POSTEMPLOYMENT RESTRICTION

To: Joseph Gillespie (Tallahassee)

SUMMARY:

A staff director of the House Bill Drafting Service is not an “employee” as defined in Section 112.313(9)(a), Florida Statutes. Therefore, he would not be subject to the two-year postemployment representation restriction in Section 112.313(9)(a)4, Florida Statutes, were he to vacate that position.

QUESTION:

Would you, the staff director of the House Bill Drafting Service, be subject to the two-year prohibition against representing clients before the Legislature if you were to vacate your position?

Under the circumstances presented, your question is answered in the negative.

In your letter of inquiry, you state that you serve full time as the staff director of the House Bill Drafting Service, which you describe as an administrative support office within the Legislature. You state that you and other personnel of the House Bill Drafting Service are responsible for assisting members of the House of Representatives in creating the first drafts of their legislative proposals. You state that the Bill Drafting Service is not classified or otherwise treated as a committee, a political party office, or the Office of the President of the Senate or the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

In your inquiry, you ask whether you would be subject to the two-year restriction set forth in Section 112.313(9)(a)4, Florida Statutes, if you were to terminate your position as staff director for the House Bill Drafting Service and become a legislative lobbyist. Section 112.313(9)(a)4 provides in relevant part:

(9) POSTEMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS; STANDARDS OF CONDUCT FOR LEGISLATORS AND LEGISLATIVE EMPLOYEES.—

(a)…

2. As used in this paragraph:

a. “Employee” means:

(IV) An executive director, staff director, or deputy staff director of each joint committee, standing committee, or select committee of the Legislature; an executive director, staff director, executive assistant, analyst, or attorney of the Office of the President of the Senate, the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Senate Majority Party Office, Senate Minority Party Office, House Majority Party Office, or House Minority Party Office; or any person, hired on a contractual basis, having the power normally conferred upon such persons, by whatever title.

4. An agency employee . . . may not personally represent another person or entity for compensation before the agency with which he or she was employed for a period of 2 years following vacation of position, unless employed by another agency of state government.

Section 112.313(9)(a)4 prohibits certain categories of legislative personnel (defined “employees”) from personally representing another person or entity for compensation before the Legislature for a period of two years following vacation of position. The legislative “employee” categories set forth in Section 112.313(9)(a)2.a.(IV), Florida Statutes, include “staff director” for the following offices: the Office of the President of the Senate, the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Senate Majority Party Office, the Senate Minority Party Office, the House Majority Party Office, the House Minority Party Office, and each joint committee, standing committee, or select committee of the Legislature.

In the Directory of the Florida House of Representatives for 2014-2016,¹ you are named as the person holding the position of staff director for the House Bill Drafting Service, which is described in the Directory as “a nonpartisan, nonpolitical office that provides professional legislative drafting services for all members, committees, and subcommittees of the House.” In the Directory, you are not named as the staff director for the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives or for any legislative office other than House Bill Drafting Service. Further, the House Bill Drafting Service is not included in the Directory as a joint committee, a standing committee, or a select committee.

Therefore, because your particular position as staff director for the House Bill Drafting Service is not among the positions defined as an “employee,” we conclude that you are not subject to the two-year representation restriction in Section 112.313(9)(a)4, Florida Statutes.²

Your question is answered accordingly.

ORDERED by the State of Florida Commission on Ethics meeting in public session on July 29, 2016 and RENDERED this 3rd day of August, 2016.

____________________________________

Matthew F. Carlucci, Chair

^[1]The Directory is published by the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives.

^[2]Because the Legislature is not part of the State Personnel System, you would not be subject to Section 112.313(9)(a)2.a.(I), Florida Statutes, which imposes the two-year postemployment representation restriction on former State employees who held positions in the Senior Management Service (SMS) or the Selected Exempt Service (SES).