The Rhode Island Ethics Commission wants to pass new rules increasing gift limits and banning gifts from lobbyists to make public service more accountable.

For the first time in over a decade, the Rhode Island Ethics Commission is looking at making major updates to the state’s laws, ethics and legal services. The commission voted as a group to start rules that would stop lobbyists from giving gifts to officials unless the gifts were campaign donations. The commission is also planning to raise the amount of “insubstantial” gifts officials can accept, as it has not been updated since 2005.

At this time, the law does not specifically mention lobbyists when prohibiting public officials from receiving anything worth more than $25 from interested individuals. The gap became clear when a multi-year investigation of Gov. Dan McKee’s activities showed that consulting services by a lobbyist’s group, although raising concerns, did not run afoul of existing guidelines. Common Cause Rhode Island has requested that the commission include lobbyists among ‘interest persons’ as is done in over 20 other states.

The new system will update the old gift limits. According to the legislation from Senator Ciccone III, the cap could be raised to $50 for one gift and $250 annually. Such modifications are meant to bring ethics codes up to date and boost their compliance.

The commission will carry out public hearings and check through the proposal in detail before it receives final approval. All nine members of the panel must vote for a two-thirds majority to pass these law, ethics and legal services reforms. Enhancing openness and accountability in public service is what these updates focus on in Rhode Island.