2007 California Government Code Article 2. Code Of Ethics

CA Codes (gov:8920-8926)

8920.  (a) No Member of the Legislature, state elective or
appointive officer, or judge or justice shall, while serving as such,
have any interest, financial or otherwise, direct or indirect, or
engage in any business or transaction or professional activity, or
incur any obligation of any nature, which is in substantial conflict
with the proper discharge of his duties in the public interest and of
his responsibilities as prescribed in the laws of this state.
   (b) No Member of the Legislature shall do any of the following:
   (1) Accept other employment which he has reason to believe will
either impair his independence of judgment as to his official duties
or require him, or induce him, to disclose confidential information
acquired by him in the course of and by reason of his official
duties.
   (2) Willfully and knowingly disclose, for pecuniary gain, to any
other person, confidential information acquired by him in the course
of and by reason of his  official duties or use any such information
for the purpose of pecuniary gain.
   (3) Accept or agree to accept, or be in partnership with any
person who accepts or agrees to accept, any employment, fee, or other
thing of monetary value, or portion thereof, in consideration of his
appearing, agreeing to appear, or taking any other action on behalf
of another person before any state board or agency.
   This subdivision shall not be construed to prohibit a member who
is an attorney at law from practicing in that capacity before any
court or before the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board and receiving
compensation therefor.  This subdivision shall not act to prohibit a
member from acting as an advocate without compensation or making
inquiry for information on behalf of a constituent before a state
board or agency, or from engaging in activities on behalf of another
which require purely ministerial acts by the board or agency and
which in no way require the board or agency to exercise any
discretion, or from engaging in activities involving a board or
agency which are strictly on his or her own behalf.  The prohibition
contained in this subdivision shall not apply to a partnership or
firm of which the Member of the Legislature is a member if the Member
of the Legislature does not share directly or indirectly in the fee,
less any expenses attributable to that fee, resulting from the
transaction.  The prohibition contained in this subdivision as it
read immediately prior to January 1, 1983, shall not apply in
connection with any matter pending before any state board or agency
on or before January 2, 1967, if the affected Member of the
Legislature was an attorney of record or representative in the matter
prior to January 2, 1967.  The prohibition contained in this
subdivision, as amended and operative on January 1, 1983, shall not
apply to any activity of any Member in connection with a matter
pending before any state board or agency on January 1, 1983, which
was not prohibited by this section prior to that date, if the
affected Member of the Legislature was an attorney of record or
representative in the matter prior to January 1, 1983.
   (4) Receive or agree to receive, directly or indirectly, any
compensation, reward, or gift from any source except the State of
California for any service, advice, assistance or other matter
related to the legislative process, except fees  for speeches or
published works on legislative subjects and except, in connection
therewith, reimbursement of expenses for actual expenditures for
travel and reasonable subsistence for which no payment or
reimbursement is made by the State of California.
   (5) Participate, by voting or any other action, on the floor of
either house, in committee, or elsewhere, in the passage or defeat of
legislation in which he has a personal interest, except as follows:

   (i) If, on the vote for final passage by the house of which he is
a member, of the legislation in which he has a personal interest, he
first files a statement (which shall be entered verbatim on the
journal) stating in substance that he has a personal interest in the
legislation to be voted on and, notwithstanding that interest, he is
able to cast a fair and objective vote on that legislation, he may
cast his vote without violating any provision of this article.
   (ii) If the member believes that, because of his personal
interest, he should abstain from participating in the vote on the
legislation, he shall so advise the presiding officer prior to the
commencement of the vote and shall be excused  from voting on the
legislation without any entry on the journal of the fact of his
personal interest.  In the event a rule of the  house requiring that
each member who is present vote aye or nay is invoked, the presiding
officer shall order the member excused from compliance and shall
order entered on the journal a simple statement that the member was
excused from voting on the legislation pursuant to law.
   The provisions of this section do not apply to persons who are
members of the state civil service as defined in Article VII of the
California Constitution.



8921.  A person subject to this article has an interest which is in
substantial conflict with the proper discharge of his duties in the
public interest and of his responsibilities as prescribed in the laws
of this state or a personal interest, arising from any situation,
within the scope of this article, if he has reason to believe or
expect that he will derive a direct monetary gain or suffer a direct
monetary loss, as the case may be, by reason of his official
activity.  He does not have an interest which is in substantial
conflict with the proper discharge of his duties in the public
interest and of his responsibilities as prescribed in the laws of
this state or a personal interest, arising from any situation, within
the scope of this article, if any benefit or detriment accrues to
him as a member of a business, profession, occupation, or group to no
greater extent than any other member of that business, profession,
occupation, or group.


8922.  A person subject to the provisions of this article shall not
be deemed to be engaged in any activity which is in substantial
conflict with the proper discharge of his duties in the public
interest and of his responsibilities as prescribed in the laws of
this state, or have a personal interest, arising from any situation,
within the scope of this article, solely by reason of any of the
following:
   (a) His relationship to any potential beneficiary of any situation
is one which is defined as a remote interest by Section 1091 or is
otherwise not deemed to be a prohibited interest by Section 1091.1 or
1091.5.
   (b) Receipt of a campaign contribution regulated, received,
reported, and accounted for pursuant to Title 9 (commencing with
Section 81000), so long as the contribution is not made on the
understanding or agreement, in violation of law, that the person's
vote, opinion, judgment, or action will be influenced thereby.



8924.  (a) No employee of either house of the Legislature shall,
during the time he is so employed, commit any act or engage in any
activity prohibited by any provision of this article.  The provisions
of this article and Article 3 (commencing with Section 8940) which
are applicable to a Member of the Legislature are also applicable to
any employee of either house of the Legislature.
   (b) Nothing in this part shall be construed to prohibit an
employee of either house of the Legislature from serving in an
elective or appointive office of any regional or local public agency.




8925.  No person shall induce or seek to induce any Member of the
Legislature to violate any provision of this article.



8926.  Every person who knowingly and willfully violates any
provision of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor.  Every person
who conspires to violate any provision of this article is guilty of a
felony.