CAUTION: The following advice may be based on a rule that has been revised since the opinion was first issued. Consequently, the analysis reflected in the opinion may be outdated.
No. 05-I-11 State Ethics Commission Official Advisory Opinion September 8, 2005
Summary
IC 4-2-6-11
A former DNR employee sought to work as a lobbyist in the Indiana General Assembly following his employment with the state. SEC found that the employee was not subject to the one-year “cooling off” period found in the Post Employment rule since the restrictions in EO 05-12(8), the rule that was in place when the former employee ended his employment with state government, only applied to executive branch lobbyists.
Background
A former state employee was previously employed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and represented DNR in the General Assembly in 2001, 2002, and 2003. In 2004, he served as the Director of Legislative Relations for the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF). He continued to serve DLGF for seven weeks in 2005, resigning effective February 25, 2005.
Question
Does the post-employment restriction in Executive Order 05-12 and subsequently IC 4-2-6-11 prohibit the former state employee from working as a lobbyist in the Indiana General Assembly prior to February 25, 2006?
Relevant Law
Executive Order 05-12
IC 4-2-6-11, Post-employment Restrictions
Conclusion
The former state employee left state government while Executive Order 05-12 was in effect. Paragraph 8 of that Order prohibits lobbying the executive or legislative branch of state government within one year of leaving state employment.
On May 11, 2005, paragraph 8 of the Executive Order ceased to control the issue of post-employment restrictions. On that date, IC 4-2-6-11 became effective. This statute changes the limitation concerning lobbying. In IC 4-2-6-11, the prohibition against lobbying the General Assembly is lifted. Only executive branch lobbying is restricted. Accordingly, there is no post-employment prohibition against the former state employee lobbying the legislative branch of state government.