Changes to the administration of the code of ethics, as recommended by the Ethics Commission

The bill changes the definition of “security” as that term is used in connection with the types of financial information an individual required to file with the Ethics Commission must disclose on his or her statement of economic interests. Current law requires state public office holders and certain state employees to annually file a statement of economic interests and to identify the employers, investments, real estate, commercial clients, and creditors of the individual and his or her family members.

Current law requires a state public official to file a statement of economic interests with the commission no later than April 30 of any year in which the individual held office on January 1 of that year. The bill modifies current law so that an official must file the statement only if he or she held office on January 1 and for at least 14 days. The bill also requires an official to file a statement no later than 21 days following the date on which the official leaves office. The individual is then not required to file another statement of economic interests until such time as the individual again becomes a state public official.

Under the bill, if a state or local public official receives an item that the code of ethics does not permit the official to accept or retain, the official must do one of the following:

1. Give the item to the official's agency to use or sell, except that the agency may not sell the item to any government employee or official.

2. Give the item to another state or local agency or to a public institution, such as a local school, library, or museum, that can use the item.

3. Give the item to a charitable organization, not including a charitable organization to which the official or his or her immediate family is associated.

4. Return the item to the donor.

5. If the donor is neither a lobbyist nor a principal (a person who employs a lobbyist), purchase the item at its full retail value and keep the item.

This provision codifies the guideline issued by the Ethics Commission for the disposition of gifts received by state and local public officials.

Finally, the bill repeals a provision that prohibits an officer or employee of a state agency from requesting appropriations for that agency in excess of the appropriations already requested. The U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, in Barnett v. State Ethics Board , 817 F. Supp. 67 (1993), found this to be an unconstitutional infringement on free speech.