European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 25, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday March 252007 stars s tropes Page 17 states wrestle with conflicts of interest the associated press Boise Siddoway is a rancher who Sells Hunting trips for trophy Elk on his land in Eastern Idaho he is also a Republican state senator so when Siddoway joined a 71 committee decision to kill Legisla Tion outlawing shooter Bull operations where Hunters stalk penned Elk for a fee his inbox was flooded with emails telling him he should have abstained democrats argued that not step Ping aside gave the appearance of being on the take even though Siddoway consulted with the at Torney generals office and Fol Lowed Idaho Senate rules requiring that he first disclose his per Sonal interest before weighing in it was just so Black and White Siddoway who represents a sprawling District that stretches from the Continental Divide to the Remote lava Fields of Eastern Idaho said of the rules Al lowing him to vote after disclosing his personal stake it was the right thing to do lawmakers from Alaska to Vir Ginia Are wrestling with similar conflict interest issues High lighting a tension that has been at the heart of citizen Legislatures since their founding members leave real world jobs to serve Par time in their state Assem Blies where they often address is sues they hold dear having a conflict of interest is Western states rank highest for tracking conflict of interest lawmakers who have a personal stake in a measure May need special permission to vote on the Issue in some states they cannot vote at All or before disclosing their conflicts financial disclosure Law scores for state legislative members top five states out of 100 out of 100 Washington Bottom five states new Hampshire Utah Vermont 181 100 050 states outlined in Black have no provision against lawmakers voting on a conflict of interest measure sources the Center for Public integrity National conference of state Legislatures not a bad thing its to be expected in a citizen legislature said Peggy Kerns director of the Cen Ter for ethics in government at the National conference of state Legislatures in Denver its what somebody does with that conflict that the Issue in nearly two thirds of 99 state Chambers Nebraska Legisla Ture is uniquely unicameral lawmakers must abstain from Vot ing in certain situations Kern said thirteen states have no pro vision against voting on a con Alicto interest measure some states such As California in 1966 switched to full time Legislatures in part because they thought professional lawmakers a could better separate themselves from conflicts still most others Are unwilling to follow suit some of our Best members have jobs that require them to be there on mondays and then Back on the Job thursday afternoon and Friday Tennessee House speaker Jimmy Naifeh said and in glad there Able to do that got a question ust we with us my c j rive part a ppm 1a r Vav i help spouse club ils maj it will the Static to that Send your questions to debuts april 1 with your weekly scene stars rare copy of declaration bought for Sells big the associated press Nashville Tenn a rare 1823 copy of the declaration of in dependence sold at auction for by a Man who found it last year in a Nashville Thrift store for Michael Sparks a music equipment technician sold the document thursday at Rainors historical collectible auctions in Burlington no six bidders contended for the document most by phone or inter net when bidding opened at the identity of the win Ner was not disclosed Sparks found his bargain last March while browsing at music City Thrift shop when he asked the Price on a yellowed Shel lacked rolled up document the clerk marked it at plus tax the document turned out to be an official copy of the Declara Tion of Independence one of 200 commissioned by John Quincy Adams in 1820sparks said he had a few plans for the Money a used car adding a Sun room to his House helping to support his parents and giving some to Charity you think it is a huge Fortune but by the time you figure it up and put some off for the taxes it is not it is not a huge Fortune but More like a Small Fortune he said acc to study is business practices Washington the Feder Al communications commission said thursday it will study the business practices of High Speed internet providers and consider adopting regulations to ensure All web traffic is treated equally the study will focus on How in ternet service providers Are Man aging traffic on their networks and whether they Are charging different prices for different speeds or Levels of service the commission said the acc adopted four Princi Ples on internet policy in 2005 and the study will consider whether a principle of nondiscrimination in internet traffic should be added a gossip columnist files defamation suit new York for months former new York Post scribe Jared Paul Stern was at the Cen Ter of unseemly accusations that he tried to shake Down billionaire Ronald Burkle in Exchange for Good press in the newspapers gossip pages now Stern has fired Back in a lawsuit filed thursday against Burkle the posts archrival daily news even former president Bill Clinton and sen Hillary Rodham Clinton whom Stern accuses of attacking him in an Effort to suppress negative stories about themselves represented by a longtime critic of the Clinton Stern alleges the defendants defamed and inflicted emotional distress on him and wrecked his Job As a contributor to the posts hugely popular Page six gossip column he seeks unspecified damages nebraskans turn the tables audit irs Omaha neb taxpayers were Given the Chance to turn the tables on the internal Revenue service responding to the Agen cys request for an audit of its ser vices a forum on thursday one of three nationwide this year let taxpayers complain suggest changes and quiz the nations top advocate for taxpayers on every thing from phone menus to identity theft taxpayer concerns ranged widely one woman spoke of wait ing 40 minutes on the phone for an irs agent to help her with a simple question a Man asked Why the irs Doest provide com Puter software so taxpayers can submit returns online for free Obama says he want behind 1984 and Las vegas sen Barack Obama said Friday that his Campaign had nothing to do with a web and portraying his chief rival for the democratic presidential nomination As an orwellian Fig ure nevertheless Obama declined to denounce the and which depicts new York sen Hillary Rodham Clinton As big brother he said the and apparently captured the Public imagination Obama said the and was produced by a renegade employee of a company hired by his Campaign to help design his web site from the associated press