Jim Rosica
New and returning lawmakers had their mandatory ethics training on Tuesday, covering everything from the obvious — don’t take a bribe — to the nuanced — if you’re given a bottle of water, pay for it.
House General Counsel Adam Tanenbaum presented to his members in the morning, while Senate General Counsel Jeremiah Hawkes gave a class in the afternoon.
The former was part of Speaker Jose Oliva‘s “Legislator University” that helps orient new representatives and refreshes returning ones. Topics included restrictions on taking gifts from lobbyists, disclosing voting conflicts and misuse of position.
“You can’t use your office to strike fear” in someone to do or not do something, Tanenbaum said, “as well meaning as it might be.”
He also used the example of when a member can take a gift from a lobbyist to whom the member’s related.
If a member’s sister has always given a gift for Christmas, “the intent was not to influence you, that’s just what she always did,” Tanenbaum said.
But a lobbyist-sibling that one hasn’t seen or spoken to in 20 years suddenly lavishing a member with gifts once he or she learned they were elected probably won’t fly, he said.
Tanenbaum even suggested that if a lobbyist gives a legislator a bottle of drinking water, that official should offer a dollar for the drink, assuming that’s a “fair market value.”
What about taking a mint from a tray in the lobbyist’s lobby, he was asked.
That’s probably OK, Tanenbaum said.
In the Senate, Hawkes discussed public records and how to determine when something is one.
It’s the “content,” not the form that matters, he said, mentioning that a lobbyist’s text message about a bill is a public record.
Campaign materials aren’t, nor are personal notes — unless they’re shown to someone else.
