Opinion  EC-COI-83-135

Date:	10/03/1983
Organization:	State Ethics Commission

A member of the General Court who serves as president of a company that receives funding under a state contract will not violate G.L. c. 268A as long as he neither receives compensation nor acts as the agent of the company in relation to the state contract.

Facts

You are a member of the General Court and also serve as president of ABC. ABC intends to subcontract under a contract awarded by state agency DEF. ABC's role would include (description of services omitted). As President ABC, your salary is derived from private foundations, donations and services, and would not be attributable, directly or indirectly, to the DEF contract. Additionally, you state that you will not be performing any services under this contract or acting as the signatory or agent of ABC in connection with the contract.

Question

If ABC is awarded the subcontract, would your proposed course of conduct satisfy G.L. c. 268A?

Answer

Yes.^[1]  

Discussion

As a member of the General Court, you are a "state employee" for the purposes of G.L. c. 268A and are subject to the restrictions contained in that statute. Two provisions, in particular, are relevant to your situation.

Section 4   

This section prohibits your receipt of compensation from non-state parties and your acting as the agent of non-state parties in relation to any particular matter such as the DEF contract in which the Commonwealth or a state agency is a party or has a direct and substantial interest. Although there are exemptions available to you under this section by virtue of your status as a member of the General Court, it is not necessary to address those exemption because you will neither be paid by ABC nor act as the agent of ABC in relation to the DEF contract and therefore will not violate § 4.

 Section 7

This section prohibits you as a state employee from having a financial interest in a contract made by a state agency such as DEF. However, in view of your insulation from any financial interest in the DEF contract, ABC's receipt of the DEF contract would not place you in violation of § 7.


End Of Decision  

^[1] Should your current compensation arrangement with ABC change, you should notify the Commission to determine whether the result of this opinion would be different.