The D.C. Council approved a sweeping ethics reform package today that would establish a new Board of Ethics and Government Accountability, tighten transparency requirements for elected officials, bar felons from running for office, strengthen oversight of city employees, and give the attorney general the power to charge elected officials accused of ethical offenses.

D.C. Councilmember Vincent Orange made his case in a Washington Post op-ed that the District needs a full-time council, proposing the Full-Time Employment for Council Members Charter Amendment Act of 2011. Orange argues that it’s nearly impossible for District residents to accept that outside employment doesn’t carry with it “conflicts of interest, unethical behavior, corruption and divided loyalties.”