HB 7328 Summary

• Revises the definition of "business with which the person is associated" to clarify that unpaid directors or officers of nonprofit entities are not deemed associated with those entities and expands the definition to include second businesses held by associated entities.

• Redefines "public official" to include the Governor's spouse and clarifies that judicial appointees and advisory board members are excluded from the definition.

• Prohibits public officials and state employees from soliciting or accepting gifts from persons or entities doing business with or regulated by their department/agency, with the major life event exclusion not applying to such gifts.

• Increases the gift threshold from $100 to $500 for gifts between supervisors and subordinates in the same organization during a calendar year.

• Makes technical changes to ethics code language, replacing gendered pronouns with gender-neutral language throughout multiple statutes relating to conflicts of interest and financial disclosures, all effective October 1, 2019.