The bipartisan House Ethics Committee last week unanimously cleared Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, of accusations that he double-dipped — that is, charged his campaign account and the state for the same expense.

Rep. Keith King

King said he naturally is pleased that the proceedings are over so he can get back to focusing on his district and the state.

The Fair Elections Now Act aims to limit the influence of the big money special interests who now mostly fund the nation’s electoral campaigns. The Act encourages politicians to instead ask common folk-citizens for money, which might sound bad, but it’s good because then politicians will have to at least sort of listen to what we have to say.

Colorado lawmakers are continuing to investigate an ethics complaint against a state lawmaker accused of claiming duplicate expenses from the state and his campaign. Republican Representative Steve King of Grand Junction says he borrowed from money he contributed to his own campaign to pay for commuting to the Capitol until he could be reimbursed by the state.

The House Ethics Committee is holding a hearing Friday to review evidence and will rule later on the complaint filed by Ethics Watch, a nonprofit group that researches public officials.

The Colorado Supreme Court will begin accepting opening briefs from interested parties on March 8 regarding state campaign laws thought to be invalidated by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month.

The Court’s response came a day after Gov. Bill Ritter submitted a set of questions seeking clarification on independent expenditure and electioneering laws.

State Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, asked for a moment of personal time on the House floor today. He wanted to make a clean breast of a financial irregularity his besieged paperwork had turned up. He wasn’t speaking to the complication that brought an Ethics Watch complaint earlier in the week. This time he wanted to apologize for having received an overpayment by the state.

Rep. Steve King got a slap on the wrist Friday but was cleared of violating ethics rules over his handling of travel expenses.

A House ethics committee ruled the Grand Junction Republican did not intend to enrich himself by getting reimbursed for gasoline and a rental car from his campaign account and a state travel reimbursement at the same time.

But the panel of three Democrats and two Republicans said King handled the matter poorly.

A legislative ethics committee met Wednesday concerning a complaint filed against Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, by a local political watchdog group that said King might have been reimbursed twice for travel expenses incurred last spring, once by his campaign and once by the state. If so, it would constitute “double dipping.”