Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, met behind closed doors with all members of both the Senate's minority and majority leadership, and then briefly with Sen. Monty Pearce, R-New Plymouth. When he emerged, he said an ethics committee could be convened within 24 hours on the Democrats' complaint against Pearce, though it's not clear yet whether that will happen or not. "We're just trying to decide the best way forward," Hill said. "'We don't want to cover anything up. We're working with the minority party. They're not sure that an ethics committee is the best way forward, neither are we."

Both the Senate Democrats and the Senate Republicans then headed into closed-door caucuses.

Hill mused, "Maybe an ethics committee is the best way to determine ... if there are violations out there." The state's conflict-of-interest laws are "fairly technical," he said, and raise issues about "whether something applies to a class of people or to an individual." He said, "Intent or lack of intent, as in most things in the law, can affect punishment."

Asked about Lt. Gov. Brad Little, who broke a tie vote on a procedural issue on an oil and gas bill and who also has leases on his land, Hill said, "We have no jurisdiction over the executive branch of government, only with our members do we have any jurisdiction at all." Hill noted that he chaired a Senate ethics committe a number of years ago. "We're working through the system," he said. "We want to take care of it immediately."

After minority leaders confer with their caucus members, Hill said Senate majority leaders will talk with them again. "If they want to request an ethics committee, I have to put one together," he said. "I would probably do that within the next 24 hours."