New ethics rules are set to take effect in Alaska later this month and come as a byproduct of Sarah Palin's tenure as governor of the state.
The AP reports:
These include allowing for the state to pay legal costs for officials cleared of ethics violations; allowing for a family member of the governor or lieutenant governor to travel at state cost in certain circumstances and allowing an immediate family member to use an official's state-issued cell phone or BlackBerry if the usage is limited or under monthly or unlimited plans.
Palin, who sent shockwaves across the political spectrum with her decision to step down as governor midway through her tenure in the summer of 2009, addressed the numerous ethics complaints that had been made against her in her resignation speech:
Every one - all 15 of the ethics complaints have been dismissed. We've won! But it hasn't been cheap - the State has wasted THOUSANDS of hours of YOUR time and shelled out some two million of YOUR dollars to respond to "opposition research" - that's money NOT going to fund teachers or troopers - or safer roads. And this political absurdity, the "politics of personal destruction" ... Todd and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills in order to set the record straight. And what about the people who offer up these silly accusations? It doesn't cost them a dime so they're not going to stop draining public resources - spending other peoples' money in their game.
It's pretty insane - my staff and I spend most of our day dealing with THIS instead of progressing our state now. I know I promised no more "politics as usual," but THIS isn't what anyone had in mind for ALASKA.
In the end, while Palin was cleared of many of the allegations she faced, according to the Associated Press, the conservative politician's term was nonetheless tarnished by all of the controversy.
New executive branch ethics rules are now scheduled to take effect in the Last Frontier on December 22.