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HomeMy WebLinkAbout87-639 SherrickSTATE ETHICS COMMISSION 308 FINANCE BUILDING HARRISBURG, PA 17120 TELEPHONE: (7171 783-1610 December 7, 1987 ADVICE OF COUNSEL Mr. Philip R. Sherrick 87 -639 2nd & Pine Streets Harrisburg, PA 17102 Re: Public Employee /Official, Fiscal Assistant, Department of Public Welfare Dear Mr. Sherrick: This responds to your financial disclosure appeal form dated November 3, 1987, which will be processed as a request of advice from the State Ethics Commission. Issue: You ask whether, because of your service as Fiscal Assistant, with the Department of Public Welfare, you are to be considered a "public employee" or "public official" under the State Ethics Act and, therefore, required to comply with the financial reporting and disclosure provisions of the State Ethics Act. Facts: You serve as a Fiscal Assistant with the Department of Welfare, hereinafter, DPW. As such, you are or were primarily responsible for identifying and processing support payments by making all necessary corrections and adjustments before shipment to data processing. You question the requirement that you comply with the financial reporting and disclosure provisions of the State Ethics Act. You do not believe your duties and responsibilities are such that you fall within the definition of "public employee" or " public official" in the Ethics Act. Accordingly, we have been asked to review the question of whether you are subject to the financial reporting and disclosure requirements of the State Ethics Act. We note that, for the sake of this response, we are relying primarily on your job description and classification specifications which have been provided to us. Mr. Philip R. Sherrick December 7, 1987 Page 2 In the job description /specification for a Fiscal Assistant with DPW, which is incorporated herein by reference, it is provided that your function is to specifically check support payments which are received from Domestic Relations Sections of the county courts for processing through the system. You are required to check support lists to verify and complete all necessary data fields for the keypunch process and, if necessary, prepare a PW 133 account form when all information is available; if the information is unavailable, an unidentified payment form is then completed. Thereafter, all the work is grouped by batch date and the item count and dollar amounts are verified and the batch header form is prepared to send the payment documents to Data Control for entry. You also check rejected support payments with the original source documents to determine errors, make necessary corrections on the PW 132, verify the item count and dollar amounts with the reject list, and prepare the batch header form for transmittal to Data Control for processing. You also process IRS intercept lists and any rejects that may result. Discussion: The primary question to be answered is whether you are to be considered a "public employee" as that term is defined in the State Ethics Act. The Act provides as follows: Section 2. Definitions. "Public employee." Any individual employed by the Commonwealth or a political subdivision who is responsible for taking or recommending official action of a nonmi ni steri al nature with regard to: (1) contracting or procurement; (2) administering or monitoring grants or subsidies; (3) planning or zoning; (4) inspecting, licensing, regulating or auditing any person; or (5) any other activity where the official action has an economic impact of greater than a de minimus nature on the interests of any person. "Public employee" shall not include individuals who are employed by the State or any political subdivision thereof in teaching as distinguished from administrative duties. 65 P.S. 402. Mr. Philip R. Sherrick December 7, 1987 Page 3 Based upon the definition of "public employee" and in light of your job description and the classification specifications for your position, as well as the language in your appeal and /or request for advice, and the explanation of your job as set forth therein, we conclude that you are not to be considered a "public employee" as that term is defined in the State Ethics Act. This conclusion is based upon our objective review of this information from which it appears that you have not been responsible for taking or recommending official action of a non - ministerial nature with regard to any of the five categories set forth in the definition listed above for the term "public employee ". Thus, because you do not fall within the classification of the term "public employee ", you would not be subject to the financial reporting and disclosure requirements of the State Ethics Act. Accordingly, you would not be required to execute the Statement of Financial Interests for the years in which you served in your position as an Fiscal Assistant with the DPW. Conclusion: In your position as Fiscal Assistant with the DPW, you were not to be considered public employee as defined in the State Ethics Act. Accordingly, you would not be subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the State Ethics Act and you need not execute.a Statement of Financial Interests. 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 Commission w i l l 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. ncerely, Vincent J. Dopko General Counsel