| Date: | 03/28/1979 |
|---|---|
| Organization: | State Ethics Commission |
While a former state employee may not receive compensation from a private source in connection with a subcontract in which he "participated" and the state was a party, he may provide consulting services for a new project initiated by a new contract.
You were employed by a state agency (ABC) and you served as the Director of a project to develop and establish a system to gather and make available information. You assisted the Project's Advisory Committee in determining the appropriate form for the information. In 1976, the Committee decided to establish a organization to be called the organization.
You then prepared and submitted a proposal to a federal agency (USA) for additional funds for the initial development of the organization. The proposal was approved and the funds were made available to the organization through a subcontract with ABC. The Advisory Committee ceased to exist at the time of the election of the organization's Board of Directors. You ask whether you may now serve as a consultant to the organization without violating the provisions of General Laws Chapter 268A.
In rendering this opinion, the Commission has been guided by, and will continue to follow for the near future, the interpretations of the Attorney General issued prior to November 1, 1978, the effective date of the Commission's jurisdiction over Chapter 268A matters.
As a former state employee, § 5 applies to you. Section 5(a) forever prohibits you from acting as agent for or receiving compensation from anyone other than the Commonwealth or a state agency in connection with any particular matter in which the Commonwealth or a state agency is a party or has a direct and substantial interest and in which you participated while a state employee. Previously, the Attorney General advised you that your proposed employment by the organization was prohibited by this section. He reasoned that the decisions and determination made by the Committee to establish the organization and to apply for federal funds to finance it were "particular matters" which you had "participated" in, and that the subcontract between the ABC and the organization could not be separated from those decisions. Thus, he concluded that since you would be paid by the organization to perform duties pertinent to that subcontract, you would be receiving compensation from a private source in connection with particular matters which the state was a party to and which you had participated in while a state employee. Attorney General Conflict Opinion.
You have been asked to consult on technical matters related to policies and procedures currently being drafted by the organization. In addition, the organization intends to submit an entirely new proposal to a separate unit within USA and you have been asked to participate in this project if the contract award is made by USA. You advise us that the subcontract between the organization and the ABC has not ended. Therefore, since your proposed consulting services would no longer be in connection with any particular matters which you participated in while you were at ABC you are not prohibited from performing those services.
End Of Decision
