Indiana House backs new ethics rules for state legislators

The Indiana House has adopted tighter rules on the conduct of lawmakers following an ethics investigation of a top Republican who fought privately to defeat legislation that would have hurt his family's business.

House members voted 97-0 on Tuesday to approve the revised ethics code.

Major changes in the code include instructions that House members should avoid the appearance of impropriety. It also directs House members to not carry out any public or private advocacy on issues in which they have a personal financial interest.

The tightening follows December's resignation of former House Speaker Pro Tem Eric Turner after an investigation found he privately lobbied to kill a proposed ban on nursing home construction that could have cost his family's business millions of dollars in revenue.

The House Ethics Committee determined last year that Turner didn't technically break the existing House rules, but that he violated the spirit of the state's ethics laws.