Archive: Lawmakers use public office to help private interests

It's almost a year old, but the Seattle P-I has an interesting special report on lawmakers' conflicts of interest on its web site. The essential thrust is that lawmakers often sit on committees and/or sponsor legislation that affects industries they have a financial interest in. There are also links to further detail regarding specific legislators. For example, erstwhile Libertarian Toby Nixon (now a Republican member of the House) sponsored anti-spam legislation written by his employer Microsoft.

There are no smoking guns here. But the report is a good primer on how things are done in Olympia.