This column originally appeared in Whitmire’s newsletter, Alabamafication. Sign up here for free.

“Alabama ethics reform bill died in Senate committee this morning.”

That’s what I tweeted yesterday after the state Senate Judiciary Committee carried over the bill. However, there were two mistakes with that tweet, and I should clarify.

First, I forgot to put air quotes around “reform” and might have left the impression this bill was a good thing.

It was not.

As I’ve written before, this bill would have zombified the Alabama Ethics Commission. It would have loosened laws on gifts between lobbyists and lawmakers, and it would have gutted important disclosure requirements entirely.

It was a monster bill and it deserved to die.

Second, ethics “reform” bills are never dead. Only dead for now.

Like Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th franchise, the rules of life and death do not apply here. Ethics “reform” never stays dead for long. Even now, with mere hours left in this legislative session, I’m watching the loose dirt over this fresh grave.

One day, ethics “reform” will be back.

Some year in the future, ethics “reform” will make its way into law.

Perhaps it’s time — not to give up, but for people who care about policing public corruption to take the air quotes off of reform and do something real.

Alabama needs to make changes to ethics enforcement that make Alabama better, not changes that make public officials and special interests richer.

I can think of a few things I’d like to see.

First, the appointing authorities over the Ethics Commission — the governor, lieutenant governor and Alabama House speaker — are ignoring their duties, trying to kill the commission through neglect. Currently, there are two vacancies on the commission and one commissioner whose term has expired — all because those officials haven’t made new appointments.

This can’t be allowed to continue, or soon the commission might not even have enough members for a quorum at meetings.

Any elected official who fails to fill vacancies for a year, should forfeit their own office.

Extreme, I know, but it’s the end of the legislative session and that’s the mood it has left me in.

Second, expand the commission.

Five members has never felt like enough, and it’s too easy for the current appointing authorities to huddle up if they wanted to tilt the commission in corruption’s favor.

Let’s grow the commission to at least seven members and give others appointing authority over the new seats. We can figure out who that might be later, but the attorney general and the Alabama Supreme Court seem like reasonable candidates.

Third, and finally, give the commission more power, not less.

We have a serious problem in Alabama with our Open Records Act. Public officials act as though it doesn’t exist because they know there’s nothing regular folks can do about it. They ignore requests and hide public documents from the public view.

For years, civic-minded do-gooders (including the Alabama Press Association) have pushed to reform the open records law by creating an appeals process that doesn’t involve thousands of dollars of out-of-pocket legal fees.

Let’s make the Ethics Commission that authority.

And while we’re at it, let’s put them in charge of Open Meetings Act violations, too.

The Ethics Commission serves a purpose, and all the talk about ethics “reform” has ignored or undermined that purpose.

District attorneys don’t want to prosecute public officials in their jurisdictions. It’s a political hazard for them, and most would rather focus on violent crime.

The Attorney General’s Office has its hands full, too. Even when it’s not busy signing onto other states’ lawsuits against the Biden Administration, it’s too easy for the AG’s office to say it has more important matters than citizens’ complaints about their shifty local water board.

Alabama needs an agency dedicated to citizens’ complaints about corruption and illegal secrecy.

The Alabama Ethics Commission seems a logical and appropriate entity to handle all of these issues.

That’s the change Alabama needs.

Before another ethics “reform” monster rises from the grave.

Kyle Whitmire is the 2023 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Subscribe to his weekly newsletter, Alabamafication.