Win some, lose some
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- July
- 10
  In one of two advisory opinions released today, the state Commission on Public Integrity found that state officials or employees who travel on state business may be allowed to personally use rewards or bonus points accumulated from airlines and hotels. They can be used “on the basis that travel rewards or points, which are offered to the general public, could not reasonably be seen as an attempt by the offerer to influence any governmental decisions or to reward any state officer or employee for any official action.â€
  On the flip side, state employees whose job requires them to buy supplies and services for their agencies cannot personally bank reward points they get as a result. Since vendors are approved by the state, accepting rewards can be viewed as a way for the agency to influence the employee, and the rewards would be considered gifts under state ethics laws, the commission said.
   A second opinion issued today prohibits a state Thruway Authority employee approaching retirement from being employed as an office engineer or inspector on any Thruway project contracted out by the state for two years after retirement. The decision turned on the contractor having to submit a the former employee’s resume and credentials as part of the application for the job. The majority of commissioners—eight—said that would violate ethics laws.
  The five dissenters said disqualifying a “line-level engineer†on the presumption that it would have undue influence on the DOT â€exaggerates the concern for even the appearance of improper influence far beyond any expressed by the Legislature†in the two-year “revolving-door†ban on appearing or practicing before one’s former agency.
  To see the opinions, visit www.nyintegrity.org/advisory.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 12:42 pm by Cara Matthews.
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