Policymakers’ Use of Blind Trusts Questioned

Megan J. Ballard (Associate Professor, Gonzaga University School of Law) has recently published her article entitled The Shortsightedness of Blind Trusts, 56 U. Kan. L. Rev. 43 (2007).

Here is the conclusion to her article:

Policymakers began to use blind trusts as a means of avoiding full disclosure, in some instances, of assets that a policymaker was unwilling to divest. The lack of uniform standards governing blind trusts compelled Congress to debate the device’s merit and conclude that it was valuable if properly regulated. Thirty years of regulation under the Ethics in Government Act is sufficient to determine whether blind trusts adequately insulate governmental decisions from decision-makers’ financial interests. While blind trusts may allow some individuals with wealth and privacy concerns to engage in public service when they might otherwise have been discouraged from doing so by financial disclosure rules, the potential loss of integrity in decision-making does not counterbalance this advantage. Perhaps it is time to place more value on the sanctity of the decision-making process and determine if full disclosure unacceptably sacrifices a broad pool of talented public servants. In the interim, while this alternative approach is debated, Congress must strengthen the qualified blind trust rules so that the device can deter financial conflicts of interest and enhance public confidence in the integrity of decision-making.