FAIRMONT —
It didn’t take long for someone to seek out a loophole in West Virginia’s new ethics law, which doesn’t take effect until July 1. State officials should immediately slam shut the door on this attempt.
A legislative attorney has asked the West Virginia Ethics Commission whether the new law would apply to him if he changed his employment status from a per-diem employee to independent contractor. Under a bill passed in this year’s regular legislative session, elected officials and high-ranking aides will be barred from returning to the Capitol as lobbyists for one year after leaving public service. The aim is to prevent such officials who leave state government from immediately using their connections and influence with state government officials and employees if they become paid lobbyists.
The ethics commission determined last week that the new rules would apply to the attorney, who is Senate minority counsel, if he remained a legislative employee after July 1. However, they wouldn’t if he changed his status to an independent contractor retained by the Senate, the commission concluded.
“There is nothing in the Ethics Act or the Ethics Commission’s precedential opinions that subjects independent contractors to the provisions of the Ethics Act,” the commission reported in an advisory opinion.
That didn’t mean the commission liked the prospect of the attorney taking advantage of the situation.
“The commission is troubled that an employee of the very governing body that so recently enacted the revolving door amendment has chosen to seek a way to escape its application,” the opinion states. “The commission frowns on such conduct and questions whether the requestor’s employer is even aware of his intentions to circumvent the spirit and intent of the Ethic Act’s new prohibitions.”
That’s a good question. If the Senate officials who employ the attorney in question weren’t aware of his inquiry to the ethics commission, they should be by now. And they should make sure that the attorney’s employment status remains as is and not be changed to an independent contractor.
This case illustrates that the “revolving door” aspect of the law may need to be revisited to either specify which state government positions the law applies to or to allow the appropriate officials — the ethics commission, for example — to establish that list. And once such a list is established, no one in any of those positions should be allowed to work as an independent contractor.
In short, anyone whose position is considered sensitive enough to fall under this ethics provision should be an employee of the state, not an independent contractor.
This loophole should be eliminated as soon as possible, and any attempts by relevant employees to switch their employment status should be rebuffed.
— The (Huntington) Herald-Dispatch
This editorial does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Times West Virginian editorial board.
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