Ind. House education chair forms education lobby firm

A veteran lawmaker who oversees education in the Indiana House of Representatives has formed a lobbying company to represent education clients, raising potential ethical questions at a time when state lawmakers are considering sweeping new ethics rules.

House Education Chairman Robert Behning, R-Indianapolis, formed Berkshire Education Strategies last June, and has continued leading the House education committee since then. Behning said Wednesday that he is looking to represent student testing company Questar in Oklahoma and would like to sign up more clients. But he added that he was doing everything possible to ensure he only represents clients out of state, and not in Indiana.

"We're trying to put together a contract that's very clear nothing would be done in Indiana. Even in the potential (ethics) changes, I don't think I would fall under any," Behning said. "It's a citizen legislature and you're going to have conflicts, regardless. There's probably bigger conflicts in the legislature."

Questar is being paid $6.4 million this year to create and run Indiana's "end of course assessments," key tests taken in high school that students must pass in order to graduate.

Behning said he is looking to sign up more clients, but said he did not see a problem because the work would not directly coincide with his role running the Indiana House Education Committee. He said that he had a draft contract for Questar prepared by an ethics lawyer at Barnes and Thornburg and that he submitted it to members of the House Ethics Committee for consideration.

Behning said Questar flew him to its Minneapolis headquarters for two days of discussions three months ago, but he emphasized that he has not signed any contract with Questar yet and is awaiting word from the ethics panel.

House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said he "discouraged" Behning from trying to sign up any education clients, but also said he could not tell lawmakers what to do in their private lives.

"We don't dictate to people what they do in their private business lives," Bosma said. "We can encourage or discourage it. I'd say we discouraged this one. But citizen legislators are free to engage in the business activities they choose to engage in."

Bosma noted that new rules require lawmakers to recuse themselves from any action when they have a personal or business interest at stake. He said that if one of Behning's clients from out of state were to appear before his committee in Indiana, it would be hard for Behning, as chair of the committee, to completely separate himself from the situation.

Behning is one of the most senior members of the House, having served since 1992, and played a key role in the passage of a sweeping education overhaul in 2011. As the chairman of the House Education Committee, he regularly hears from lobbyists representing schools, education organizations, testing companies and many others.

Behning's decision to start a lobbying firm comes at a sensitive time for House lawmakers, who are considering ethics reform in the wake of a trio of Statehouse scandals involving former House Speaker Pro Tem Eric Turner, former Indiana Department of Transportation Chief of Staff Troy Woodruff and former Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett.

Bosma, R-Indianapolis, has made ethics reform a centerpiece of the House Republican agenda this session. He also called in the director of the National Conference of State Legislature's ethics program to run a one-hour training program with lawmakers last week.

It is illegal for Indiana lawmakers to also work as lobbyists in Indiana, but state law does allow them to lobby in other states. Turner worked as a lobbyist legalizing fireworks in Statehouses throughout the nation for American Promotional Events, all of which was legal. Ethics reform legislation that Bosma and other House leaders are pushing would require lawmakers to disclose whether they are doing lobbying out of state.

House Ethics Chairman Greg Steuerwald, R-Avon, said Behning told him about his plan to lobby for Questar last week, but that he is waiting to bring together the entire ethics committee before making any decisions.

"I don't want to prejudge until we have the facts," Steuerwald said. "I can tell you we're doing our due diligence. We're taking this very seriously."

Steuerwald said he had not heard of any other instances like Behning's and also said that Behning's request is the only one pending before the Ethics Committee. He said he would like the committee to meet next week to take up Behning's request.

Stuart Yoak, executive director of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics at Indiana University, said that if Behning was lobbying in state for clients, there would be a clear problem, but if his clients are out of state it becomes far less of an issue.

"If he's doing this out of state there's just less connection," Yoak said.

Contact reporter Tom LoBianco at 317-444-7136 or on Twitter @tomlobianco.