All of us should have access to lawmakers

By Julianne Thompson

It has been more than a year since I first met with leaders of Common Cause, League of Women Voters and Georgia Watch, organizations that are often on the opposite side of the aisle of tea party activists when it comes to legislation. But there are some things that reach across partisan lines, and strong ethics, transparency and accountability to the people are among those.

The words of C.L. Bryant ring as true today in Georgia as they did at our 2009 March on Washington: “We did not elect you to rule over us; Americans will not be ruled over. We lend you our power.”

Tea party activists have expressed their frustration with what is, in many cases, a lack of accessibility to their legislators. Many of our people are involved in the political process for the first time and they are stunned by the influence that powerful lobbyists and special interests have over lawmakers and what little attention they seem to pay to the average citizen.

We are speaking for that small-business owner who closes up shop and makes the drive to Atlanta to petition his representative on tax reform, for that stay-at-home mother who pays a sitter to watch her children so she can make the 75-mile trip to plead with her senator for school choice. These people are lobbyists too — citizen lobbyists — and they do not have $100 for a nice dinner to get the attention of a legislator. They cannot afford to send them on expensive trips or give them tickets to sit in a luxury box at Turner Field. And they feel frustrated that the only time they can get their attention is during an election.

As a result, we have worked with the Georgia Alliance for Ethics Reform, and with brave lawmakers such as Rep. Tommy Smith and Sen. Josh McKoon to usher in a positive change in our ethics laws that will make the time of that stay-at-home mom just as valuable as the time of powerful special interests.

There are many aspects to the ethics package we are supporting, but the center (which seems to spark the most controversy among the elected) is a cap on lobbyists’ gifts ... not a ban, but a cap.

I have spoken with some legislators who feel $100 is too low a limit to set on an individual lobbyist gift because some of the restaurants they are taken to cost well in excess of $100 for a meal. At what point did people elected to be public servants gain a sense of entitlement to an expensive dinner paid for by special interests? That alone is proof of a luxury legislative lifestyle people have become accustomed to and won’t let go of until they understand how important it is to the people that elect them.

The right to petition and the ability to have access to lawmakers belong to small-business owners and stay-at-home mothers just as much as they belong to powerful special interests. We want our lawmakers to once again understand that they are not our rulers, they are elected to be public servants.

Julianne Thompson is state coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots and co-organizer of the Atlanta Tea Party.