Lexington Herald Leader Editorial: "More Scrutiny Appreciated".
More scrutiny appreciated
Officials at the state Department of Insurance rightly have begun a review of operations at the Kentucky Association of Counties and the Kentucky League of Cities.
In addition to the other services these two organizations provide for the state's counties and cities, both offer various forms of insurance to their respective members.
And as recent Herald-Leader stories have detailed, KACo and the League have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last few years on travel, entertainment and gifts.
Put these circumstances together, and there is reason for state insurance officials to step in and make sure the portion of the two organizations' wining and dining that benefited officials of their member local governments did not take the form of improper inducements designed to influence those local governments' decisions concerning insurance.
As the recent articles have detailed, both KACo and the League have been rather cavalier about justifying all their entertainment and travel expenses.
That sloppiness may make it difficult to determine whether either organization crossed the line in this regard.
But even if the state review turns up no evidence of improper inducements, it is still a worthwhile exercise if it impresses on KACo and League officials the importance of erecting some kind of fire wall between their insurance operations and those portions of their organizations where entertainment expenses of a limited nature might seem more appropriate.
Their free and easy spending habits suggest that the need for such bright lines of division may not have been evident to them in the past.
But it certainly should be in the future.
Officials at the state Department of Insurance rightly have begun a review of operations at the Kentucky Association of Counties and the Kentucky League of Cities.
In addition to the other services these two organizations provide for the state's counties and cities, both offer various forms of insurance to their respective members.
And as recent Herald-Leader stories have detailed, KACo and the League have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last few years on travel, entertainment and gifts.
Put these circumstances together, and there is reason for state insurance officials to step in and make sure the portion of the two organizations' wining and dining that benefited officials of their member local governments did not take the form of improper inducements designed to influence those local governments' decisions concerning insurance.
As the recent articles have detailed, both KACo and the League have been rather cavalier about justifying all their entertainment and travel expenses.
That sloppiness may make it difficult to determine whether either organization crossed the line in this regard.
But even if the state review turns up no evidence of improper inducements, it is still a worthwhile exercise if it impresses on KACo and League officials the importance of erecting some kind of fire wall between their insurance operations and those portions of their organizations where entertainment expenses of a limited nature might seem more appropriate.
Their free and easy spending habits suggest that the need for such bright lines of division may not have been evident to them in the past.
But it certainly should be in the future.
Labels: Keeping them honest, Kentucky politics, Public Service
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 9:31 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home