|
Advisory opinion regarding employees, officers, directors, owners or others associated with a governmental or private ambulance provider and members of the LAA Board of Directors being appointed to the Statewide Ambulance Service District Board of Commissioners. |
|
During the 2010 Regular Legislative Session, the legislature enacted the First Responder Financial Stabilization and Enhancement Act, which is to enhance reimbursement and financial stability of ambulance providers. The Act also created the Statewide Ambulance Service District ("SASD") governed by a Board of Commissioners. Any licensed provider of ambulance services is eligible to participate in the District, but such participation is strictly voluntary. Public and private ambulance providers may participate in the District. Public providers are those ambulance providers owned by hospital services districts and other public entities. A private provider is a privately owned ambulance provider. In order to participate in either of the two (2) reimbursement pools, an ambulance provider must be affiliated with the SASD. This affiliation is confected through a cooperative endeavor agreement between the private ambulance provider and the SASD, the terms of which are determined by the SASD Board.
The private ambulance providers would incur the burden of transporting indigent and low-income patients in order to free up funds of the public providers. The funds from the public providers would then be transfered to the SASD through an intergovernmental transfer. The SASD would then keep a small fee and transfer the remaining fund to the Department of Health and Hospitals who would use the funds to obtain matching funds from the federal government. All funds are then distributed into two (2) pools for reimbursement back to the public and private ambulance providers.
Pursuant to the enabling legislation, the members and employees of the SASD are considered public employees for the purpose of the Code of Ethics and subject to the Code of Ethics.
The Louisiana Ambulance Alliance ("LAA"), a non-profit corporation, is required to submit a list of nominees to the Governor for appointment to the SASD. LAA seeks to determine whether employees, officers, directors, owners or others associated with a governmental, which is a provider owned by a hospital service district, or private ambulance provider and members of the LAA Board of Directors may be appointed to the SASD without creating a potential ethics issue.
|
|
La. R.S. 42:1112B(3) states that no public servant shall participate in a transaction involving the governmental entity in which, to his actual knowledge, any person of which he is an officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee has a substantial economic interest. La. R.S. 42:1111C(2)(d) prohibits a public servant and a legal entity in which the public servant exercises control or owns an interest from receiving any thing of economic value for services rendered to or for any person during his public service unless such services are neither performed for nor compensated by any person that has or is seeking to have a contractual, business or financial relationship with the public servant's agency or has substantial economic interests which may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the public employee's official duty.
La. R.S. 42:1113B prohibits an appointed member of a board or commission, his immediate family member, or a legal entity in which they have a substantial economic interest, from entering into or being in any way interested in a transaction that is under the supervision or jurisdiction of the board or commission.
La. R.S. 42:1123(1) provides that the Code of Ethics does not prohibit participation in the affairs of charitable, religious, nonprofit educational, public service, or civic organizations.
La. R.S. 42:1124.2.1 requires financial disclosure for each member and designee of a board or commission which has the authority to expend, disburse or invest $10,000 or more of funds in a fiscal year on or before May 15th of each year during which the person holds office and the year following termination of the holding of such office.
|
|
Adopt proposed advisory opinion.
|
|
| Assigned Attorney: |
Tracy Barker |
|
|