01:00 AM EST on Tuesday, February 1, 2005

THERE THEY GO again. The Rhode Island General Assembly has found a new way to undermine the separation-of-powers constitutional reform passed in a landslide on Nov. 2.

You might remember that House Speaker William Murphy flirted with the notion of nullifying separation-of-powers with the help of the state Supreme Court. He wanted the legislature to retain control of the Lottery Commission and the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) -- even though voters ruled, in unambiguous terms, that executive functions must now be carried out by the executive, the governor.

The political firestorm grew so hot that Speaker Murphy wisely backed off and pledged to respect the will of the people. Even in Rhode Island, it can be uncomfortable for politicians to spit in the eye of 78 percent of the voters.

But now the legislature has come up with a new scheme to stick it to the governor, and make it next to impossible for him to make appointments to the Lottery Commission and the CRMC.

The Senate, heeding the wishes of Senate President Joseph Montalbano, is asking the governor's nominees to answer an extraordinarily intrusive "questionnaire" by Feb. 8 -- 11 pages, including 44 questions -- if they wish to receive Senate confirmation to serve in these voluntary and mostly unpaid positions.

Rather than targeting their questions to potential conflicts of interest, the Senate is undertaking a far-flung fishing expedition into the personal lives of Governor Carcieri's nominees.

The questionnaire seeks far more personal material than anything members of the legislature must provide to serve in their positions. Judges have to answer similar questions in their nomination process, but they are seeking highly paid lifetime jobs with enormous power.

Among the information the Senate is demanding:

A copy of all the nominee's federal and state income-tax forms for the last three years.

A list of all places where the nominee has lived since he or she was 18, and dates the person lived there.

"List the names and addresses of your parents, siblings, and children, including dates of birth for each relative identified."

A list of all places the nominee has worked since age 18. "You should provide the name, address and telephone number of each such employment, your job title, your actual job location if different from employer's address and your immediate supervisor's name, address and telephone number. You should list all full-time employment, all part-time employment, military service, temporary military duty locations over ninety days, self employment, other paid work and all periods of unemployment." Better hunt up that manager at Burger King in 1972!

"List the names and addresses of your current spouse, significant other or domestic partner, including other names used by him or her, his/her date of birth, date and place of marriage if applicable, and if separated, the date of separation. If you have any former spouses, please provide his/her name and a current address and telephone number, date of birth[,] date of marriage, and date and place of divorce."

If the nominee quit or was fired from a job "under unfavorable circumstances," provide the reasons.

And on and on.

Who would want to strip naked for members of the General Assembly, with no guarantee such details would or could remain private, even if he or she had "nothing to hide"? Who would volunteer to serve the public -- for no other reason than public service, that is -- under such conditions? Virtually no one. That, I fear, is the point.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Michael McCaffrey (D.-Warwick), who sent out the questionnaire after consulting with Senate President Montalbano, admits that he would not provide that level of information to the public or the governor's office about himself. "I hope and think," Senator McCaffrey said, that people will still be willing to serve, despite the probing. The questionnaire merely shows that the Senate is doing its duty in fully vetting the governor's appointees, he argued.

What nonsense. The Senate could -- and, indeed, should -- ask pertinent questions delving into potential conflicts, without gathering an extensive dossier on every nominee's private life. That would be the responsible and proportionate way to provide effective oversight, while drawing good people into government. Sen. Michael Lenihan (D.-East Greenwich) appears to be taking such an approach toward the nominees he is overseeing.

Unfortunately, in the case of the Lottery Commission and CRMC, the Senate -- which once had an admirable reputation for being the more responsible and public-spirited chamber, especially on separation of powers -- is choosing to make it almost impossible for the governor to fill these positions. In essense, the legislature appears to be trying to booby-trap separation of powers by overdoing the Senate's oversight role.

That's awfully depressing. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Rhode Island politicians started acting like moderate, thoughtful grownups, doing their best to implement the public's will -- instead of having to be dragged, every time, kicking and screaming like truculent children?

Edward Achorn is The Journal's deputy editorial-pages editor. His e-mail address is eachorn [at] projo.com.