Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle says he’s forming a study committee in the Georgia Senate to build support for ethics reform in the General Assembly.

“It’s a process, and the legislature’s got to get comfortable with it,” Cagle said.

Cagle, who spoke to the Kiwanis Club in Gainesville on Tuesday, said he supports a measure like the one Sen. Josh
McKoon proposed last session that died.

The proposal would have capped lobbyist gifts at $100, among other restrictions. A similar measure also died in the Senate.

Cagle told Kiwanians that he voted for ethics legislation in the Senate before he was elected lieutenant governor.

“I remember when I first came in, there were virtually no ethics (rules) in terms of disclosures,” Cagle said. “...I think we’ve made great strides. Is there more that needs to be done? Absolutely.”

Cagle said he supports limits on lobbyists’ gifts, and he said he plans to form a study committee on the issue.

Republican voters will give their opinions on whether lobbyists’ gifts should be capped on July 31 as they give their opinions on a host of other questions put to them by the Republican Party.

If voters support a change in rules, Cagle said the ballot question will no doubt “build momentum” to strengthen ethical rules among Republican legislators who have been hesitant thus far.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of support — a lot of support,” Cagle said.

But Cagle told Kiwanians that ethics reform in the General Assembly won’t be a cure-all. Voters, he said, need to seek out candidates with ethical character at the ballot who “are willing to stand up and do the right thing.”

“I’ve not seen one law that’s ever been passed that has stopped people from committing crimes,” Cagle said. “We still have criminals today. We have a lot of laws on the books.”