Lawmaker: Ethics laws ruin all the fun in the Alabama Legislature

When I spoke with state Rep. Jimmy Martin this week, he didn't hide his displeasure with Alabama's ethics laws.

"Somebody's conscience got to bothering them and they thought everybody down here was a bunch of crooks like they are," he said. "Whoever was the mastermind of this ethics bill totally screwed up the camaraderie and fun in the Alabama Legislature."

I want to make it clear that Martin wasn't trying to be cute. He wasn't saying any of this tongue-in-cheek. He was mad. He was mad because Alabama law doesn't let lawmakers eat, drink and party with lobbyists picking up the tabs the way they used to.

Martin, a Republican from Clanton, lost reelection in 2010, but in 2014 he won his old seat back. While he was gone, the Alabama Legislature passed what it boasted as being the toughest-in-the-nation ethics laws.

Read more: http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/09/lawmaker_ethics_laws_taking_al.html