D.C. Council Passes Ethics Code

The Federal Government's Standards of Conduct rules do not apply to the District of Columbia. The Center for Public Integrity reports:

Earlier this week the District of Columbia Council unanimously approved emergency legislation to establish the city’s first ‘Code of Official Conduct.’ Chairman Vincent C. Gray proposed the measure to set ‘unusually high standards of honesty, integrity, impartiality’ and ultimately prevent conflicts of interest. Council member — and former mayor — Marion Barry, who recently came under fire for allegedly awarding a city contract to his girlfriend, thanked Gray for introducing the measure even though ‘all of us have followed [the rules] anyway.’