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Today, ethics complaints against Representative Phil Riesen were dropped---more because of the way the ethics process is set up than anything else. The committee was deadlocked, along party lines, about whether there was enough cause to move forward with a list of complaints. This was another example of how ethics questions can get lost in Utah. There were those who thought Riesen should have to answer to the complaint. There were those who thought that Representative Hughes, who was cleared along the same 4-4, party line vote wasn't really 'exonerated'. Ethics questions are impossible to answer in the partisian pressure cooker in the State Capitol. After watching this and so many other proceedings at the Capitol, it's hard to believe that anything is NOT partisian. The way complaints are brought forward, who hears those complaints, what the penalties are, and everything in between. The laws need to be updated.
