A local legislator claims Democratic representatives have compromised the integrity of legislative authorship.
Representative Shae Sortwell is circulating legislation to stop legislators from including themselves as coauthors or cosponsors of bills after they are on the floor for consideration.
He noted that 247 bills have been signed into law during this legislative session, and a handful of legislators added themselves as coauthors or cosponsors after legislation had already advanced through the legislative process.
He specifically called out Rep. Jodi Emerson for doing so 25 times, Rep. Brienne Brown who did so 21 times, and Rep. Jenna Jacobson who attached her name on a bill 20 times.
Also noted were Reps. Jill Billings, Steve Doyle, Clint Anderson, and Robyn Vining, who took part in this trend 11, 9, 3, and one time respectively.
The most egregious case, in Rep. Sortwell’s words, was when Reps. Brown, Billings, and Emerson added themselves as coauthors to Act 20 seven months after it had been signed into law.
Rep. Sortwell says that people should be able to “trust that when they see their legislator’s name attached to a bill as a coauthor or cosponsor, they actually contributed to the effort while the legislation was still moving through the process.”
