The R.I. Ethics Commission voted to place stricter limits on gifts that public officials can take from lobbyists. But a second vote raised the maximum monetary value of gifts, which Common Cause Rhode Island opposed.
Common Cause, a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to government transparency and democratic values, supported the commission’s change of definition of an “interested person” to prohibit public officials from accepting unlimited gifts from all lobbyists, including those from nonprofits.
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Common Cause identified what it called a “loophole” in state law that allowed nonprofit lobbyists to give gifts without the constraints of an “interested person” designation.
But the ethics panel did not listen to the nonprofit when it voted to allow public officials to accept gifts valued at up to $50 at a time, with a cap of $150 annually from any “interested person.” Previously, these limits were set at $25 at a time and $75 annually. Proponents cited inflation as the reason to raise the limits.
