1 HB105
2 207949-2
3 By Representative Ball
4 RFD: Ethics and Campaign Finance
5 First Read: 02-FEB-21
6 PFD: 01/26/2021
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8 SYNOPSIS: Under existing law, the State Ethics
9 Commission is responsible for administering and
10 enforcing the code of ethics for public officials
11 and public employees. The commission is comprised
12 of five members appointed on a rotating basis by
13 the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of
14 the House of Representatives.
15 Under existing law, the State Ethics
16 Commission may impose administrative penalties for
17 minor violations, but refers cases for all other
18 enforcement of the code of ethics to the Attorney
19 General or the appropriate district attorney. The
20 Attorney General or a district attorney may also
21 initiate an enforcement action against a public
22 official or public employee without involving the
23 State Ethics Commission.
24 This bill would require the Attorney
25 General, a district attorney, or any other law
26 enforcement agency that initiates an investigation
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1 of a suspected violation of code of ethics to
2 notify and cooperate with the commission.
3 This bill would prohibit the Attorney
4 General or a district attorney from presenting a
5 suspected ethics violation by an individual subject
6 to the code of ethics, other than a member or
7 employee of the commission, to a grand jury without
8 a referral by the commission.
9 This bill would add a sixth member to the
10 State Ethics Commission, extend the members' terms
11 to six years, revise qualifications, and add as
12 appointing officials to membership of the
13 commission the presiding judges of the Court of
14 Civil Appeals, the Court of Criminal Appeals, and
15 the President Pro Tem of the Senate.
16 This bill would revise certain prohibitions
17 on offering and accepting of gifts from a lobbyist
18 or principal to a public official or public
19 employee, as well as offering and accepting of
20 gifts from certain regulated entities to a public
21 official or public employee, with certain
22 exceptions.
23 This bill would revise revolving door,
24 conflict of interest, and statement of economic
25 interests provisions.
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1 This bill would revise whistleblower
2 protections for public employees who report ethics
3 violations.
4 This bill would move a criminal prohibition
5 against a person using his or her official
6 authority or position for influencing the vote or
7 political action of any person from the elections
8 code to the code of ethics.
9 This bill would authorize the State Ethics
10 Commission to issue public reprimands or private
11 censures for minor, non-substantative violations of
12 the code of ethics where the offender did not
13 realize any economic gain.
14 This bill would delete unnecessary
15 definitions, simplify definitions, and revise
16 certain definitions.
17 This bill would delete duplicative language
18 in the code of ethics.
19 This bill would also make nonsubstantive,
20 technical revisions to update the existing code
21 language to current style.
22 Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama
23 of 1901, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the
24 Official Recompilation of the Constitution of
25 Alabama of 1901, as amended, prohibits a general
26 law whose purpose or effect would be to require a
27 new or increased expenditure of local funds from
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1 becoming effective with regard to a local
2 governmental entity without enactment by a 2/3 vote
3 unless: it comes within one of a number of
4 specified exceptions; it is approved by the
5 affected entity; or the Legislature appropriates
6 funds, or provides a local source of revenue, to
7 the entity for the purpose.
8 The purpose or effect of this bill would be
9 to require a new or increased expenditure of local
10 funds within the meaning of the amendment. However,
11 the bill does not require approval of a local
12 governmental entity or enactment by a 2/3 vote to
13 become effective because it comes within one of the
14 specified exceptions contained in the amendment.
15
16 A BILL
17 TO BE ENTITLED
18 AN ACT
19
20 Relating to ethics; to amend Sections 36-25-1,
21 36-25-3, 36-25-4, 36-25-4.1, 36-25-4.3, 36-25-5, 36-25-5.1,
22 36-25-7, 36-25-8, 36-25-9, 36-25-10, 36-25-12, 36-25-13,
23 36-25-14, 36-25-15, as last amended by Act 2019-529 of the
24 2019 Regular Session, 36-25-16, 36-25-17, 36-25-18, 36-25-19,
25 36-25-23, 36-25-24, and 36-25-27, Code of Alabama 1975; to
26 repeal Sections 17-17-4, 36-25-1.1, 36-25-1.3, 36-25-5.2,
27 36-25-6, 36-25-11, and 36-25-22 of the Code of Alabama 1975;
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1 to require a law enforcement officer who initiates an
2 investigation of a suspected ethics violation to notify and
3 cooperate with the State Ethics Commission; to prohibit the
4 Attorney General or a district attorney from presenting a
5 suspected ethics violation to a grand jury without a referral
6 by the commission, unless the suspected violation is committed
7 by a member or employee of the commission; to add a member to
8 the State Ethics Commission and extend the term; to provide
9 further for the appointments and duties of the commission; to
10 revise the gift ban, conflict of interest provisions,
11 revolving door provisions, and whistleblower protections; to
12 provide further for filing of statements of economic
13 interests; to prohibit a public official or public employee
14 from using his or her official authority or position for
15 influencing the vote or political action of any individual
16 under the code of ethics; to revise definitions; to delete
17 duplicative language; to make nonsubstantive, technical
18 revisions to update the existing code language to current
19 style; and in connection therewith would have as its purpose
20 or effect the requirement of a new or increased expenditure of
21 local funds within the meaning of Amendment 621 of the
22 Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section
23 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of
24 Alabama of 1901, as amended.
25 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
26 Section 1. Sections 36-25-1, 36-25-3, 36-25-4,
27 36-25-4.1, 36-25-4.3, 36-25-5, 36-25-5.1, 36-25-7, 36-25-8,
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1 36-25-9, 36-25-10, 36-25-12, 36-25-13, 36-25-14, 36-25-15, as
2 last amended by Act 2019-529 of the 2019 Regular Session,
3 36-25-16, 36-25-17, 36-25-18, 36-25-19, 36-25-23, 36-25-24,
4 and 36-25-27 of the Code of Alabama 1975, are amended to read
5 as follows:
6 "36-25-1.
7 "Whenever used in this chapter, the following words
8 and terms shall have the following meanings:
9 "(1) ASSOCIATED BUSINESS. A business of which an
10 individual or a family member of the individual is an officer,
11 director, owner, partner, employee, consultant, or holder of
12 more than five percent of the fair market value of the
13 business.
14 "(1)(2) BUSINESS. Any corporation, partnership,
15 proprietorship, firm, enterprise, franchise, association,
16 organization, or self-employed individual, or any other legal
17 entity.
18 "(2) BUSINESS WITH WHICH THE PERSON IS ASSOCIATED.
19 Any business of which the person or a member of his or her
20 family is an officer, owner, partner, board of director
21 member, employee, or holder of more than five percent of the
22 fair market value of the business.
23 "(3) CANDIDATE. This term as used in this chapter
24 shall have the same meaning ascribed to it The term as defined
25 in Section 17-5-2.
26 "(4) COMMISSION. The State Ethics Commission.
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1 "(5) COMPLAINT. Written allegation or allegations
2 that a violation of this chapter has occurred.
3 "(6) COMPLAINANT. A person who alleges a violation
4 or violations of this chapter by filing a complaint against a
5 respondent.
6 "(7)(5) CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION. A complaint filed
7 pursuant to this chapter, together with any statement,
8 conversations, knowledge of evidence, or information received
9 from the complainant, witness, or other person related to such
10 complaint Any information accessible to a public official or
11 public employee by virtue of his or her official position that
12 is not by law available to the public.
13 "(8)(6) CONFLICT OF INTEREST. A conflict on the part
14 of a public official or public employee between his or her
15 private interests and the official responsibilities inherent
16 in an office of public trust. A conflict of interest involves
17 any action, inaction, or decision by a public official or
18 public employee in the discharge of his or her official duties
19 which would materially affect his or her financial interest or
20 those of his or her family members or any business with which
21 the person is associated in a manner different from the manner
22 it affects the other members of the class to which he or she
23 belongs.
24 "a. A substantial financial interest that materially
25 and uniquely affects a public official, public employee,
26 family member of the public official or public employee, or an
27 associated business of the public official or public employee,
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1 in a manner different from the manner in which the financial
2 interest affects other members of the class to which that
3 public official, public employee, family member, or associated
4 business belongs.
5 "b. A conflict of interest shall The term does not
6 include any of the following:
7 "a. 1. A loan or financial transaction made or
8 conducted in the ordinary course of business.
9 "b. 2. An occasional nonpecuniary award publicly
10 presented by an organization for performance of public
11 service.
12 "c. 3. Payment of or reimbursement for actual and
13 necessary expenditures for travel and subsistence for the
14 personal attendance of a public official or public employee at
15 a convention or other meeting at which he or she is scheduled
16 to meaningfully participate in connection with his or her
17 official duties and for which attendance no reimbursement is
18 made by the state.
19 "d. 4. Any campaign contribution, including the
20 purchase of tickets to, or advertisements in journals, for
21 political or testimonial dinners, if the contribution is
22 actually used for political purposes and is not given under
23 circumstances from which it could reasonably be inferred that
24 the purpose of the contribution is to substantially influence
25 a public official in the performance of his or her official
26 duties.
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1 "(7) CONSULTANT. An individual who, for
2 compensation, provides professional services and advice based
3 on the individual's expertise in a field or profession.
4 "(9)(8) DAY. Calendar day.
5 "(10)(9) DEPENDENT. Any person, regardless of his or
6 her legal residence or domicile, who receives 50 percent or
7 more of his or her support from the public official or public
8 employee or his or her spouse or who resided with the public
9 official or public employee for more than 180 days during the
10 reporting period individual claimed as a dependent on the
11 state or federal tax return of the public official or public
12 employee or his or her spouse.
13 "(11)(10) DE MINIMIS. A Anything having a value of
14 twenty-five dollars ($25) or less per recipient per occasion
15 and an aggregate of fifty dollars ($50) or less per recipient
16 in a calendar year from any single provider or having no
17 intrinsic resale value., or such other amounts as may be
18 prescribed by the Ethics Commission from time to time by rule
19 pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act or adjusted each
20 four years from August 1, 2012, to reflect any increase in the
21 cost of living as indicated by the United States Department of
22 Labor Consumer Price Index or any succeeding equivalent index
23 The value shall be adjusted by five-dollar ($5) increments by
24 the commission not later than January 1 following any year in
25 which the value, as adjusted pursuant to the U.S. Department
26 of Labor's Consumer Price Index or a successor index, exceeds
27 the current amount by five dollars ($5) or more.
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1 "(12)(11) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FUNCTION. Any
2 function reasonably and directly related to the advancement of
3 a specific, good-faith economic development or trade promotion
4 project or objective.
5 "(12) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL.
6 "a. An individual seeking to advance specific, good
7 faith economic development or trade promotion projects or
8 related objectives for a business; a chamber of commerce or
9 similar nonprofit economic development organization in this
10 state; a city, a county, or other political subdivision of the
11 state; or a governmental corporation or authority.
12 "b. The term does not include elected officials,
13 legislators, or any former legislator within two years of the
14 end of the term for which he or she was elected.
15 "(13) EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION. A meeting, event, or
16 activity held within the State of Alabama, or if the function
17 is predominantly attended by participants from other states,
18 held within the continental United States, which is organized
19 around a formal program or agenda of educational or
20 informational speeches, debates, panel discussions, or other
21 presentations concerning matters within the scope of the
22 participants' official duties or other matters of public
23 policy, including social services and community development
24 policies, economic development or trade, ethics, government
25 services or programs, or government operations, and which,
26 taking into account the totality of the program or agenda,
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1 could not reasonably be perceived as a subterfuge for a purely
2 social, recreational, or entertainment function.
3 "(14) ENTITY. A business, union, association, firm,
4 committee, club, organization, or other legal entity.
5 "(14)(15) FAMILY MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEE. The
6 spouse or a dependent of the public employee.
7 "(15) FAMILY MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC OFFICIAL. The
8 spouse, a dependent, an adult child and his or her spouse, a
9 parent, a spouse's parents, a sibling and his or her spouse,
10 of the public official.
11 "(16) GOVERNMENTAL CORPORATIONS AND AUTHORITIES
12 CORPORATION OR AUTHORITY. Public A public or private
13 corporations and authorities corporation or authority,
14 including but not limited to, hospitals a hospital or other
15 health care corporations corporation, established pursuant to
16 state law by state, county, or municipal governments for the
17 purpose of carrying out a specific governmental function.
18 Notwithstanding the foregoing, all employees, including
19 contract employees, of hospitals or other health care
20 corporations and authorities are exempt from the provisions of
21 this chapter.
22 "(17) HOUSEHOLD. The public official, public
23 employee, and his or her spouse and dependents.
24 "(17) GOVERNMENTAL BODY. Any department, agency,
25 office, commission, board, or other political subdivision at
26 the state or local level in the executive, judicial, or
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1 legislative branch, including any regulatory body, legislative
2 body, or governmental corporation or authority.
3 "(18) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. A full-time employee
4 of a governmental unit responsible for the prevention or
5 investigation of crime who is authorized by law to carry
6 firearms, execute search warrants, and make arrests A state,
7 county, or municipal officer certified by the Alabama Peace
8 Officers Standards and Training Commission.
9 "(19) LEGISLATIVE BODY. The term "legislative body"
10 includes All of the following:
11 "a. The Legislature of Alabama, which includes both
12 the Senate of Alabama and the House of Representatives of
13 Alabama, unless specified otherwise by the express language of
14 any provision herein in this chapter, and any committee or
15 subcommittee thereof.
16 "b. A county commission, and any committee or
17 subcommittee thereof.
18 "c. A city council, city commission, town council,
1