| Date: | 07/10/1979 |
|---|---|
| Organization: | State Ethics Commission |
A member of the General Court may receive compensation for filing applications for his private clients but may not appear personally before a state agency to advocate on behalf of a client except in the context of a quasi-judicial proceeding.
You are a member of the General Court, and you serve as Chairman of a Committee. You are also a licensed real estate broker. Revenue Bonds are available to industrial development projects pursuant to General Laws Chapter 40D provided, among other things, that the project obtains a certificate of convenience and necessity from the Massachusetts Industrial Finance Agency (MIFA). G. L. c. 40D, § 12.
You ask whether it would be a conflict of interest under General Laws Chapter 268A for you to represent clients in obtaining financing pursuant to General Laws Chapter 40D.
You are a state employee but as a member of the General Court you are exempt from the prohibitions of § 4(a) and § 4(c) by the fifth paragraph of § 4, as amended by Chapter 210 of the Acts of 1978. Under that paragraph, you are prohibited from receiving compensation other than your legislative salary for personally appearing before any state agency except in connection with ministerial matters, court appearances or quasi-judicial proceedings. Since the filing of an application for a certificate of convenience and necessity is a ministerial matter as that term is defined in § 4, you would not be prohibited from engaging in the activity on behalf of your client. This section would, however, prohibit you from receiving compensation from a client for personally appearing before MIFA to negotiate or advocate on behalf of the client unless it occurs in the context of a quasi-judicial proceeding. See EC-COI-79-66. It would not make a difference for purposes of this Section that your private activities were conducted while the legislature was not in session.
Since you have not presented us with a specific question regarding a proposed course of action, we have answered your inquiry in general terms. Should a situation arise which is of concern to you, you must feel free to request an additional opinion from us.
End Of Decision
