Moving at a suddenly accelerated pace, House and Senate committees are expected to approve today different versions of an ethics reform bill that seeks to put distance between legislators and special-interest lobbyists.

Key parts of the reform bill -- written by a study commission formed last year after two misconduct scandals rocked the General Assembly -- remain intact under the House and Senate versions.

Subcommittees in both chambers have voted to retain the proposed ban on State House lobbyists buying individual meals for legislators. Both versions would also require lawmakers to undergo annual ethics counseling sessions with the Assembly's full-time ethics adviser.

But the two subcommittees want to undo or weaken some of the reforms proposed by the commission, which was headed by Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, a Maryland Democrat.

The House subcommittee, for example, approved an amendment yesterday that would allow legislators to accept employment with state and local governments, as long as the job is approved by the Assembly's joint ethics committee.

The Cardin commission had proposed a blanket ban on such employment, saying legislators might receive an unfair advantage in the job-application process.

Del. John S. Arnick, head of the House subcommittee, said the ethics committee's scrutiny will serve to prevent legislators from winning jobs because of their State House positions. But the subcommittee's only Republican, Del. Robert H. Kittleman, disagreed.

"I don't see how they can turn down anybody," Kittleman, of Howard County, said of the ethics committee's oversight of government jobs for lawmakers. "I think this is a real, real bad mistake."

The Senate subcommittee approved an amendment this week that would allow lawmakers to take jobs in local or state government -- but only civil service positions, not political appointments.

While the proposed ban on lobbyists buying individual meals for legislators has been approved by both subcommittees, the House panel is seeking to expand a provision that allows lobbyists to treat groups of legislators to meals.

Lobbyists may now pay for meals for the entire General Assembly, committees or county delegations. Under the House version of the bill, lobbyists would also be allowed to buy meals for the members of a subcommittee.

While Kittleman objected to that provision, the four Democrats on the subcommittee approved it.

"One-on-one meals look shady," said Arnick, a Baltimore County Democrat. "Whereas a subcommittee that wants to learn about something, that doesn't look shady."

On the issue of legislators accepting tickets from lobbyists, the House and Senate are headed in somewhat different directions. The House is proposing a ban on tickets from registered lobbyists or groups represented by lobbyists, a move that would ban the Orioles from handing out free tickets to legislators.

The Senate version would allow groups such as the Orioles or Ravens to give tickets to legislators.

On one issue, both senators and delegates agreed this week -- that none of their financial disclosure statements should be posted on the Internet. The Cardin panel had proposed Internet disclosure.

The ethics bill is expected to win approval today in full Senate and House committees.

The full Senate and House of Delegates are expected to begin votes on the issue next week. Differences in the two versions will likely have to be resolved later in the 90-day session in a conference committee of three delegates and three senators.

Pub Date: 3/05/99