Today, Brandon Presley released the final planks of his historic ethics plan. The third plank will strengthen the Ethics Commission so Mississippians have an independent watchdog they can be proud of and the final plank will restore integrity to the governor’s office.

“It is our duty, as public servants, to serve the people openly and honestly,” said Commissioner Brandon Presley. “As governor, I will continue to work with ethics experts and continually fight anybody and anything so Mississippians have the open and transparent government they deserve. We can return power to the people and provide hope all across our state.”

The third plank of Commissioner Presley’s War on Corruption plan - to have a strong, nonpartisan watchdog - includes:

• Transfering all campaign finance reporting duties and enforcement from the Secretary of State’s office to the Ethics Commission;

• Empowering the Ethics Commission to conduct random audits of candidates’ campaign finance reports, contributions, and expenditures;

• Requiring campaign finance reports to be available, submitted online, easily accessible to the public, and due every 30 days in an election year and quarterly in non-election years;

The fourth, and final, plank of Commissioner Presley’s War on Corruption plan - to restore integrity to the governor’s office - includes:

• Establishing a “Governor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Transparency and Accountability” comprised of private citizens and good governance experts. The Task Force shall recommend to the governor and legislature specific action items to clean up state government;

• Support legislation to prohibit companies seeking a license, permit, or non-competitive contract, along with their agents, PACs, and employees, from donating more than $250 to political campaigns from the date of solicitation and/or for 12 months after the final award is made;

• Requiring the governor’s office and all state agencies to keep records of all meetings with lobbyists and companies and individuals lobbying the government for contracts or legislation that benefits them.

In the first plank of Commissioner Presley’s bold ethics plan, he proposed holding every state agency responsible for timely public records request responses and permanently reauthorizing the Public Records Act - both of which could have let Mississippians learn about this scandal much sooner than how this corrupt story unfolded.

In the second plank of the ethics plan, Commissioner Presley proposed measures to make sure Tategate never happens again and actually hold those involved in the largest public corruption scandal accountable - something Tate Reeves has failed to do.

“As governor, I will tell the special interests, lobbyists, and good ol’ boys that the party is over,” said Commissioner Brandon Presley. “We’re going to make the big campaign check writers mad because you deserve a governor who will fight to put the government back on the side of working families, not the giant corporations - and that starts with declaring war on corruption.”

Brandon Presley is a fighter who keeps his promises, stands up for the little guy, and isn't afraid to ruffle more than a few feathers to deliver results for hardworking Mississippi families. Brandon served as Mayor of Nettleton from 2001 to 2007, where he got the town moving again, then balanced the budget every year and cut taxes twice. As Public Service Commissioner, Brandon opened up meetings that had been closed to the public for decades, brought high-speed internet to some of the most remote and forgotten parts of Mississippi, put people back to work with the Hire Mississippi program, and saved taxpayers over 6 billion dollars.

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