PRINTER'S NO. 1659
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
1172
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY AUMENT, RAFFERTY, VOGEL, ARGALL, VULAKOVICH,
FOLMER, MENSCH, BROWNE AND WAGNER, APRIL 1, 2016
REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, APRIL 1, 2016
AN ACT
Establishing standards and procedures for gubernatorial
conflicts of interest.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Gubernatorial
Conflict of Interest Act.
Section 2. Legislative declarations.
The General Assembly declares that:
(1) The office of Governor is a public trust and any
effort to realize personal financial gain through public
office other than compensation provided by law is a violation
of that trust.
(2) To strengthen the faith and confidence of the people
of this Commonwealth in the office of Governor, the people
have a right to be assured that the financial interests of
the Governor do not conflict with the public trust.
(3) Public confidence in government can best be
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sustained by assuring the people of the impartiality and
honesty of the Governor.
Section 3. Legislative intent.
It is the intent of the General Assembly that this act:
(1) Be construed to promote complete disclosure as
specified in this act.
(2) Establish clear guidelines to guide the Governor in
discharging certain official actions of the office of
Governor.
(3) Define as clearly as possible those areas that
represent conflict with the public trust.
Section 4. Gubernatorial conflict of interest.
(a) Disclosure.--In addition to the requirements for ethical
standards and financial disclosure for the Governor under 65
Pa.C.S. Ch. 11 (relating to ethics standards and financial
disclosure), if the Governor has a personal or private interest
in an official action, the Governor shall disclose the interest
in a message to the General Assembly under section 11 of Article
IV of the Constitution of Pennsylvania.
(b) Recusal.--If the Governor has a personal or private
interest in an official action, the Governor may declare under
section 13 of Article IV of the Constitution of Pennsylvania
that a disability exists and therefore that the Governor cannot
discharge the duties of the office of Governor.
(c) Definition.--As used in this act, the term "official
action" means an action that includes:
(1) The approval or veto of a bill under section 15 of
Article IV of the Constitution of Pennsylvania.
(2) The approval or disapproval of an item of a bill
making appropriations of money under section 16 of Article IV
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of the Constitution of Pennsylvania.
(3) The authorization of indebtedness for a project
enumerated in a capital budget.
(4) Expenditure of Federal or State funds by executive
authorization.
Section 5. Lieutenant Governor to act as Governor.
Under the authority of and in accordance with the limitations
of section 13 of Article IV of the Constitution of Pennsylvania,
if the Governor declares that a disability exists under section
4(b), the Lieutenant Governor shall discharge the duties of the
Governor until the disability is removed.
Section 6. Construction of conflict of interest.
This act shall be liberally construed to promote full
disclosure regarding gubernatorial conflicts of interest.
Notwithstanding any limitation under this act, in complying with
this act, the Governor may make a disclosure of a conflict of
interest and may seek recusal whenever the action would promote
complete disclosure.
Section 7. Effective date.
This act shall take effect immediately.
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