In short, there is no fundamental prohibition to a State employee's engaging in these activities. This does not mean, however, that a State employee's political efforts are without restriction. Advisory Opinion No. 97-28 considered the restrictions imposed on a State employee who wished to engage in charitable fundraising in his personal capacity. In that opinion, the Commission distinguished the employee's solicitation of funds from which he would personally receive no benefit from solicitations made for personal gain, which the Commission had prohibited in Advisory Opinion 94-16 . It went on to describe the restrictions imposed in the context of a State employee's soliciting for charitable purposes.
Political solicitation has many of the same characteristics as charitable contributions.
In both circumstances, the individual employee receives no direct personal benefit. However, there is a greater danger in the political context than in the charitable context that fundraising may raise suspicion among the public that the public servant may engage in acts in violation of his trust. Advisory Opinion No. 97-28 provides some guidance in considering the matter of political fundraising. In that opinion, it was determined that the employee, whose State work involved handling specific cases, was barred from soliciting from those business entities or individuals where there were open pending cases in which he was involved.