The ruling came down last week from the Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board on state House Speaker James Amann’s fundraising in the Statehouse in Hartford: no more. Amann has consistently been raising money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society from lobbyists and those who work for them. While he was right to ask for a ruling from the board, it hardly seems a confusing ethical issue. He shouldn’t be doing it, and he shouldn’t have been doing it in the first place.
Raising money for the charity is his job, not a volunteer position. He does benefit from his ability to raise more money every year, since his fundraising goal has doubled over the past three years, from $125,000 to $250,000, and his salary has increased from $60,000 to $67,500 in the same time frame, according to the Hartford Courant, while he’s been asking for donations from lobbyists. Amann is considering an appeal on the ruling, but that would be ill-advised.
His time at the Statehouse should be spent thinking about state business, the people’s business, not about his next donor for his other part-time job.
