Integrity in Government
Government is the source of law and justice and therefore there must be absolute integrity within the civil service. Hoosiers deserve nothing less! Government is a top-down bureaucracy. We cannot expect field-staff to operate with integrity if the mechanisms are not in place to hold the management of our civil service accountable to the highest degree. As a state representative, I will introduce legislation to strengthen or replace the current whistleblower statutes (specifically IC 4-15-10-14 and IC-44.2-1-1).
This legislation will make it:
1. a felony for any supervisor to retaliate against a state employee who reports or presents evidence of a violation of law or policy to a supervisor, an internal affairs investigator, the inspector general, an agency’s legal department, an agency’s human resources personel, the State Personnel Department, any State of Federal agency with jurisdiction to investigate the complaint, The State Employee Appeals Commission, or an administrative law judge.
2. defines retaliation as demotion, termination of employment, involuntary transfer, disciplinary action, withholding salary or benefits, increased workload, and increased scrutiny.
3. make it clear that any supervisor cannot use as a defense the claim that they were told to do so by a superior.
4. nor can they can they claim immunity on the basis that they were counseled to do so by any other agent of the state.
5. would obligate the State terminate the employment of any supervisor or state agent if a preponderance of the evidence supports that retaliation occurred and refer the matter to the Inspector General and or county prosecutor for consideration of criminal charges.
6. would obligate the Inspector General conduct the investigation when a violation is alleged against an executive level manager of a State agency.
7. would require the inspector general investigate criminal conspiracy when a violating supervisor alleges they were encouraged by a superior, other supervisors, human resources, or any other state agent to engage in the retaliatory practice.
Additionally:
I will also introduce legislation that makes it illegal to conspire to terminate or cause undue scrutiny to a State Employee for which there is not a reasonable probable cause complaint that would not otherwise move management to act in a similar fashion regarding a similarly situated employee.
Introduce legislation that will allow State employees to recover legal fees and lost wages through the Civil Service Complaint system and the State Employee Appeals Commission on a successful appeal.
I will explore ways to give the General Assembly a more active role in oversight of the State’s Executive Branch Agencies.
