No matter who you’re lobbying for, follow the rules 

When it comes to transparency and ethical behavior, telling the truth is a key tenet. So, imagine the surprise when the Nebraska Examiner reported that Arin Hess, who has pledged to be “more careful” about his work “lobbying for Jesus” at the Capitol, was recently caught in a scheme to deceive the Clerk of the Legislature to expand his access to legislators.

If you’re not familiar with Hess, he is a self-proclaimed chaplain for the State Legislature, and he holds weekly “Bible studies” with senators.  Last year, Common Cause Nebraska filed a complaint with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission because Hess was using materials from explicitly political sources during his meetings — sources that didn’t restrain themselves to the teaching of Jesus but had a lot to say about issues being debated in the Legislature.

The commission dismissed the complaint, but Hess pledged to be more careful with how he engaged legislators and maintained that his work was only religious, not political.

Fast forward a year. In March, State Sen. Loren Lippincott requested to reserve a hearing room in the Capitol for “district community leaders,” which was approved by Clerk of the Legislature Brandon Metzler. A Nebraska Examiner reporter discovered the meeting in progress and found it was Hess’s Bible study, not “district community leaders.”

Just two days before Lippincott submitted his request, the Governor’s Office had put in a request for the same date and time, which was denied after the Clerk determined the stated purpose, “Pastors and Ministry Workers Day,” was actually for Hess. Within hours of Metzler denying the governor’s request, Lippincott made the second misleading attempt, which got by Metzler. When Metzler learned Hess was using the hearing room, he was reported to have said, “I got lied to.”

Hearing rooms in the Capitol cannot be used for religious purposes of any kind. Common Cause Nebraska does not lose sight of the irony of the fraudulent attempts on behalf of Hess. If Hess claimed he would be using the hearing room for legislative rather than religious purposes, it would have been a valid request, but it would have looked very much like the lobbying we had objected to last year.

We do not consider these to be minor slip-ups: Senators and the governor all swear to support the United States and Nebraska Constitutions, which enshrine the separation of church and state in law and prevent elected officials from showing preference to any religious society. Showing favoritism to Hess by helping him gain access to hearing rooms in the Capitol violates that oath of office. When the people we elect are willing to skirt the law to favor their own religious leaders, it’s clear that power is being abused to our detriment.

We deserve public officials who will not muddy the waters and lie to advance one person’s lobbying or religious beliefs in the Capitol. It’s in their oath of office, and in our Nebraska and U.S. Constitutions.

Lippincott went against his oath of office when he lied to the Clerk of the Legislature about the reason for wanting to reserve a hearing room; he may have also breached Nebraska law. When he intentionally misled the Clerk, Lippincott prevented Metzler from carrying out the duties of his office, that is, the duty to enforce the policies governing legislative space. (28-901) The governor’s similar misleading reservation request also violated his oath of office, but fortunately, it was quickly thwarted when the Clerk learned the true reason.

Lying about a room reservation may seem minor, but we should expect nothing less than our elected officials to honor their oaths in word and deed by fully complying with the law.

Our Unicameral Legislature or Attorney General’s Office appear unlikely to act. We have been down this road before — it’s now up to us, the citizens of Nebraska, to set aside our differences and use the power of the ballot box to ensure our elected officials uphold their oath of office and that Nebraska laws apply equally to all — without reservation.