Advisory Opinion No. 2004-22

Re: Senator Kevin a. Breene

QUESTION PRESENTED

Legal Counsel for the Senate Minority Office requests an advisory opinion on behalf of the petitioner, Kevin A. Breene, a legislator serving as a State Senator, a state elected position, as to whether he may participate in the Forest Legacy Program in his private capacity as a dairy farmer, given that it is publicly funded by the United States Forest Service and privately funded by The Nature Conservancy and the Coventry Land Trust.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner, a legislator serving as a State Senator, a state elected position, may apply for and receive funding under the Forest Legacy Program, despite the fact that the program is publicly funded by the United States Forest Service and privately funded by The Nature Conservancy and the Coventry Land Trust.

The petitioner informs that he is a state senator representing District 34, which includes Hopkinton, Richmond, Exeter, West Greenwich and Charlestown. In his private capacity, the petitioner is a self-employed, dairy farmer for the Breene Hollow Farm in West Greenwich. He advises that he has applied for funding under the Forest Legacy Program (Program), which is administered by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM). The Program enables owners of forested lands to sell development rights or easements to the state. To qualify for the Program, DEM’s State Forest Stewardship Coordinating Committee first determines if the property meets certain criteria. Thereafter, DEM considers how well the property meets the goals of the Forest Legacy Program. The Program’s primary goal is to prevent the loss of traditional forest values and land uses that result from the conversion of significant forest tracts to non-forest uses, such as commercial or residential development. The petitioner represents that the Program is open to any owner of privately held, forested land of twenty-five (25) acres or more in size in the State’s designated Forest Legacy Areas.

In 2001, the Ethics Commission issued an advisory opinion to the petitioner condoning his application and receipt of funding under the Forest Legacy Program. See A.O. 2001-75. Since the issuance of A.O. 2001-75, none of the relevant facts have changed save one, the Program’s source of funding. In 2001, the petitioner represented that the Forest Legacy Program was funded exclusively by a grant from the United States Forest Service. In his current request for an advisory opinion, the petitioner informs that the Program, in addition to its federal funding, receives private funding from The Nature Conservancy and the Coventry Land Trust.

Because this factual distinction is not dispositive, the Commission’s prior analysis in A.O. 2001-75, also applicable in this instance, remains the same.

Based on the petitioner’s representations, the Commission concludes that no provisions of the Code of Ethics prohibit the petitioner from applying for and receiving funding under the Forest Legacy Program. In the event that the petitioner’s application is granted, and during the pendency of same, the Code of Ethics requires his recusal on any matters involving the Program that appear before him as a legislator. Notice of recusal should be filed with both the State Senate and the Ethics Commission pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-6.

Code Citations:

36-14-6

Related Advisory Opinions:

2001-75

2001-48

2001-5

2000-28

99-83

99-46

99-35

Keywords:

Business Interest

Financial Interest

Grants

Government Loans