A ballooning ethics scandal involving the D.C. Council’s longest-serving member is prompting lawmakers to rethink two of the perks of the job: the ability to hold outside employment and to manage funds that are used to help constituents in times of trouble.

On Tuesday, Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau introduced a bill that would prohibit lawmakers from holding second jobs, with only one exception: teaching. And, At-large Councilmember David Grosso proposed a bill to reform how legislators can raise and use money from constituent service funds, which are meant to be used to help residents with unpaid bills or funeral expenses, but have been criticized as lightly regulated.

Nadeau’s bill comes amid revelations that Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans used his public office to seek business opportunities for his private consulting firm. Before that, Evans long had held a second job at two different law firms—Patton Boggs and Manatt Phelps—both of which represented clients with issues before the Council.

“Councilmembers should have one job at a time, no conflicts with outside employment,” Nadeau said. “I want our residents to be confident that companies trying to do business with the District aren’t also trying to do business with Councilmembers.”

Currently, Councilmembers make just over $140,000 a year. Those that hold a second job have to disclose how much they are paid, but do not have to disclose their clients if they work as attorneys or lobbyists.

While good-government advocates regularly warned of possible conflicts of interest with Evans’ outside employment, past efforts to outlaw second jobs never attracted enough votes to move forward. In 2011, Evans defended the ability of lawmakers to do outside work, calling himself a “citizen-legislator” in the mold of the country’s founders.

The debate was briefly revived in 2016 when then-At-large Councilmember Vincent Orange announced he was taking a job as president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. The prospect of a sitting lawmaker also working for a group that regularly lobbies the Council prompted widespread criticism, but was not against the Council’s own rules. Orange—who himself had introduced bills to ban outside employment before—eventually resigned from the Council to take the new job.

Nadeau’s bill offers an exception for teaching jobs, such as the one Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh has held at George Washington University’s law school since she was first elected. Cheh regularly recuses herself from votes on bills that directly deal with the university.

But even with that carve-out, Cheh said she’s not inclined to support the bill. She also didn’t support the effort in 2011.

“Great, so they include teaching. There are so many other things that provide public benefits. Do we really want to say no to that? If we had a pediatrician [on the Council], I would hope they could remain in practice,” she said. “Just saying outside employment is banned cuts against my view that we benefit when we have citizen legislators. We should not be living in a bubble, and we should not have all our attention on the Council. I think it warps judgment sometimes.”

The city’s charter currently prohibits only the Council chairman from holding outside employment; Nadeau’s bill would extend that ban to the whole Council. As such, it would require not just the legislature’s approval, but also support from the city’s voters at the ballot box.

Grosso’s bill follows a recent report from Public Citizen, which found that most of the money raised by lawmakers for their constituent service funds haven’t actually gone to help residents, but was otherwise used to pay for sports tickets and other goods “that do far more to publicize the elected officials than provide any constituent services.” (WAMU has also reported on these funds.)

“Elected officials will not be able to solicit donations from private donors or move unused campaign, transition, and other funds to constituent service funds, removing even the appearance of corruption from the equation,” Grosso said. “New requirements will ensure expenditures directly benefit constituents and prohibits using funds on questionable perks like sports tickets and branded advertising.”

Currently, eight Councilmembers have constituent service funds: Chairman Phil Mendelson, Evans, At-large Councilmember Anita Bonds, Cheh, Ward 4’s Brandon Todd, Ward 5’s Kenyan McDuffie, Ward 7’s Vincent Gray, and Ward 8’s Trayon White. Mayor Muriel Bowser also operates a fund.

An April 1 filing shows that Evans used more than $9,700 from his fund on Nationals tickets (which he has said he gives out to constituents), $570 for a Wall Street Journal subscription for his office, and $214 for office water, some of which could be prohibited under Grosso’s bill. Bowser transferred $199,000 in unspent funds from her inaugural committee to her constituent service fund, which would also be forbidden by the legislation.

Cheh—who transferred unspent money from her 2018 re-election campaign to her constituent service fund—cast doubts on Grosso’s bill, saying that the current reporting requirements are enough to allow the public to see how money was being raised and spent.

“We have periodic reporting requirements,” she said. “If people are going to behave in an underhanded or dishonest way, it seems that’s because they are underhanded or dishonest. I just ask for a little common sense about what we’re doing.”

In related news, the Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to strip Evans of oversight of Events D.C.—the city’s sports and events authority—and the Commission on Arts and Humanities. The move is part of a broader reprimand of Evans, which also includes losing control over certain tax measures before the Council. The only note of concern came from At-large Councilmember Elissa Silverman.

“There is more we can do to strengthen faith in our government,” she said.

Evans also faces a campaign to recall him from office, and one former mayoral candidate says he’s organizing a ballot initiative to impose term limits on the city’s elected officials.

This story originally appeared at WAMU.