By JAN GRIFFEY/Editor

A bill authored by State Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, which he called the most important bill of his career, has passed the Alabama Senate on a unanimous vote.

The bill seeks to grant the Alabama Ethics Commission the power to issue subpoenas in its work to investigate suspected cases of corruption and ethics violations.

The bill now goes to the Alabama House of Representatives for consideration early next week.

Ward and other legislators are in the midst of a special session called by Gov. Bob Riley to consider a package of legislation aimed at strengthening ethics codes in Alabama.

Ward called the bill the key to the ethics reform legislation.

“If we don’t pass that, none of the rest matters,” he said in an interview at the Shelby County Reporter last week.