Comments on JCOPE’s proposed Advisory Opinion on restrictions on elected officials soliciting/accepting campaign support from enforcement subjects

SUMMARY

The Government Ethics Committee submitted comments on proposed advisory opinion 15-0X from the Joint Commission on Public Ethics. The proposed advisory opinion would make clear that, pursuant to the State Code of Ethics, Public Officers Law section 74, all state elected officials, including members of the Legislature, must refrain from soliciting or accepting campaign contributions from a person or entity that is either (a) the active subject of that official’s enforcement power, or (b) is engaged in adverse litigation with that official or his or her office. While the Committee applauded the Commission’s recognition that elected officials are subject to Section 74 of the Public Officers Law in matters of campaign finance, it argued that the proposed opinion is too limited and suggested that the Commission consider expanding its scope by (1) recommending that statewide elected officials and their staffs be barred from soliciting or accepting contributions of more than a few thousand dollars in the aggregate in any year for the statewide official, or for an entity in which he or she has a substantial interest, from persons or entities with active matters pending before them for the life of the matter plus one year after that matter is resolved, and (2) recommending that members of the Legislature and their staffs be barred from soliciting or accepting contributions of more than a few thousand dollars in the aggregate in any year for the member, or an entity in which the member has a substantial interest, from persons or entities who are spending other than nominal amounts actively and directly to lobby the legislators or their staffs through private, in-person meetings or phone calls.