State officials would follow conflict rules covering their outside employers

Officials and employees generally could not take official action on a substantial conflict, meaning an expected direct financial gain or loss involving covered personal or business ties. Covered financial interests would include those of officials, their spouses, dependent children, associated businesses, and their own or their spouse’s outside employer. Officials generally would need reason to expect a direct financial gain or loss. Elected officials would need actual knowledge for conflicts involving associated businesses or their own or their spouse’s outside employer. Benefits or losses shared no more than equally with others in the same profession, occupation, or group would not count. For an outside-employer conflict, elected officials could step aside or first file a signed explanation of why they can act fairly and in the public interest. False statements would carry penalties. They would submit the explanation to the Office of State Ethics and place it in their elected body’s journal or minutes, or submit it to that body if neither exists. The proposed effective date for these rules is October 1, 2026.

Officials and employees who are not elected would follow rules for handling potential financial conflicts. Covered interests would include the worker’s, their spouse’s, parents’, siblings’, children’s, children’s spouses’, associated businesses’, and their own or their spouse’s outside employer’s. Potential conflicts would exclude very small interests, interests shared with a substantial part of the public, and substantial conflicts covered by separate rules. State regulatory agency members could step aside or first file a signed explanation with the Office of State Ethics and their agency explaining why they can participate fairly and in the public interest. Other covered workers would give a signed statement about a substantial or potential conflict to their supervisor, who would reassign the matter. Those without a supervisor would follow the Office of State Ethics’ directions or advice. False statements in these signed explanations would carry penalties. The proposed effective date for these rules is October 1, 2026.

Covered officials and employees would electronically file financial reports with the Office of State Ethics. Covered people would include elected state officials, agency heads and deputies, state-created public agency leaders, Investment Advisory Council members, and executive branch board members with authority over large state contracts. The governor could require other executive branch members and state-created public agency employees to file. Reports would cover the filer, their spouse, and dependent children living in their household. Reports would include business ties, income sources above $1,000, investments above $5,000, property, debts above $10,000, and certain state contracts and business partners. False statements would carry penalties. The proposed effective date is October 1, 2026. Prior-year reports would be due May 1, or the next business day if needed. Departing filers would receive notice within 60 days and have 60 days after receipt to report the portion of the year they served.

Covered filers would name certain savings plans instead of each investment held inside them. The exception would cover investments reported for filers, their spouses, and dependent children living in their household. The exception would apply to investments worth more than $5,000 held in the listed plans. Covered plans would include specified employer retirement plans, tax-sheltered annuity retirement plans, payroll deduction individual retirement accounts, government deferred compensation plans, and education savings plans. The proposed effective date for this reporting rule is October 1, 2026.