JCOPE E-Blast: Clarification for Reportable Business Relationship Disclosure

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) sent out an “e-blast” earlier today to inform lobbyists and clients that it has revised is FAQ on “reportable business relationships” (read my prior post on the topic here).

JCOPE has changed its position on the question of whether an unpaid appointee to a state board or commission becomes a “state person” whose employer (if they are a lobbyist or client) must report their employee’s compensation.

The original FAQ (dated January 3, 2013) posed the following question and answered it affirmatively:

A trade association is a client of a registered lobbyist. The president of the association, who receives a salary of $100,000 per year, has recently been appointed by the Governor to serve on a State commission. While the position on the commission is unpaid, has an RBR been created?

Yes. Since the association president is now a State Person, an RBR has been created. The salary paid to him/her by the trade association would be considered Compensation, as that term is defined in the Guidelines and must be reported.

The revised FAQ (dated January 14, 2013) poses essentially the identical question, but answers it in the negative:

A trade association is a client of a registered lobbyist. The president of the association, who is a salaried employee of the association, has recently been appointed to serve on a State commission in an uncompensated position. Must the trade association now disclose its relationship with its employee, and the employee’s salary, as an RBR?

No. Because the association president was appointed to an uncompensated position, he/she is not a State Person for the purposes of RBR disclosure.

It’s not clear why JCOPE changed course on this issue, but this will certainly make it easier to get people to agree to serve in uncompensated positions on state boards and commissions.