North Dakota Democrats again push for ethics committee

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - North Dakota Democratic lawmakers want to form a panel to investigate alleged acts of wrongdoing by politicians, though similar efforts in the past have been thwarted by Republicans who control the Legislature and believe it already follows high standards of conduct.

Democratic House Minority Leader Corey Mock, of Grand Forks, has been unsuccessfully pushing for years to establish an ethics commission in North Dakota, one of only a handful of states without such a panel. Similar efforts by Democrats to create an ethics commission have been defeated in the past three sessions largely along party lines.

Mock told the House Government and Veterans Affairs Committee on Thursday that the bipartisan committee would prepare a legislative code of ethics that would be presented to the Legislature.

Mock said in an interview that his bill was not prompted by any ethics problems he has observed. But he believes a law now is better than one enacted later in response to an ethics scandal in the Legislature.

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