1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

Elected officials at every level of government should be prohibited from trading individual stocks while in office. Public service should be about serving the public interest, not personal financial gain. Members of Congress, governors, state legislators, regulators, and senior executive officials often have access to nonpublic information, advance knowledge of policy decisions, and influence over legislation that can move entire industries and financial markets. Even when no laws are technically broken, the appearance of conflicts of interest damages public trust. Americans should not have to wonder whether policy decisions are being shaped by what is best for the country or what benefits an official’s investment portfolio. Confidence in government requires clear ethical boundaries. A reasonable solution would allow elected officials to place assets into broad index funds or genuinely blind trusts while banning the trading of individual stocks, sector-specific investments, and other financial instruments that create direct conflicts of interest. This should apply equally to both parties and to officials at the federal, state, and local levels. Restoring trust in government requires stronger ethics rules, greater transparency, and clear separation between public office and personal market speculation. Please support legislation that bans individual stock trading by elected officials and strengthens ethics enforcement across government.