Letter to legislative leadership and section 7 of the ethics law

STATE OF ALABAMA

ETHICS MAILING p.o.

COMMISSION

ADDRESS BOX

STREET RSA

4840

MONTGOMERY, 36103-4840

AL

100 NORTH

ADDRESS UNION UNION

SUITE MONTGOMERY,

COMMISSIONERS Braxton L. Kittrell, Jr., Esq., Chair Josephine M. Venahle, Vice-Chair Anthony Humphries Michael K. K. l'hoy, Esq. Rehekah Elgin-Cuuncil

STREET

104 AL 36104

James L. Sumner. Jr. Director TELEPHONE

(334) 242-2997

FAX (334) 242-0248 WEB SITE: www.ethics.alabama.gov

March 4, 2011

The Honorable Del Marsh President Pro Tempore Alabama State Senate Suite 732-A, State House Montgomery, Alabama 36130

and The Honorable Mike Hubbard Speaker of the House Alabama House of Representatives Suite 519-A, State House Montgomery, Alabama 36130 Dear Mr. President and Mr. Speaker:

John Gibbs, Chief of the Public Corruption and White Collar Crime Division of the Attorney General's Office, and I would like to recommend one minor technical amendment which would strengthen and make more enforceable the 2010 amendments to the Ethics Law. Specifically, the addition of one word in three places in Section 36-25-7, Ala. Code 1975 would satisfy our concerns. If the word "corruptly" is inserted before the word "influencing" in subsections 7(a), (b) and (c), it would alleviate any questions relating to vagueness and enforceability.

Both the Attorney General's Office and I have met with Senator Bryan Taylor, the author and principal sponsor of Senate Bill 14, now Act No. 2010-764, regarding our concerns, and he understands our reasons for recommending this one change to strengthen the law and make it more enforceable.

We would like to recommend this technical amendment to you and the bodies you lead. If you have any questions r~rding this matter, please let us know.

cc:

Office of the Attorney Gener State of Alabama Senator Bryan Tayl

ยง 36-15-7. SoUeitatioD by omeial

- Diselosure of receipts'

(a) No person shall offer or give to a public official or public employee or a member of the household of a public employee or a member of the household of the public official and none of the aforementioned shall solicit or receive a thing 01''.alue anvthing for the purpose of * influencing official action. re~ardless of whether or not the thim! solicited or received is a thing of value. (b) No public official or public employee shall solicit or receive a thing of value!anythimz for himself or herself or for a family member of the public employee or family member of the public official for the purpose of'nfluencing official action. regardless of whether or not the thing solicited or received is a thing of value. (e) No person shall offer or give a family member of the public official or family member of the public employee a thing of '..all:ll!anything for the purpose oftnfluencing official actions re2ardless of whether or not the thin2 offered or given is a thing of value. (d) No public official or public employee, shall solicit or receive any money in addition to that received by the public official or public employee in an official capacity for advice or assistance on matters concerning the Legislature, lobbying a legislative body, an executive department or any public regulatory board, commission or other body of which he or she is a member.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a public official or public employee from the performance of his or her official duties or responsibilities.

*

corruptly

6 This section was revised by SB 14 (Act No. 2010-764), which takes effect 90 days after passage.

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