Amendment X: Ethics in Colorado- Update

Last month, we noted the efforts of Todd Shepard at the Independence Institute to get members of the Governor's Cabinet in Colorado to file their ethics disclosures, at required by Executive Order.

Then, we found out that Governor Bill Ritter had re-issued the order to require his Cabinet officers to file new ethics disclosures, while ignoring the missed filings.

Since then, the Independence Institute learned that Ritter's climate advisor, Alice Madden, was also on the payroll of the liberal Center for American Progress. Faced with public disclosure of this conflict, Madden has been forced to resign from CAP.

This shows why it is not only important to put ethics codes on the books, but also for independent watchdogs to hold government accountable to them.