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Municipal Government Ethics Commission delays training deadline
In response to concerns raised by local officials, the State Ethics Commission has delayed the deadline for municipal employees to complete a new online training program regarding the conflict-of-interest law.
The deadline for the training requirement, contained in the Ethics Reform Act that passed earlier this year, is April 2, 2010.
At a meeting with the MMA’s Policy Committee on Municipal and Regional Administration on Oct. 6, Ethics Commission Director Karen Nober said her agency is working to make the new training requirement as reasonable as possible for municipal employees.
The MMA, meanwhile, is supporting the town of Westborough’s effort to have the new training requirement declared an unfunded local mandate. Westborough argues that cities and towns will be forced to bear substantial costs associated with the training requirement, due in part to collective bargaining agreements that require a four-hour minimum for overtime.
The training requirement is placed on each “municipal employee,” a term the Ethics Commission has construed to include not only full- and part-time city or town employees, with or without compensation, but also those who perform services for a municipality on an intermittent basis under a contract for hire or as a consultant.
The Ethics Commission recently announced that its implementation procedures will exempt from the online training requirements certain municipal employees—volunteers and short-term temporary and seasonal workers—“who do not have or exercise governmental authority and who do not participate in, or have responsibility for, government decision-making, contracting, hiring, investigation or any other discretionary governmental action.”
In addition to the training requirement, the Ethics Reform Act (Chapter 28 of the Acts of 2009) requires the following:
• That municipal clerks supply a summary of the conflict-of-interest law prepared by the Ethics Commission to all employees by Dec. 28, 2009
• That municipalities designate a liaison to the Ethics Commission by Jan. 27, 2010
The Legislature and governor have delayed certain changes to the state’s lobbying statutes to Jan. 1, 2010. The Ethics Reform Act did not change the municipal lobbying law exemption under Chapter 3, Section 50, but the MMA is working with other nonprofit organizations to develop legislative language to ensure that board and committee members are exempt from lobbying requirements.
Municipal Government Ethics Commission delays training deadline
Ethics Commission delays training deadline
In response to concerns raised by local officials, the State Ethics Commission has delayed the deadline for municipal employees to complete a new online training program regarding the conflict-of-interest law.
The deadline for the training requirement, contained in the Ethics Reform Act that passed earlier this year, is April 2, 2010.
At a meeting with the MMA’s Policy Committee on Municipal and Regional Administration on Oct. 6, Ethics Commission Director Karen Nober said her agency is working to make the new training requirement as reasonable as possible for municipal employees.
The MMA, meanwhile, is supporting the town of Westborough’s effort to have the new training requirement declared an unfunded local mandate. Westborough argues that cities and towns will be forced to bear substantial costs associated with the training requirement, due in part to collective bargaining agreements that require a four-hour minimum for overtime.
The training requirement is placed on each “municipal employee,” a term the Ethics Commission has construed to include not only full- and part-time city or town employees, with or without compensation, but also those who perform services for a municipality on an intermittent basis under a contract for hire or as a consultant.
The Ethics Commission recently announced that its implementation procedures will exempt from the online training requirements certain municipal employees—volunteers and short-term temporary and seasonal workers—“who do not have or exercise governmental authority and who do not participate in, or have responsibility for, government decision-making, contracting, hiring, investigation or any other discretionary governmental action.”
In addition to the training requirement, the Ethics Reform Act (Chapter 28 of the Acts of 2009) requires the following:
• That municipal clerks supply a summary of the conflict-of-interest law prepared by the Ethics Commission to all employees by Dec. 28, 2009
• That municipalities designate a liaison to the Ethics Commission by Jan. 27, 2010
The Legislature and governor have delayed certain changes to the state’s lobbying statutes to Jan. 1, 2010. The Ethics Reform Act did not change the municipal lobbying law exemption under Chapter 3, Section 50, but the MMA is working with other nonprofit organizations to develop legislative language to ensure that board and committee members are exempt from lobbying requirements.
