Advisory Opinion No. 2006-25 Advisory Opinion No. 2006-25 Re: The Honorable Richard W. Singleton QUESTION PRESENTED The petitioner, a legislator serving in the Rhode Island House of Representatives, a state elected position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether he may provide insurance brokerage services to a quasi-public state agency. RESPONSE It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner, a legislator serving in the Rhode Island House of Representatives, a state elected position, is prohibited by the Code of Ethics from providing insurance brokerage services to a quasi-public state agency. The petitioner was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives in November 2004. He represents that for the past seven years he has been privately self-employed as an insurance broker specializing in employee benefits. He states that he was recently referred to a quasi-public state agency in Rhode Island that requires insurance brokerage services. If he is permitted to accept this client, the petitioner states that he would provide advice on a wide range of issues and act as an intermediary between the client and the insurance companies to negotiate rates. The petitioner represents that he would not be paid by the client, but that he would receive a commission from whatever insurance company is placed with the client. The Code of Ethics imposes some limitations on the ability of state legislators to obtain state work as an employee or consultant. In particular, Commission Regulation 36-14-5007 reads as follow: No member of the General Assembly shall seek or accept state employment as an employee or consultant, not held at the time of the member's election, while serving in the General Assembly and for a period of one (1) year after leaving legislative office. Commission Regulation 36-14-5007. This provision of the Code has previously been applied to bar a state representative from becoming a part-time instructor at Rhode Island College. A.O. 2001-6. See also A.O. 93-53 (State representative may continue to work as paid consultant for Department of Business Regulation, since such work predated his election). The Code of Ethics expressly includes any "quasi-public authority within Rhode Island" within the definition of "state agency." R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-2(8)(i). Although the Code does not define the term "consultant," we believe that the term would clearly include the giving of advice and provision of brokerage services relating to insurance coverage. This is consistent with the definition of "consultant" found in Title 27 ("Insurance") of the Rhode Island General Laws: "Consultant" means an individual, partnership, or corporation who, for a fee, holds himself or itself out to the public as engaged in the business of offering any advice, counsel, opinion, or service with respect to the benefits, advantages or disadvantages promised under any policy of insurance that could be issued in this state[.] R.I. Gen. Laws § 27-29-2(2). Although the petitioner states that he will be paid by the insurance company rather than the client, we do not believe that the source of the petitioner's fee alters the fact of his consulting relationship with the quasi-public state agency. In his letter, the petitioner refers to the agency repeatedly as his "client," and discusses his role as providing advice to and negotiating on behalf of such client. His fee, paid from whatever source, is the result of his relationship with a quasi-public state agency. Based on all of the above, it is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that Regulation 5007 applies to and prohibits the petitioner's performance of work as an insurance broker with a quasi-public state agency. Code Citations: 36-14-2(8)(i) 36-14-5007 Keywords: Revolving door Prospective employment