high caliber and attainment. The public interest will suffer if unduly 
stringent requirements deprive government "of the services of all but princes and 
paupers." 
Membership in the Legislature is not a full-time occupation and is not compensated 
on that basis; moreover, it is measured in 2-year tenTIS, requiring each member to 
recognize and contemplate that his election will not provide him with any career 
tenure. 
Most Legislators must look to income from private sources, not their public salaries, 
for their sllstenance and support for their families; moreover, they must plan for the 
day when they must return to private employment, business or their professions. 
The increasing complexity of government at all levels, with broader intervention into 
private affairs, makes conflicts of interest almost inevitable for all pm1-time public 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "R" to H.P. 107, L.D. 0 
officials, and particularly for Legislators who must cast their votes on measures 
affecting the lives of almost every citizen or resident of the State. The adoption of 
broader standards of ethics for Legislators does not impugn either their integrity or 
their dedication; rather it recognizes the increasing complexity of government and 
private life and will provide them with helpful advice and guidance when confronted 
with unprecedented or difficult problems in that gray area involving action which is 
neither clearly right nor clearly wrong. 
If public confidence in government is to be maintained and enhanced, it is not enough 
that public officers avoid acts of misconduct. They must also scmpulously avoid acts 
which may create an appearance of misconduct. 
The Legislature cannot legislate morals and the resolution of ethical problems must 
indeed rest largely in the individual conscience. The Legislature may and should, 
however, define ethical standards, as most professions have done, to chart the areas 
of real or apparent impropriety. III 
SUMMARY 
This amendment proposes to amend the Joint Rules to require that all members of the 
Legislature sign, and agree to abide by, a statement of legislative ethics. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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