The changes to the Senate Ethics Committee process, including make the entire process - including the appointment of the ethics committee - secret until the committee votes that probable cause exists of a violation, are up now in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, said, "I think it's healthy for us to do it in that fashion. It allows us to go into executive session for the consideration of ... augmented or increased standards," and then the bipartisan committee, including three Republicans and three Democrats, can "use their judgment going forward as to whether there is probably cause that misconduct has occurred, and whether or not there should be some action taken by the committee and by the Senate."

Sen. Les Bock, D-Boise, rose to debate against the bill. "I found this bill on my desk this morning and it was the first time I saw it," he said. He asked senators to think about what ethics in government means. "State government operates with the consent of the governed," he said, quoting Thomas Jefferson. "They reached the conclusion that the people had the intelligence to decide how their government should operate." He said, "The people have the right to decide what goes on here, but they can only exercise that right if they are fully informed. It requires a transparency of action."

He said, "We cannot operate this government in secrecy. ... The people have a right to know what we do and why we do it."