S.B. 2216 Summary

• Expands State Ethics Commission advice authority to provide guidance to any person (not just legislators and employees) on whether conduct violates ethics laws, with written summaries available upon request and treated as confidential unless waived by recipient.

• Adds new investigative powers allowing the commission to initiate investigations on its own based on information, indications, or public interest determination, in addition to investigations based on filed charges.

• Extends the statute of limitations for ethics violations from 3 to 6 years for lobbyists and from 6 years (unchanged) for legislators and employees, with proceedings deemed commenced by filing a charge or by three or more commission members signing a charge.

• Increases the timeline for rendering advisory opinions from 30 to 90 days, and adds authority for the commission to issue public general advisory opinions on proper interpretation of ethics laws.

• Adds new requirement for commission to distribute educational materials and conduct training programs for lobbyists on compliance with state lobbying laws and applicable ethics code provisions.