North Carolina-2013-S411-Introduced

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2013

S D

SENATE DRS75209-ST-14 (12/31)

Short Title: Ethics Requirements for MPOs/RPOs.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Senators Rabon and Harrington (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to:

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to provide that metropolitan planning organizations and rural transportation planning organizations are subject to ethics provisions of state government, as recommended by the joint legislative transportation oversight committee.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 136‑202(e) is repealed.

SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 136‑200.2 is amended by adding new subsections to read:

"(g) Ethics Provisions. – All individuals with voting authority serving on a metropolitan planning organization board shall do all of the following:

(1) Except as permitted under this subdivision, no MPO member acting in that capacity shall participate in an action if the member knows the member, the member's extended family, or any business with which the member is associated may incur a reasonably foreseeable financial benefit from the matter under consideration, which financial benefit would impair the member's independence of judgment or from which it could reasonably be inferred that the financial benefit would influence the member's participation in the official action. A member may participate in an action of the MPO under any of the following circumstances:

a. When action is ministerial only and does not require the exercise of discretion.

b. When the committee records in its minutes that it cannot obtain a quorum in order to take the action because the member is disqualified from acting, the member may be counted for purposes of a quorum but shall otherwise abstain from taking any further action.

(2) A member shall have an affirmative duty to promptly disclose in writing to the MPO any conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest under subdivision (1) of this subsection. All written disclosures shall be a public record under Chapter 132 of the General Statutes, and attached to the minutes of the meeting in which any discussion or vote was taken by the MPO related to that disclosure.

(3) File a statement of economic interest with the State Ethics Commission in accordance with Article 3 of Chapter 138A of the General Statutes, for which the State Ethics Commission shall prepare a written evaluation relative to conflicts of interest and potential conflicts of interest and provide a copy of that evaluation to the member. All statements of economic interest and all written evaluations by the Commission of those statements are public records as provided in G.S. 138A‑23. The penalties for failure to file shall be as set forth in G.S. 138A‑25(a) and (b).

(4) File with the State Ethics Commission an additional list of all real estate owned wholly or in part by a member's extended family or a business with which the member is associated within the jurisdiction of the MPO on which the member is serving. All additional lists of real estate filed by members are public records under Chapter 132 of the General Statutes.

(h) Confidential Information. – A member of any MPO shall not use or disclose any nonpublic information gained in the course of or by reason of serving as a member of the MPO in a way that would affect a personal financial interest of the member, the member's extended family, or a business with which the member is associated.

(i) Definitions. – For purposes of this section, "extended family" shall have the same meaning as in G.S. 138A‑3(13), "business with which associated" shall have the same meaning as in G.S. 138A‑3(3), and "financial benefit" shall mean a direct pecuniary gain or loss, or a direct pecuniary loss to a business competitor.

(j) Violations. – A violation of subdivision (1) of subsection (g) shall be a Class 1 misdemeanor. A member who knowingly conceals or knowingly fails to disclose information that is required to be disclosed on a required filing under subdivisions (3) or (4) of subsection (g) of this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. A member who provides false information on a required filing under subdivisions (3) or (4) of subsection (g) of this section knowing that the information is false is guilty of a Class H felony."

SECTION 2.(a) G.S. 136‑211(e) is repealed.

SECTION 2.(b) G.S. 136‑211 is amended by adding new subsections to read:

"(f) Ethics Provisions. – All individuals with voting authority serving on a rural transportation planning organization shall do all of the following:

(1) Except as permitted under this subdivision, no rural transportation planning organization member acting in that capacity shall participate in an action if the member knows the member, the member's extended family, or any business with which the member is associated may incur a reasonably foreseeable financial benefit from the matter under consideration, which financial benefit would impair the member's independence of judgment or from which it could reasonably be inferred that the financial benefit would influence the member's participation in the official action.

a. When action is ministerial only and does not require the exercise of discretion.

(2) A member shall have an affirmative duty to promptly disclose in writing to the rural transportation planning organization any conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest under subdivision (1) of this subsection. All written disclosures shall be a public record under Chapter 132 of the General Statutes, and attached to the minutes of the meeting in which any discussion or vote was taken by the rural transporation planning organization related to that disclosure.

(4) File with the State Ethics Commission an additional list of all real estate owned wholly or in part by a member's extended family or a business with which the member is associated within the jurisdiction of the rural transportation planning organization on which the member is serving. All additional lists of real estate filed by members are public records under Chapter 132 of the General Statutes.

(g) Confidential Information. – A member of any rural transportation planning organization shall not use or disclose any nonpublic information gained in the course of or by reason of serving as a member of the rural transportation planning organization in a way that would affect a personal financial interest of the member, the member's extended family, or a business with which the member is associated.

(j) Violations. – A violation of subdivisions (1) of subsection (e) shall be a Class 1 misdemeanor. A member who knowingly conceals or knowingly fails to disclose information that is required to be disclosed on a required filing under subdivisions (3) or (4) of subsection (e) of this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. A member who provides false information on a required filing under subdivisions (3) or (4) of subsection (e) of this section knowing that the information is false is guilty of a Class H felony."

SECTION 3. This act is effective when it becomes law. All individuals with voting authority serving on a metropolitan planning organization or a rural transportation planning organization shall file statements of economic interest and additional real estate lists with the State Ethics Commission no later than April 15, 2013. Any member of a metropolitan planning organization or a rural transportation planning organization that filed a statement of economic interest in compliance with G.S. 136‑202(e) and G.S. 136‑211(e) shall not be required to file again, and the State Ethics Commission shall prepare the evaluation under G.S. 136‑200.2(i) or G.S. 136‑211(h) of that filing.