That includes in the Senate, a graveyard for past reform measures.

Senate Republicans discussed reforms in their closed caucus Wednesday, focusing on concerns about what is unfolding in the case against Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, and broadening into ethical issues that have been floated in the body for years.

Former Rep. Mark Walker, R-Sandy, also has been accused of bribery in a separate case that may be headed for a grand jury.

"The Senate is always more methodical and doesn't just like to react to circumstances," said Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem. "But as we see the facts being played out we feel like it's time to put those energies into that type of a policy discussion."

Topics on the table go beyond the process for hearing complaints. They include banning personal use of campaign funds, drawing the line on lobbyist gifts and establishing guidelines for disclosing conflicts of interest, including potentially allowing lawmakers to abstain from a vote in some cases.

"I can tell you, from the House standpoint, there is a strong appetite to move forward," said House Majority Leader Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara. Proposals remain conceptual for now, but are being firmed up, and the complaint against Hughes is driving that forward.

"This adds a little turbo to it," Clark said. "If this system has the ability to be gamed, it ought to be changed, and I think there's some politicization that is taking place in this, so we ought to change this to the point it can't be used by either side of the aisle."

House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, said during a campaign debate this week that he would support a new structure for reviewing ethics complaints that includes the majority and minority leaders from the body and a panel of three judges. The idea is to provide an independent review.

"Professionals need to be investigating complaints," Curtis said in an interview, "because what we have right now is a committee of legislators trying to be the investigative committee."

Rep. Roz McGee, D-Salt Lake City, proposed during the last session that an independent panel hear ethics complaints against legislators. Her bill never made it out of the House Rules Committee, partly because of opposition from Hughes.

"The notion that everyone is converging on," Valentine said, "is the idea that we need to have more independence in the ethics body where that body is partially removed from the Legislature themselves."

gehrke@sltrib.com

Topics on

table

Banning personal use of campaign funds.

Drawing the line on lobbyist gifts.

Establishing guidelines for disclosing conflicts of interest, including potentially allowing lawmakers to abstain from a vote in some cases.