Take heart, all Maine agencies and officials now facing an ethics policy for the first time. It could be worse.

You could be in Congress.

Federal zeal for ethical behavior has now made chairs and flatware ethical faux pas. Observers call this “toothpick ethics,” because Congress has decided hors d’oeuvres – usually served on toothpicks – are the only fare acceptable to be accepted from lobbyists.

Even free CPR training around Capitol Hill was canceled, according to the Wall Street Journal. The paper reported the American Heart Association became concerned the training violated ethical guidelines against providing items of more than “nominal value.”

These are examples of government ethics rules run amok. Ethics shouldn’t be feared, but embraced as common-sense guidelines for making the right decision, at the right time. Ethics policies are harmless to have, but harmful to violate, since the penalty for ethical breaches is the loss of public trust.

This is why the poor showing by state agencies on an ethics survey by the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition is so disheartening. The results revealed only 45 percent of agencies have ethics codes, with most having adopted one only after being advised about it.

Some are still working on a code. Some plainly said they don’t need one. Several agencies didn’t return the survey at all, which begs the obvious question: Is corruption rampant inside the State Poet Laureate Selection Advisory Panel and the Maine Potato Quality Control Board?

We’re kidding, sort of. Sizable agencies like Dirigo Health, the Lobster Promotion Council, the Maine Economic Growth Council and the Maine Historic Preservation Commission failed to respond to the coalition. It’s inexcusable for any government entity to remain silent when queried on their ethics.

But it’s wishful thinking, as well, to think policies will guarantee ethical behavior. As Rush Kidder, the founder of the Camden-based Institute for Global Ethics, wrote recently, “Rules will help, but they’ll never generate integrity.”

Kidder, a professional ethicist, says codes are useless if just words on a wall, but are “helpful for the public to understand what you care about.”

Hear, hear. The survey gave state agencies an opportunity to demonstrate this care by acknowledging, or creating, ethical guidelines. After the Maine Turnpike Authority mess – in which officials were wined and dined by a developer – it was a chance to polish a tarnished image.

To compliant agencies, we offer hearty applause. Those who didn’t respond – especially Dirigo Heath, whose critics are numerous and vocal – should realize the damning message of silence.

Some legislators are helping them find their voice. Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, the chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee, now asks noncompliant agencies about their ethics policies when appearing before the committee, a clever use of purse-string power to drive home an important point:

Government is better erring on the side of ethical caution, than throwing it to the wind.