N.J. Admin. Code § 19:61-6.4

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 21, November 4, 2024

Section 19:61-6.4 - Attendance at an event sponsored by an interested party

(a) The State official shall secure the prior approval of his or her supervisor and the agency Ethics Liaison Officer to attend such an event.

(b) Except as provided in (c) or (d) below:

1. The State shall pay the reasonable expenses of the State official associated with attending the event.

2. Neither the State official nor the State shall receive any direct or indirect benefit from any other source.

(c) The requirement and prohibition in (b) above need not apply if the event is designed to provide training, dissemination of information, or the exchange of ideas and the State official is making a speech, is participating in a panel at the event or is an accompanying resource person for the speaker and/or participant, subject to the reasonable approval of the department head. The direct or indirect benefit provided to the State official by the sponsor of the event may include the following:

1. Reimbursement or payment of actual and reasonable expenditures for travel or subsistence and allowable entertainment expenses associated with attending an event in New Jersey if expenditures for travel or subsistence and entertainment expenses are not paid for by the State of New Jersey;

2. Reimbursement or payment of actual and reasonable expenditures for travel or subsistence outside New Jersey, not to exceed $ 500.00 per trip, if expenditures for travel or subsistence and entertainment expenses are not paid for by the State of New Jersey. The $ 500.00 per trip limitation shall not apply if the reimbursement or payment is made by:

i. A nonprofit organization of which the State official is, at the time of reimbursement or payment, an active member as a result of the payment of a fee or charge for membership to the organization by the State;

ii. A nonprofit organization that does not contract with the State to provide goods, materials, equipment, or services; or

iii. Any agency of the Federal government, any agency of another state or of two or more states, or any political subdivision of another state.

(d) The requirements and prohibitions in (a) and (b) above shall not apply to a State official, acting in a scholarly capacity, attending, participating in, or making presentations at colloquia, seminars, conferences, or similar scholarly gatherings, so long as the State official notifies his or her department head of his or her attendance, participation or presentation. The direct or indirect benefit provided to the State official, acting in a scholarly capacity, may include the acceptance of reasonable travel and subsistence expenses and allowable entertainment expenses. The State official, acting in a scholarly capacity, may accept an honorarium, academic prize or other thing of value if the honorarium, academic prize or other thing of value reflects payment for orally sharing his or her intellectual property.

(e) If an actual conflict or the appearance of a conflict could arise under the application of (c) or (d) above, (b) above shall govern.

(f) Approvals granted under (c) above must be forwarded to the Commission for review.

(g) The State official may pay his or her own expenses with his or her personal funds.

(h) Except as provided in (d) above, the State official shall not accept an honorarium or fee for a speech or presentation at an event covered by this section.

Examples

An employee of the Department of Environmental Protection has been invited to attend a conference of the Association of Environmental Authorities and has been asked to present a short program to explain a new series of forms being proposed by the Department. The Association has offered to waive the $ 200.00 conference fee; the conference program includes morning and afternoon refreshments and lunch. If the Department head approves the employee's attendance and participation in the conference, the employee may accept the waiver of the fee and the refreshments and meal included in the program. A copy of the Department head's approval must be forwarded to the Commission.

The Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) is considering the purchase of new pollution testing equipment. One of the companies that plans to submit a bid invites several MVC employees to a demonstration of the equipment to be held at a hotel conference center. A seafood buffet will be served after the demonstration. With proper approval, the employees may attend the demonstration, but because the company plans to submit a bid to provide this equipment and is therefore an interested party with respect to the MVC, the employees may not partake of the seafood buffet at the expense of the vendor. The employees may, however, pay the cost of the buffet personally.

Three employees from different units of the Department of Transportation are responsible for weekly monitoring of a construction project. Each Friday morning, they meet with the contractor's representative at the site field office to review the week's progress and to assess projected schedules. The meetings generally last one to two hours; coffee is available, but no other refreshments or meals are served or offered. Because no direct or indirect benefits are offered or provided and because the meetings are part of the employees' job responsibilities, the meetings are not "events" for the purposes of this subchapter.

A professor from a State law school, who has published extensively in the field of Constitutional Law, has been invited, by the publisher of legal textbooks, to attend a symposium and make a presentation on current trends in Constitutional Law. The publisher has offered to waive the costs of the symposium and pay for the professor's transportation, hotel, and meals during the symposium. In addition, each speaker will receive a $ 1,000 honorarium. At the conclusion of the symposium, the publisher has offered to send the professor on a golf retreat to thank the professor for her participation in the symposium. Because the symposium is part of the professor's scholarly activities, she would be attending in her scholarly capacity and the honorarium reflects a payment for an oral presentation of her own intellectual property, the professor may accept the reasonable travel and subsistence expenses and the honorarium. However, the professor may not accept the golf retreat because the retreat is not an allowable entertainment expense.

N.J. Admin. Code § 19:61-6.4

Amended by R.1995 d.329, effective 6/19/1995.
See: 27 N.J.R. 1376(a), 27 N.J.R. 2465(a).
Amended by R.1997 d.88, effective 2/18/1997.
See: 28 N.J.R. 4755(b), 29 N.J.R. 593(a).
In (e), added third Example.
Amended by R.2004 d.390, effective 10/18/2004.
See: 36 N.J.R. 2316(a), 36 N.J.R. 4842(a).
Rewrote (c); added new (d) and (e); recodified existing (d) and (e) as (f) and (g).
Amended by R.2006 d.292, effective 8/21/2006.
See: 38 N.J.R. 1804(a), 38 N.J.R. 3318(a).
In (c)2i, deleted "or" from the end; in (c)2ii, inserted "; or" at the end; added (c)2iii; and in " Examples", substituted "Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC)" for "Division of Motor Vehicles", and "MVC" for "Division" two times.
Amended by R.2007 d.357, effective 11/19/2007.
See: 39 N.J.R. 3286(a), 39 N.J.R. 4951(a).
In the introductory paragraph of (b), inserted "or (d)"; added new (d); recodified former (d) through (g) as (e) through (h); in (e), inserted "or (d)"; in (h), substituted "Except as provided in (d) above, the" for "The"; and in the Examples, added the fourth paragraph.
Amended by R.2012 d.045, effective 2/21/2012.
See: 43 N.J.R. 1515(a), 44 N.J.R. 519(a).
In (a), substituted "his or her supervisor and the agency Ethics Liaison Officer" for "the department head".