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Ethics board sets primary as cutoff for official social-media posts about filed "millionaire’s tax" initiative; broader change rejected
Summary
The state ethics advisory board debated whether old newsletter guidance lets officials post about a bill now filed as a ballot measure and voted to adopt the primary date as a bright-line cutoff for official posts about such measures, while rejecting a proposal to lift restrictions for members not up for reelection.
The Ethics Advisory Board on Wednesday wrestled with whether decades-old newsletter guidance should apply to single-topic social-media posts now that a major income-tax bill—repeatedly referred to in the meeting as the "millionaire's tax"—has been filed as a ballot initiative. After extended debate the board voted to use the date of the primary as a bright-line cutoff for official social-media outreach about measures on the ballot and agreed to issue a fast ethics alert to advise offices.
Board members and staff reviewed an opinion dating back about 30 years that allows incidental remarks about legislation in multi-topic newsletters. Jeanne, an ethics adviser, told the board that the old rule could be adapted for social media but urged caution: "You could…
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