Twenty-seven members of the Colorado General Assembly are currently committing a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of between $1,000 and $5,000, though it’s unlikely any of them will be charged for it. After all, it’s a misdemeanor which a certain portion of the legislature commits annually and, to my knowledge, no one has ever faced a single consequence for it. What’s the crime? Failing to file their annual personal financial disclosures (PFDs) as mandated by the law.
It was 8:52 on a Saturday night when the bill died. The legislative session was barreling towards a close, constrained by the 120-day limit enshrined in the state’s constitution, and there was more business to get through.
The crime would be easy to commit. Your chances of getting caught would be slim to none. If you did it right, your $40,000 per year part-time job could earn you far more than your salary in ill-gotten gains.
A promising political career unraveled this spring when New York’s lieutenant governor Brian Benjamin was arrested. Benjamin, only 45 years-old, was an up and comer in state Democratic politics, having served four years in the state Senate before rising to the position of lieutenant governor in the wake of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s downfall.
Politics in Colorado have a reputation as being clean and corruption-free. An ongoing investigation by the Colorado Times Recorder into the personal financial disclosures of the state legislature, however, calls this reputation into question.
