Advisory Opinion 2025-18
Rhode Island Ethics Commission
Advisory Opinion No. 2025-18
Approved: March 25, 2025
Re: Anthony Tamba
QUESTION PRESENTED:
The Petitioner, an eligibility technician with the Rhode Island Department of Human Services, a state employee position, who in his private capacity owns and operates A & H Tax and Accounting Services LLC, requests an advisory opinion regarding whether he is prohibited by the Code of Ethics from accepting, on behalf of his business, a grant award from Rhode Island Commerce, for which the Petitioner applied prior to his hiring as a state employee.
RESPONSE:
It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, an eligibility technician with the Rhode Island Department of Human Services, a state employee position, who in his private capacity owns and operates A & H Tax and Accounting Services LLC, is not prohibited by the Code of Ethics from accepting, on behalf of his business, a grant award from Rhode Island Commerce, for which the Petitioner applied prior to his hiring as a state employee.
The Petitioner states that he accepted a position as an eligibility technician with the Rhode Island Department of Human Services (DHS) on January 12, 2025. He describes among his current duties the following: determining eligibility, both initial and ongoing, for people applying for or receiving assistance payments for health and human service programs; helping applicants and recipients understand their rights and responsibilities; filling out applications and obtaining support documentation to ensure that accurate and complete information is obtained; informing customers and advocates about basic program, process, and eligibility requirements and status; and processing applications from receipt to benefit issuance or denial in at least one program.
The Petitioner represents that, prior to starting his current position, he had more than 25 years of experience as a professional accountant in the private sector, serving both businesses and individuals.He adds that he also owns a small tax and accounting firm that is registered in Rhode Island and with the Internal Revenue Service under the name A & H Tax and Accounting Services LLC (A & H). The Petitioner states that A & H offers tax preparation, tax planning, and accounting services to individuals and small businesses in Rhode Island. He further states that he continues to work for A & H during the evening and on weekends, outside of his normal work hours for the state, which are between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The Petitioner represents that, on September 18, 2024, in his capacity as the owner of A & H, he applied for a business grant under the RI Minority Business Accelerator Direct Grant Program sponsored by Rhode Island Commerce. He explains that the grant program supports small, minority-owned firms. The Petitioner states that the original deadline for submitting grant applications was September 30, 2024. He further states that the grant administrators informed the grant applicants that it would take approximately 30-60 days to analyze the applications; however, the grant administrators later extended the application deadline. The Petitioner explains that it was not until February 25, 2025, that A & H received an email stating that it had been selected to receive a $10,000 grant award. The Petitioner adds that, before the grant funds are released, he will be required to sign a grant agreement and complete additional paperwork associated with the grant. The Petitioner states that, because he became an employee of the DHS after he applied for the grant, but before being notified by Rhode Island Commerce of the selection of A & H as a grant recipient, he wants to be certain that his acceptance of the grant award would not violate the Code of Ethics. It is under this set of facts that the Petitioner seeks guidance regarding whether he may accept the grant award described above.
A person subject to the Code of Ethics may not participate in any matter in which he has an interest, financial or otherwise, direct or indirect, or engage in any business, employment, 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. R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(a). A substantial conflict of interest occurs if the public official or employee has reason to believe or expect that he, any person within his family, his business associate, or any business by which he is employed or which he represents will derive a direct monetary gain or suffer a direct monetary loss by reason of his official activity. R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-7(a). A public official or employee has reason to believe or expect that a conflict of interest exists when it is “reasonably foreseeable,” meaning that the probability of a conflict of interest is greater than conceivable, but the conflict is not necessarily certain to occur. 520-RICR-00-00-1.1.5 Reasonable Foreseeability (36-14-7001). The Code of Ethics also prohibits a public official or employee from representing himself or any other person before any state or municipal agency of which he is a member, by which he is employed, or for which he has appointing authority. § 36-14-5(e) (1) & (2).
Here, the instant Petitioner seeks an advisory opinion relating to an action that would not be taken in his official capacity as a state employee. The Petitioner would like to accept a grant in his private capacity as the owner and operator of A & H. The grant, though offered through a state agency, is not offered through the state agency by which the Petitioner is now employed. Also, there is nothing in the facts to suggest that DHS was affiliated in any way with the grant program sponsored by Rhode Island Commerce. Further, but for the unanticipated delay by Rhode Island Commerce in announcing that A & H had been selected as a grant recipient, it is likely that the Petitioner would have been awarded, and accepted, the grant before becoming a DHS employee. For all of the foregoing reasons, the above-cited provisions of the Code of Ethics are inapplicable here. Accordingly, it is the opinion of the Ethics Commission that the Petitioner is not prohibited from accepting, on behalf of A & H, the grant award from Rhode Island Commerce for which the Petitioner applied prior to his hiring as a state employee.
This Advisory Opinion is strictly limited to the facts stated herein and relates only to the application of the Rhode Island Code of Ethics. Under the Code of Ethics, advisory opinions are based on the representations made by, or on behalf of, a public official or employee and are not adversarial or investigative proceedings. Finally, this Commission offers no opinion on the effect that any other statute, regulation, ordinance, constitutional provision, charter provision, or canon of professional ethics may have on this situation.
Code Citations:
§ 36-14-5(a)
§ 36-14-5(e)
§ 36-14-7(a)
520-RICR-00-00-1.1.4 Representing Oneself or Others, Defined (36-14-5016)
520-RICR-00-00-1.1.5 Reasonable Foreseeability (36-14-7001)
Keywords:
Appearance of Impropriety
Conflict of Interest