Advisory Opinion 20-01

Date: 09/16/2020
Number: 2020 – No. 1
Requester: Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk, House of Representatives
Topic: Press releases, social media posts, speeches and talking points during election year freeze
Issue/Question: What factors must be considered when determining, during the election year freeze, whether state resources can be used to issue press releases, post material on caucus websites or social media pages, or draft speeches and talking points?
Summary: For press releases and speech and talking points drafting, seven factors must be considered: triggering circumstance, personal nexus, timeliness, proximity to election, relevance, source of initial statement, and tone and tenor. For caucus posts, all factors must be met except personal nexus. Per Board direction, incorrect information was corrected on page 9 of the opinion on January 31, 2024.
Document: ETHICS2020.01 (PDF 701.51 Kilobytes)