CEO 76-104 -- June 17, 1976

ADVISORY BODIES

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS

To: William H. Ravenell, Chairman, State Manpower Services Council, Tallahassee

Prepared by: Gene Rhodes

SUMMARY:

The Code of Ethics requires that each state and local officer annually file a financial disclosure statement. Fla. Stat. s. 112.3145(2)(b)(1975). However, the definitions of both a local officer and a state officer exclude members of advisory bodies. Fla. Stat. s. 112.3145(1)(a)2. and (1)(c)2.(1975). An "advisory body" is defined to include any board whose authorized expenditures constitute less than 1 percent of the budget of each agency it serves or $100,000, whichever is less, and whose powers are solely advisory in nature. Pursuant to this definition, the State Manpower Services Council, the Balance of the State Prime Sponsor Advisory Council, and the balance of the state prime sponsor district advisory boards are deemed to constitute advisory bodies for purposes of the Code of Ethics. Accordingly, members of these boards are not subject to financial disclosure requirements of the law.

QUESTION:

Are the members of the State Manpower Services Council, the Balance of the State Prime Sponsor Advisory Council, and the balance of the state prime sponsor district advisory boards state or local officers within the meaning of the Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees and, therefore, required to file financial disclosure statements on an annual basis?

Your question is answered in the negative as to all three boards.

The Code of Ethics requires that each state and local officer annually file a financial disclosure statement. Fla. Stat. s. 112.3145(2)(b)(1975). However, the definitions of both a local officer and a state officer exclude members of advisory bodies. See Fla. Stat. s. 112.3145(1)(a)2. and (c)2.(1975).

An advisory body is defined to mean:

. . . any board, commission, committee, council, or authority, however selected, whose total budget, appropriations, or authorized expenditures constitute less than 1 percent of the budget of each agency it serves or $100,000, whichever is less, and whose powers, jurisdiction, and authority are solely advisory and do not include the final determination or adjudication of any personal or property rights, duties, or obligations, other than those relating to its internal operations. [Fla. Stat. s. 112.312(1)(1975).]

Your letter of inquiry assures us that the budget allocation to each of the subject bodies qualifies it as an advisory body as defined above. This leaves us with the question of whether each body is solely advisory in nature.

A reading of the statute establishing these bodies indicates that the duties of the State Manpower Services Council consist of advising either the Governor or the individual prime sponsor of manpower programs. See Fla. Stat. s. 13.9984(1975). The Balance of the State Prime Sponsor Advisory Council has the sole duty of advising the Governor on the utilization of funds authorized by the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973. Fla. Stat. s. 13.9988(3)(1975). Mr. Edward A. Feaver, Director of the Office of Manpower Planning, informed our staff that the state prime sponsor district advisory boards do nothing more than advise the Balance of the State Prime Sponsor Advisory Council. Consequently, each of the subject boards is an advisory body within the meaning of the Code of Ethics, and their members therefore are not required to file financial disclosure forms.