| Date: | 02/21/1979 |
|---|---|
| Organization: | State Ethics Commission |
Section 7 does not preclude a member of the General Court from accepting compensation for teaching where no state agency is a party to the contract or is funding the position. See EC-COI-79-15 for §§ 4 and 6 exemptions.
You are member of the General Court. You have accepted a paid part-time position as an employee of a private university. You state that you are not paid by state funds directly, or indirectly, through a grant from a state agency.
You ask whether it is a conflict of interest under General Laws Chapter 268A, for you to receive compensation for this teaching position.
You are a state employee but as a member of the General Court, you are exempt from the prohibitions of § 4(a) or (c) by the fifth paragraph of § 4, as amended by Chapter 210 of the Acts of 1978. Since you do not intend to personally appear before any state agency for compensation other than your legislative salary, the provisos of that paragraph are not applicable. Further, your employment does not require you to disqualify yourself as a member of the General Court, pursuant to § 6, in "particular matters" in which the University has a financial interest since the enactment of general legislation is specifically excluded form the definition of "particular matters". Section 1(k); see also Attorney General Conflict Opinion No.562. Finally, the prohibitions of § 7 are not applicable to you because your teaching contract is directly between you and the university and no state agency is a party to that contract nor is your position funded in any way by state agency funds. Attorney General Conflict Opinion No. 839.
End Of Decision
