State Senators Get Ethics Lesson in Mandatory Class : Politics: Sessions are required after sting in which two of their colleagues were convicted of felonies.

With two of their former colleagues convicted of felonies and public confidence at a low, state senators went back to school Tuesday to have their consciences tweaked in a rare seminar on ethics.

Attendance was mandatory at the daylong gathering, to be repeated every two years under a law passed last year as part of the Legislature’s effort to improve its image in the aftermath of an FBI sting investigation.

The message of the seminar was clear: Not only must the letter of the state’s increasingly stringent ethical code be obeyed, but also its spirit.

It was delivered under an $85,000 contract by Michael Josephson, a former Loyola University law professor who heads an ethics institute based in Los Angeles.

Josephson said he has given seminars for corporations, newspapers, government agencies and selected legislators. But he said this is the first time he knows of that an entire legislative body has gone through a formal ethics course.

“I don’t think we’re in a swamp of ethical problems around the Capitol,” said Senate Republican leader Ken Maddy of Fresno. “I think most things are handled properly. But he is pushing us to the extreme and asking us the questions that anyone could ask themselves in their private lives. It’s worth going through this once in a while to bring these issues home.”

Part of the seminar was closed to the public and the press on the grounds that lawmakers would be freer to frankly discuss sensitive subjects. But soul-searing questions were being raised even in the portion that was open.

For example, Sen. Barry Keene (D-Benicia) noted that it often benefits legislators to appear undecided on an issue, even though they know how they will vote.

Keene said being undecided ensures extra attention from lobbyists and their clients who are wooing their vote.

“It keeps them engaged,” he said, and asked about the ethics of that bit of deception.

“An honest legislator would not mislead the lobbyist,” answered Josephson, implying that more campaign contributions might await the undecided lawmaker. “But like all ethical decisions, it’s not without its costs.”

The Assembly already has had its two sessions, which were closed and conducted by in-house staff. Lobbyists and many legislative staff members also must go through training sessions to acquaint them with laws dealing with the acceptance of gifts, campaign contributions and conflict of interest.

The sessions are required by a law authored by Senate leader David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), as part of a package of bills designed to raise ethical standards.

When the measures passed last year, the Legislature was reeling from an FBI sting investigation in which undercover agents posed as businessmen seeking special interest legislation. Plying lawmakers with campaign contributions and honorariums, the agents won easy passage of two bills.

Former Democratic Sen. Joseph Montoya is serving a 6 1/2-year sentence for corruption charges arising from the sting, and another former Democratic senator, Paul Carpenter, remains free while he appeals his conviction.

Polls showed that large segments of the public believe that their legislators routinely accept bribes. A measure to place limits on legislative terms won overwhelming voter approval last year.