SC lawmakers want tougher ethics laws.

‘This has been driven in part by the forced resignation on ethics charges of Rep. Rick Quinn of Lexington and Sen. John Courson who represented the Irmo area in the Statehouse.

It also may be driven by vindictive efforts to thwart those who challenge sitting lawmakers for their seats.

New legislation could force private citizens to testify and turn over financial records to lawmakers.

Former Rep. Mike Pitts, R-Laurens, prefiled a bill to give this power to House or Senate ethics committees.

Pitts said his bill went too far, but the House approved an amended version to allow ethics committees to subpoena banks and credit unions to testify and produce documents and other records in investigations.

As written, that could include “investigating candidates or former candidates’ campaign accounts, or potentially anything else in the discharge of its (the committees’) duties.”

Such power would seem to conflict with a change in state law in 2017 requiring the State Ethics Commission – not House or Senate Ethics committees – to initially investigate complaints against lawmakers or candidates.

The Ethics Commission must refer criminal violations to local solicitors or the state Attorney General.

AG Alan Wilson has the power to subpoena witnesses and documents through the state grand jury to determine whether criminal charges should be filed.

Under the law, the House and Senate Ethics committees are supposed to deal with only “inadvertent and unintentional” reporting errors on required income-disclosure or campaign reports.

Longtime state government watchdog John Crangle said he has concerns about the bill.

“There is a danger of using it to try to harass a candidate during an election or discredit them,” he said.

The House Ethics Committee has aggressively pursued challengers for alleged late filings of campaign or income-disclosure reports.

That committee fined more than 12 unsuccessful challengers for House seats $5,100, the maximum but incumbents only $100 for the same offenses.

One candidate said she was threatened with court if she didn’t pay $10,200.

The House Ethics Committee lists online at least 45 candidates owing nearly $200,000 in fines dating back to 2012 for alleged late or unfiled campaign or income-disclosure reports.

In an Ethics Committee list of “public reprimands” for late or unfiled disclosure reports, at least 3 House candidates were fined $3,802 last year from their state income tax refunds.