Ethics committee discusses guidance on graduation certificates after 15,000 requests in 2025

The Legislative Ethics Committee discussed whether and how legislators may use state resources to provide graduation certificates and related mailings after staff reported thousands of requests in 2025, and it asked staff to draft consistent guidance.

Why it matters: Committee rules and prior advisory opinions shape permissible uses of office funds and state printing resources. The committee’s guidance affects how and when legislators may send certificates or letters that recognize milestones and whether those mailings are a legislative purpose or personal outreach.

What staff reported

Kevin Reeve, committee staff, told members that the office had processed a substantial number of graduation‑certificate requests: “In 2025, there were requests for 15,000 of these that then were distributed.” The packet included sample letters and certificates used across delegations, including “dear graduate” and “dear parent” formats.

Committee concerns

Members raised two core questions: (1) Is sending graduation certificates a legitimate legislative purpose that justifies use of office allowance or print shop resources? and (2) may certificates be mailed to addresses outside a legislator’s district, such as students enrolled in online or out‑of‑district schools?

- Use of funds: Committee materials note that the office allowance policy lists graduation certificates as an authorized use; several members said they regarded high school or college graduation recognition as appropriate, while expressing discomfort with sending mass parent letters for earlier grades. One member suggested assigning bulk or nonessential mailings to a legislator’s office allowance rather than state printing if the scale is large.

- Geographic limits: Members recalled an advisory opinion that restricts distributing outside a legislator’s district. Because online schools and homeschool students complicate address verification, the committee discussed a practical rule suggested by Representative Kevin McCabe and others: require that the person receiving a certificate (or the parent) be a constituent of the legislator sending it—e.g., a registered voter in the legislator’s district—when the constituent relationship is in question.

Operational details

Committee members clarified that the State Print Shop does not currently charge back legislators for production and that postage and envelope choices are limited by print shop constraints. Staff said they will recommend that office allowance funds be used when a legislator chooses to send certificates widely or beyond what the print shop normally provides.

Committee direction and next steps

Members asked staff to draft standard guidance that (a) treats high‑school and higher‑education graduation recognition as an acceptable legislative outreach when recipients are constituents, (b) advises that mass mailings or non‑constituent distribution should be handled through a legislator’s office allowance or otherwise justified, and (c) reminds offices to document constituent residency when questions arise. The committee also indicated it will circulate that guidance to legislators and consider including the graduation‑certificate list in ethics training materials.

Provenance: Staff presented the volume of certificates and sample letters; members then discussed permissible uses of office funds and mailing limits and gave staff direction to draft guidance.