News  State Ethics Commission testifies in support of FY 2026 budget request

Clinton, MA — State Ethics Commission Executive Director David A. Wilson testified March 28 at a Joint Committee on Ways and Means hearing in Clinton in support of the Commission’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request.

During his testimony, Executive Director Wilson emphasized the independent, non-partisan Commission’s mission of fostering integrity in public service in state, county, and local government in the Commonwealth through providing education, advice, and enforcement regarding the Massachusetts conflict of interest law and financial disclosure law.

In support of its mission, the Commission provides free legal advice to an average of nearly 6,000 public employees each year and conducts several dozen educational seminars annually to increase public employees’ understanding of the conflict of interest law. The Commission administers the mandatory conflict of interest law online training and education requirements and launched a new and innovative online training course in 2023, which it hosts on its own learning management system. More than 312,000 public employees across more than 800 public agencies use the Commission’s learning management system, which is provided at no cost to them. Each year, the Commission’s Enforcement Division investigates an average of more than 800 complaints and, when necessary, civilly prosecutes alleged violations of the conflict of interest law.

In his testimony, Executive Director Wilson thanked the Legislature for its continued support and emphasized the necessity of funding the Commission’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget request in order to retain highly qualified staff and to continue to provide the vital services on which agencies and municipalities across the Commonwealth depend. The Commission’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request is $4,046,721.

Read the Commission’s written testimony.