Time to cool off

Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

Morse Arberry abruptly resigned his Assembly seat Tuesday, ending a tenure that started with his election in 1984 and wrapped up with him serving as the chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee.

Arberry’s resignation was a surprise given that he was due to leave office this year because of term limits. So why resign now?

As David McGrath Schwartz and Joe Schoenmann reported in Thursday’s Las Vegas Sun, Arberry is planning on taking a lucrative job as a lobbyist for the court system in Clark County and wanted to avoid a conflict of interest. Under an agreement scheduled to go before the Clark County Commission next week, Arberry would be paid $10,000 a month from now until June, when the Legislature is scheduled to adjourn. After that, Arberry will be paid $2,000 a month through June 2012, with an extra $400 a day any time the Legislature is in a special session.

The proposed deal highlights a serious problem with state ethics laws — there is no cooling-off period for state lawmakers. They can leave office one day and start lobbying the next. Arberry doesn’t see a problem with that.

“I think you have to hit things while the iron is hot,” Arberry said. “For 25 years I served in the Legislature and in public, and I bring relationships and a lot of knowledge to the table. A cooling-off period hinders an individual. Momentum you have is lost because then you’re not involved in the field.”

County Commissioner Steve Sisolak, who calls Arberry a friend, said the comments by the assemblyman-turned-lobbyist reflect “exactly why we need a cooling-off period.”

Indeed.

“Whether it’s ethical or not, it doesn’t look good,” said Doug Pinkham, president of the nonpartisan Public Affairs Council, which promotes government ethics, including cooling-off periods. Pinkham said Arberry is “using access and expertise to benefit clients. By benefiting clients, he’s making money.”

Assembly Majority Leader John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, said he would introduce legislation creating a cooling-off period.

“There ought to be a time period because you are so close to your colleagues, you have to have some time and distance before you come back on the lobbying side,” he said. “It’s almost like you’re a colleague still, as opposed to a lobbyist.”

That’s why rules prohibit members of Congress and their staffs from immediately turning around to lobby their colleagues. Many government agencies do similar things, mandating cooling-off periods before ex-employees can lobby their former colleagues. But in Nevada, it’s not unusual to see lawmakers become lobbyists shortly after leaving office. A few have even held key positions with advocacy groups as they served in the Legislature, which creates a terrible conflict of interest.

Nevada’s citizen Legislature is bound to create conflict-of-interest issues because lawmakers have to make a living outside their part-time service. But allowing clear conflicts of interest and letting lawmakers immediately lobby their colleagues hurt the public’s confidence in government. The Legislature next year should move to strengthen ethics law by creating a cooling-off period for former lawmakers. It’s simply the right thing to do.