Every state has rules governing interactions among legislators, legislative staff and lobbyists, whether those lobbyists represent business interests, nonprofit groups and others. The rules have evolved over the past few decades and are often being updated. 

On this episode, three experts on lobbying and compliance with ethics rules sat down to discuss how ethics rules have evolved and how attitudes about ethics rules have changed. Our guests are Doug Himes, the House ethics counsel in Tennessee; Mark Quiner, director of NCSL’s Center for Ethics in Government; and Elizabeth Bartz, the CEO and president of State and Federal Communications. 

Resources

• Code of Ethics, National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics 
• House Ethics Committee, Tennessee General Assembly
• State and Federal Communications