“Few issues have generated so much interest in recent years as the lack of ethics oversight over state lawmakers”–Providence Journal June 16, 2016
In 1986, Rhode Islanders voted to amend the state constitution and establish an ethics commission that had authority to investigate and sanction all elected officials and public employees for conflicts of interest. In 2009 the Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled that an older piece of the constitution prevents the ethics commission from investigating and sanctioning state lawmakers for conflicts involving legislation.
In order for the Ethics Commission to have full oversight over members of the General Assembly, the state constitution has to be changed.