Politics & Government
State Ethics Board Probes Sen. Litzow, Republicans on Free Meals
An ethics board is investigating a complaint concerning the five most-frequent recipients of food and drinks as a gift, which may violate gift rules.
State Sen. Steve Litzow (R-Mercer Island) and four other senators are being probed this week by Legislative Ethics Board officials, according to news reports suspicions the legislators accepted too many free meals from lobbyists in 2013.
According to the Seattle Times, Sens. Doug Ericksen, Steve Litzow, Joe Fain, Mike Hewitt and Mark Schoesler — all Republicans — were the most frequent recipients of food and drinks as a gift.
The ethics probe is in response to a complaint filed by a Seattle man, which cited an AP story detailing the amounts spent on legislators by lobbyists. A state legislative staff member confirmed that the probe centered on the top-five legislators who received the largest gifts, and all hold committee chairmanships.
Sen. Litzow, chairman of the Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, reportedly accepted $1,477 in gifts during the four-month regular legislative session. Sen. Doug Ericksen was reported to have had the most free meals — 62, worth some $2,029, according to AP.
The complaint could prompt the ethics board to rewrite current ethics rules, which are vaguely written and only caution lawmakers to accept gifts "infrequently".
Check the Seattle Times story for more details on the ethics complaint.
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