(AP) NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A Tennessee lawmaker has spoken out against the existence of the Tennessee Ethics Commission.
Democratic Rep. Willie "Butch" Borchert of Camden made an impromptu speech on the House floor on Wednesday to say that the state should not be paying $900,000 a year for the ethics commission in tough economic times.
Commission executive director Bruce Androphy said the panel's annual state appropriation is in fact $379,000.
The panel was created in the aftermath of the FBI's Tennessee Waltz bribery sting operation in 2005. Borchert argued that the lawmakers caught in the sting were convicted, so the commission is now unnecessary.
In Borchert's words: "I'm against the whole thing, and I don't care who knows it."
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