DiMasi announces appointments to panel reviewing House rules

Making good on promises for more openness in the state House of Representatives, Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi announced yesterday that he has appointed a 13-member committee to review rules reform and daily operations of the House.

The panel includes several critics of former speaker Thomas M. Finneran, including Representatives Byron Rushing of Boston, Jay R. Kaufman of Lexington, and Ruth B. Balser of Newton.

''I want to hear from a variety of members," DiMasi said in a written statement. ''I have heard back from several members who are eager to get work and am awaiting responses from several others."

DiMasi's office said yesterday they have not heard back from the Republicans asked to join the panel. The group is expected to have suggestions ready for consideration at the start of the next legislative session in January.

Also, the speaker said he will reconsider a bill submitted by Governor Mitt Romney last year that would relax ethics rules, allowing lawmakers and other public officials to accept gifts of greater value than $50.

''I want the House to take a closer look at this legislation with an eye toward providing meaningful reform and eliminating confusion in the interpretation of the existing statutes," DiMasi said.

In 2003, the State Ethics Commission received 3,700 advisory requests concerning the $50 limit, which was set in 1978 after a statewide ballot petition. The relaxation, which was supported in public hearings by Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly and the government watchdog group Common Cause Massachusetts, would make it easier for officials to attend conferences and accept local awards exceeding the limit.