Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout84-589 EvansMr. James W. Evans, Jr. 2920 Croyden Road Harrisburg, PA 17104 Re: Section 3(e), Legislative Assistant Dear Mr. Evans: STATE ETHICS COMMISSION 308 FINANCE BUILDING P.O. BOX 11470 HARRISBURG, PA 17108 -1470 TELEPHONE (717) 783 -1610 July 13, 1984 ADVICE OF COUNSEL 84 -589 This responds to your letter of June 21, 1984, in which you requested advice from the State Ethics Commission. Issue: You requested advice as to the application and time limitations presented in the Ethics Act upon your termination of employment with the Commonwealth. Facts: You indicate that you are currently employed as the Legislative Assistant to Senator Hopper. In addition, you indicate that you serve as Executive Director for the Senate Aging and Youth Committee. However, you are contemplating leaving state employment and would be interested in representing several clients in their dealings with various agencies of the Commonwealth. Specifically, you indicate that the vast majority of time which you anticipate spending in this proposed enterprise would be devoted to relaying information about and identifying trends within state government to various clients. Your specific question relates to the existance of any time limitations resulting from your current employment with the Senate of Pennsylvania that might prevent that your representation of clients before the General Assembly. Discussion: For purposes of this response we will assume that as a Legislative Assistant to Senator Hopper, you are a "public employee" as that term is defined in the State Ethics Act. As a result, if you were to terminate your employment, you would become a "former public employee" subject to the limitations contained in Section 3(e) of the Ethics Act which provides as follows: Mr. James W. Evans, Jr. July 13, 1984 Page 2 Section 3. Restricted activities. (e) No former official or public employee shall represent a person, with or without compensation, on any matter before the governmental body with which he has been associated for one year after he leaves that body. 65 P.S. 403. In previous cases under similar circumstances we have indicated that we must first determine the extent of the "governmental body" with which you have been associated while employed by Senator Hopper. It is only with respect to this "governmental body" that you would face any restrictions as to your "representation" for the one year period following your termination of employment. In its decision in Ewing, 79 -010, the Ethics Commission considered the scope of the term "governmental body" as applied to a former Director of Intergovernmental Relations on the staff of the Minority Leader. In Ewing, the Commission held that the former Director's governmental body was the Minority Leader's office. Analogously, an administrative assistant to a representative has been held to be associated with the "governmental body" of the office of the Representative with whom he served. See Georgiadis, 81 -592 and Campbell, 81 -652. Applying these concepts to your situation, it becomes apparent that you were associated with the office of Senator Hopper and with the Senate Aging and Youth Committee. Therefore, for the one year period following your termination of service in this position, you could not appear or "represent" any person, including a perspective client before the office of Senator Hopper or the Senate Aging and Youth Committee. It remains to be determined what the scope of the prohibited activity known as "representation" entails. The State Ethics Commission's regulations state that "representation" includes the following: Section 1.1. Definitions. Representation - -- Any act on behalf of any person including but not limited to the following activities: personal appearances, negotiating contracts, lobbying, and submitting bid or contract proposals which are signed by or contain the name of the former public official or public employe. 51 Pa. Code 1.1. Opinions of the Commission further outline the scope of the "Restricted Activity" of "representation" as including: Mr. James W. Evans, Jr. July 13, 1984 Page 3 1. attempts to influence the governmental body or bodies with which you were associated during your tenure with the Senate -- the office of Senator Hopper and the Senate Aging and Youth Committee -- including negotiating or renegotiating on contracts with these entities; 2. participation in any matter before the Office of Senator Hopper or the Senate Aging and Youth Committee, hereinafter, the Committee, in any case, matter, or contract over which you had supervision, direct involvement, or responsibility while employed by Senator Hopper; 3. lobbying, that is representing the interests of any person before the office of the Senator or the Committee in relation to legislation, regulations, etc. See Russell, 80 -048 and Seltzer, 80 -044. In addition, opinions of the Commission indicate that the mere act of preparing and signing as preparer documents to be submitted to or reviewed by the Senator or the Committee or having your name listed as the person who will provide technical assistance on any proposal, document, or bid, to be presented to or reviewed by the Senator or the Committee has been held to constitute an attempt to influence the governmental bodies with which you have been associated. Such activity, accordingly, is prohibited for the one year period following your termination of employment with the Commonwealth. See Kil areski , 80 -045. Therefore, within the first year after you leave public employment, you should not allow your name to appear on proposals, documents, or bids, either as preparer or as a person who will provide technical assistance with respect to any proposal, bid, etc. which will be presented to or reviewed by the office of Senator Hopper or the Committee. You may, however, even given the above restrictions, assist in the preparation of documents even if these are to be presented to the office Qf the Senator or the Committee or assist in the preparation associated with appearances made by another person or individual to the office of the Senator or the Committee as long as you are not identified as the preparer or the person who will provide technical assistance as outlined. Of course, any ban under the Ethics Act does not prohibit or preclude you from making general informational inquiries of the office of the Senator or the Committee to secure information which is available to the general public. See Cutt, 79 -023. Likewise, the Ethics Act, beyond the restrictions outlined above, does not preclude you from representing any clients or individuals before governmental bodies with which you were not associated during your tenure with Senator Hopper. Thus, you would not be prohibited by the Ethics Act for any Mr. James W. Evans, Jr. July 13, 1984 Page 4 period of time from representing clients before agencies of the Commonwealth or any entities in the legislative or executive branch other than the limitations specified above, vis -a -vis, the office of Senator Hopper and the Senate Aging and Youth Committee. Conclusion: Upon your termination of service with Senator Hopper and as Executive Director to the Senate Aging and Youth Committee you would become a "former public employee" subject to the restrictions imposed by Section 3(e) of the Ethics Act. Thus, your conduct for the one year period following your termination of service with the Senate would be governed by and should conform to the requirements of the Ethics Act as outlined above. Pursuant to Section 7(9)(ii), this Advice is a complete defense in any enforcement proceeding initiated by the Commission, and evidence of good faith conduct in any other civil or criminal proceeding, providing the requestor has disclosed truthfully all the material facts and committed the acts complained of in reliance on the Advice given. This letter is a public record and will be made available as such. Finally, if you disagree with this Advice or if you have any reason to challenge same, you may request that the full Commission review this Advice. A personal appearance before the full Commission will be scheduled and a formal Opinion from the Commission will be issued. Any such appeal must be made, in writing, to the Commission within 15 days of service of this Advice pursuant to 51 Pa. Code 2.12. SSC /na cc: John D. Hopper, Senator Si cerely, Sandra S. Christianson General Couns