STATE OF ALABAMA

ETHICS COMMISSIONMAILING ADDRESS

P.O. BOX 4840

MONTGOMERY, AL

36103-4840

STREET ADDRESS

RSA UNION

100 NORTH UNION STREET

SUITE 104

MONTGOMERY, AL 36104COMMISSIONERS

Braxton L. Kittrell, Jr., Esq., Chair

Josephine M. Venable, Vice-Chair

Anthony Humphries

Michael K. K. Choy, Esq.

Rebekah Elgin-Council

James L. Sumner, Jr.Director

TELEPHONE (334) 242-2997

FAX (334) 242-0248

WEB SITE: www:ethics.alabama.gov

April 6, 2011

ADVISORY OPINION NO. 2011-05

Mr. Billy NorrellExecutive DirectorAlabama Road Builders Association630 Adams AvenueMontgomery, Alabama 36104

Activities Of Road Builders AssociationMembers In Relation To AlabamaDepartment of Transportation (ALDOT)Employees

During the course of a project, a member ofthe Alabama Road Builders Associationmay provide a meal for the AlabamaDepartment of Transportation (ALDOT)personnel to discuss problems or issues thathave arisen during a specific project in aneffort to resolve the problems, as this wouldbe a work session under the Alabama EthicsLaw.

Association members may provide a meal toALDOT personnel in relation to a meetingto discuss future projects, new equipment,materials, proposed construction techniques,etc., as this could be considered a worksession; however, hospitality may not beprovided in conjunction with this meal, ashospitality would not be an integral part'ofthe meeting.

Mr. Billy NorrellAdvisory Opinion No. 2011-05Page two

A golf or fishing outing may be provided toALDOT personnel attending a RoadBuilders Association meeting, when themeeting is held as an educationalopportunity and the overall purpose is toprovide information to ALDOT personneland is not merely a recreational event, andhospitality is an integral part of the overallfunction.

Dear Mr. Norrell:

The Alabama Ethics Commission is in receipt of your request for an Advisory Opinion ofthis Commission, and this opinion is issued pursuant to that request.

QUESTIONS PRESENTED

1) Members of the Association are actively engaged in road building projects acrossthe State of Alabama and therefore interact on a daily basis on and off the jobsitewith public employees of the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT).Frequently, during the course of the job, it is necessary for an Associationmember to meet with ALDOT personnel about problems and/or issues that havearisen during the course of the project. Many of these meetings are conductedover a meal provided by the Association member. The object of the meeting, todiscuss problems and/or issues relating to an ongoing job that both theAssociation member and ALDOT personnel have knowledge of, would appear toqualify as a "work session" at which a public employee or public official could beprovided "hospitality, meals and other food and beverages." Work session is not,however, a defined term under the new Act and the Association respectfullyrequests the Commission to issue an opinion as to whether or not the proposedmeetings under the circumstances identified above would qualify as such.

2) Association members and ALDOT personnel also frequently meet outside thecontext of an ongoing job. An example of such a meeting would be where anAssociation member would invite ALDOT personnel to an Association member'soffice site in order for the Association member to demonstrate or discuss aproposed construction technique, new equipment, or materials the Associationmember would propose to utilize on ALDOT projects. Is it permissible in thecontext of one of these meetings for the Association member to provide a meal,food and beverages for the ALDOT personnel in order to facilitate efficient use of

Mr. Billy NorrellAdvisory Opinion No. 2011-05Page three

both ALDOT and the member's time? Additionally, the Association membermay like to offer the ALDOT personnel hospitality before or at the conclusion ofsuch a meeting such as a golf outing or hunting trip. In addition to providing ameal and beverages, would it also be permissible for an Association member tooffer hospitality to a public official or public employee in the form of a golfouting or hunting excursion?

3) The Association holds several events during the course of the year which providean opportunity for ALDOT personnel and Association members both aneducational opportunity as well as a chance to know one another better. Forinstance, the Association would like to sponsor a two-day event for Associationmembers and invite ALDOT personnel and would anticipate that some of theALDOT personnel attending would be requested to provide on Day 1 apresentation concerning construction activities statewide. The session would befollowed by a buffet dinner that evening. The Association members wouldsponsor golf and/or fishing for attendees, including ALDOT personnel, themorning of Day 2, followed by a lunch and another presentation with aneducational format in which some ALDOT personnel would participate. It isanticipated that the Association members would pay for the cost of the event,including the costs relating to the ALDOT personnel who participate. Is thisevent, as outlined, permissible under the new Act?

FACTS AND ANALYSIS

The facts as have been presented to this Commission are as follows:

The foregoing requests an Advisory Opinion from the Alabama Ethics Commissionrelating to Act No. 2010-764 ("the Act") as it pertains to certain activities, functions and eventsthe members of the Alabama Road Builders Association ("the Association") anticipateconducting on or after March 16,2011, (sic) when the Act becomes effective. The Associationappreciates very much the assistance of the Ethics Commission in trying to understand the Act'snew provisions as the Association endeavors to help its members develop procedures andguidelines in order to comply with the Act.

The Association has three questions for which it requests an Advisory Opinion, all ofwhich appear to be governed by a new exception to the definition of "thing of value," Section36-25-1(33)(b)(14), allowing expenditures on behalf of public officials and public employees asfollows:

Mr. Billy NorrellAdvisory Opinion No. 2011-05Page four

"Hospitality, meals, and other food and beverages provided to a public official or publicemployee, and the spouse of the public official or public employee, as an integral part ofan educational function, economic development function, work session, or widelyattended event, such as a luncheon, banquet, or reception hosted by a civic club, chamberof commerce, charitable or educational organization, or trade or professionalassociation."

The activities in which the members of the Association would like to engage in, ifpermissible, arise in three scenarios as set forth above.

Sections 36-25-1(33)(b)(14) & (16) state:

"b. The term, thing of value, does not include any of the following, provided that noparticular course of action is required as a condition to the receipt thereof:

14. Hospitality, meals, and other food and beverages provided to a public official orpublic employee, and the spouse of the public official or public employee, as an integralpart of an educational function, economic development function,work session, or widelyattended event, such as a luncheon, banquet, or reception hosted by a civic club, chamberof commerce, charitable or educational organization, or trade or professionalassociation."

16. Meals and other food and beverages provided to a public official or public employeein a setting other than any of the above functions not to exceed for a lobbyist twenty-fivedollars ($25) per meal with a limit of one hundred fifty dollars ($150) per year; and not toexceed for a principal fifty dollars ($50) per meal with a limit of two hundred fifty dollars($250) per year. Notwithstanding the lobbyist's limits herein shall not count against theprincipal's limits and likewise, the principal's limits shall not count against the lobbyist'slimits."

Section 36-25-1(12) defines an Education Function as:

"Educational Function. A meeting, event, or activity held within the State of Alabama,or if the function is predominantly attended by participants from other states, held withinthe continental United States, which is organized around a formal program or agenda ofeducational or informational speeches, debates, panel discussions, or other presentationsconcerning matters within the scope of the participants' official duties or other matters ofpublic policy, (including social services and community development policies) economicdevelopment or trade, ethics, government services or programs, or governmentoperations, and which, taking into account the totality of the program or agenda, couldnot reasonably be perceived as a subterfuge for a purely social, recreational, orentertainment function." .

Mr. Billy NorrellAdvisory Opinion No. 2011-05Page five

Question number one raises an issue as to what a "work session" is. For purposes of anillustration, it may be best to set out some examples of what are not work sessions.

A lobbyist taking a Legislative Committee to dinner to work on that lobbyist's bill is nota work session, as the lobbyist has an underlying interest in influencing the action of thecommittee. On the other hand, an attorney taking a Legislative Committee to dinner to assist thecommittee in drafting a bill in which the attorney has no interest other than assisting thecommittee, would be a work session.

In question number one, ALDOT personnel and Road Builders who are working on aproject will have occasion to have to meet to resolve various problems that have arisen duringthe construction project. For them to have a meal and discuss these issues, clearly qualifies as awork session.

Under question number two, it could be considered a work session for an Associationmember to meet with ALDOT personnel to demonstrate construction techniques, equipment,materials, etc. In the context that it would be a work session, likewise, meals and other food andbeverages could be provided as part of that work function.

While exception 14 allows for hospitality, it allows it in the broader sense that it is anintegral part of an educational function, economic development function, work session or widelyattended event. In the context of question number two, taking an ALDOT employee hunting oron a golf outing in relation to this meeting where techniques, materials, etc., have beendiscussed, is not an integral part of an educational function, economical development function,work session or widely attended event, but could be seen merely as a subterfuge for theAssociation member to provide hospitality to a public official/public employee.

Therefore, under question number two, while the meeting is permissible under exception14, as well as exception 16, the hospitality is not permissible under these circumstances.

It should be pointed out that clearly the hospitality has to be an integral part of thefunction. For example, a three-day conference on road building techniques could, as part of thatthree day function, have a hospitality segment, such as a morning golf outing, etc.

This discussion leads well into question number three.

Under the facts set out in question number three, a two-day event that is established foran educational opportunity can include a hospitality aspect. Under question number three, a golfand/or fishing outing is permissible under the concept that it is an integral part of a largerfunction, and could not reasonably be perceived as a subterfuge for a purely social, recreationalor entertainment function.

Mr. Billy NorrellAdvisory Opinion No. 2011-05Page six

CONCLUSION

During the course of a project, a member of the Alabama Road Builders Association mayprovide a meal for the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) personnel to discussproblems or issues that have arisen during a specific project in an effort to resolve the problems,as this would be a work session under the Alabama Ethics Law.

Association members may provide a meal to ALDOT personnel in relation to a meetingto discuss future projects, new equipment, materials, proposed construction techniques, etc., asthis could be considered a work session; however, hospitality may not be provided inconjunction with this meal, as hospitality would not be an integral part of the meeting.

A golf or fishing outing may be provided to ALDOT personnel attending a Road BuildersAssociation meeting, when the meeting is held as an educational opportunity and the overallpurpose is to provide information to ALDOT personnel and is not merely a recreational event,and hospitality is an integral part of the overall function.

AUTHORITY

By 4-0 vote of the Alabama Ethics Commission on April 6, 2011.

Alabama Ethics Commission