ARTICLE 2. Code of Ethics [8920. - 8926.]

Law Codes -> Government Code -> Article 8920 to 8926

• 8920.

  (a)No Member of the Legislature, state elective or appointive officer, or judge or justice shall, while serving as such, have any interest, financial or otherwise, direct or indirect, or engage in any business or transaction or professional activity, or incur any obligation of any nature, which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of his duties in the public interest and of his responsibilities as prescribed in the laws of this state.

  (b)No Member of the Legislature shall do any of the following:

  (1)Accept other employment which he has reason to believe will either impair his independence of judgment as to his official duties or require him, or induce him, to disclose confidential information acquired by him in the course of and by reason of his official duties.

  (2)Willfully and knowingly disclose, for pecuniary gain, to any other person, confidential information acquired by him in the course of and by reason of his official duties or use any such information for the purpose of pecuniary gain.

  (3)Accept or agree to accept, or be in partnership with any person who accepts or agrees to accept, any employment, fee, or other thing of monetary value, or portion thereof, in consideration of his appearing, agreeing to appear, or taking any other action on behalf of another person before any state board or agency.

  This subdivision shall not be construed to prohibit a member who is an attorney at law from practicing in that capacity before any court or before the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board and receiving compensation therefor. This subdivision shall not act to prohibit a member from acting as an advocate without compensation or making inquiry for information on behalf of a constituent before a state board or agency, or from engaging in activities on behalf of another which require purely ministerial acts by the board or agency and which in no way require the board or agency to exercise any discretion, or from engaging in activities involving a board or agency which are strictly on his or her own behalf. The prohibition contained in this subdivision shall not apply to a partnership or firm of which the Member of the Legislature is a member if the Member of the Legislature does not share directly or indirectly in the fee, less any expenses attributable to that fee, resulting from the transaction. The prohibition contained in this subdivision as it read immediately prior to January 1, 1983, shall not apply in connection with any matter pending before any state board or agency on or before January 2, 1967, if the affected Member of the Legislature was an attorney of record or representative in the matter prior to January 2, 1967. The prohibition contained in this subdivision, as amended and operative on January 1, 1983, shall not apply to any activity of any Member in connection with a matter pending before any state board or agency on January 1, 1983, which was not prohibited by this section prior to that date, if the affected Member of the Legislature was an attorney of record or representative in the matter prior to January 1, 1983.

  (4)Receive or agree to receive, directly or indirectly, any compensation, reward, or gift from any source except the State of California for any service, advice, assistance or other matter related to the legislative process, except fees for speeches or published works on legislative subjects and except, in connection therewith, reimbursement of expenses for actual expenditures for travel and reasonable subsistence for which no payment or reimbursement is made by the State of California.

  (5)Participate, by voting or any other action, on the floor of either house, in committee, or elsewhere, in the passage or defeat of legislation in which he has a personal interest, except as follows:

  (i)If, on the vote for final passage by the house of which he is a member, of the legislation in which he has a personal interest, he first files a statement (which shall be entered verbatim on the journal) stating in substance that he has a personal interest in the legislation to be voted on and, notwithstanding that interest, he is able to cast a fair and objective vote on that legislation, he may cast his vote without violating any provision of this article.

  (ii)If the member believes that, because of his personal interest, he should abstain from participating in the vote on the legislation, he shall so advise the presiding officer prior to the commencement of the vote and shall be excused from voting on the legislation without any entry on the journal of the fact of his personal interest. In the event a rule of the house requiring that each member who is present vote aye or nay is invoked, the presiding officer shall order the member excused from compliance and shall order entered on the journal a simple statement that the member was excused from voting on the legislation pursuant to law.

  The provisions of this section do not apply to persons who are members of the state civil service as defined in Article VII of the California Constitution.

• 8921.

  A person subject to this article has an interest which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of his duties in the public interest and of his responsibilities as prescribed in the laws of this state or a personal interest, arising from any situation, within the scope of this article, if he has reason to believe or expect that he will derive a direct monetary gain or suffer a direct monetary loss, as the case may be, by reason of his official activity. He does not have an interest which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of his duties in the public interest and of his responsibilities as prescribed in the laws of this state or a personal interest, arising from any situation, within the scope of this article, if any benefit or detriment accrues to him as a member of a business, profession, occupation, or group to no greater extent than any other member of that business, profession, occupation, or group.

• 8922.

  A person subject to the provisions of this article shall not be deemed to be engaged in any activity which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of his duties in the public interest and of his responsibilities as prescribed in the laws of this state, or have a personal interest, arising from any situation, within the scope of this article, solely by reason of any of the following:

  (a)His relationship to any potential beneficiary of any situation is one which is defined as a remote interest by Section 1091 or is otherwise not deemed to be a prohibited interest by Section 1091.1 or 1091.5.

  (b)Receipt of a campaign contribution regulated, received, reported, and accounted for pursuant to Title 9 (commencing with Section 81000), so long as the contribution is not made on the understanding or agreement, in violation of law, that the person's vote, opinion, judgment, or action will be influenced thereby.

• 8924.

  (a)No employee of either house of the Legislature shall, during the time he is so employed, commit any act or engage in any activity prohibited by any provision of this article. The provisions of this article and Article 3 (commencing with Section 8940) which are applicable to a Member of the Legislature are also applicable to any employee of either house of the Legislature.

  (b)Nothing in this part shall be construed to prohibit an employee of either house of the Legislature from serving in an elective or appointive office of any regional or local public agency.

• 8924.5.

  (a)The Legislature finds and declares that the California Council on Science and Technology was organized as a nonprofit corporation pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code in response to Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 162 (Resolution Chapter 148 of the Statutes of 1988). The council was uniquely established at the request of the Legislature for the specific purpose of offering expert advice to state government on public policy issues significantly related to science and technology. The establishment of the California Science and Technology Policy Fellowships as a professional development program is consistent with the Legislature's intent in requesting the creation of the council and is expressly designed to fulfill the council's mission of assisting state policymakers as they face increasingly complex decisions related to science and technology challenges confronting the state in the 21st century.

  (b)The services of a California Science and Technology Policy Fellow provided by the California Council on Science and Technology and duly authorized by the Senate Committee on Rules, the Assembly Committee on Rules, or the Joint Committee on Rules are not compensation, a reward, or a gift to a Member of the Legislature for purposes of paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 8920.

  (c)A California Science and Technology Policy Fellow provided by the California Council on Science and Technology and duly authorized by the Senate Committee on Rules, the Assembly Committee on Rules, or the Joint Committee on Rules is not an employee of either house of the Legislature for purposes of this article.

  (d)For purposes of this section, a California Science and Technology Policy Fellow is "duly authorized by the Senate Committee on Rules, the Assembly Committee on Rules, or the Joint Committee on Rules" only if both of the following requirements are satisfied:

  (1)The California Science and Technology Policy Fellow has been selected according to criteria, and pursuant to a process, approved by the Senate Committee on Rules, the Assembly Committee on Rules, or the Joint Committee on Rules.

  (2)The California Council on Science and Technology has executed an agreement with the Senate Committee on Rules, the Assembly Committee on Rules, or the Joint Committee on Rules whereby the California Science and Technology Policy Fellow is bound to abide by standards of conduct, economic interest disclosure requisites, and other requirements specified by the Senate Committee on Rules, the Assembly Committee on Rules, or the Joint Committee on Rules.

• 8925.

  No person shall induce or seek to induce any Member of the Legislature to violate any provision of this article.

• 8926.

  Every person who knowingly and willfully violates any provision of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor. Every person who conspires to violate any provision of this article is guilty of a felony.