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14 Pass It On: Newsl. Gov't & Pub. Sector Law. Div. 1 (2004-2005)

handle is hein.journals/passit14 and id is 1 raw text is: Volume 14, Number 1 I'll'' SLD ublic Sector Lawyers Division THE NEWSLETTER OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION'S GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SECTOR LAWYERS DIVISION The Perils of Partisanship in Public Employment By Scott J. Bloch D uring this election season, public de- bate is at its most partisan level in re- cent memory. The Hatch Act provides lim- its on the kinds of partisan political activity permitted for public employees. If you are an employee of federal, state or local government, what you do not know rI about your obligations under the Hatch Act may cost you your job. The Hatch Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 7321-7326 for federal and District of Columbia em- ployees and 5 U.S.C. §§ 1501-1508 for state and local employees, imposes limits on par- tisan political activities of government workers. The Act is intended to ensure the efficient administration of the laws and to foster public perception of an impartial bu- reaucracy. In order to avoid the appearance of corruption at any level, the Act reaches nearly all federal employees, and all state and local employees who are employed in connection with federal funds. Penalties for violation can be quite serious. The Hatch Act's prohibitions reflect Congress' deter- mination to limit partisanship within the bureaucracy to protect the rights of work- ers and the public. The Hatch Act (the Act) is enforced by the United States Office of Special Counsel (OSC), an independent federal agency. OSC interprets and applies the Act and the regu- lations issued under the Act by the Office of Personnel Management. If an investigation un- covers evidence of a vi- olation of the law war- ranting prosecution, OSC files a written com- plaint for disciplinary action with the Merit Systems Protection Board (Board). Addi- tional information about the details of the Hatch Act is available at OSC's website, www.osc.gov. Violations of the Hatch Act result in seri- ous penalties. In 2001, the Board ordered the removal from employment of a Wash- ington State Department of Social and Health Services worker who had run as a Democrat for the state legislature. She had remained in the race despite warnings that her candidacy violated the Hatch Act. Special Counsel a Ledesma, MSPB Docket No. CB-1216-00-0025-T-1 (2001). Later, an employee of the Federal Aviation Adminis- tration ran for mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Although past mayoral elec- tions had been nonpartisan, the employee's campaign literature made his identification as a conservative Republican a central issue of the race. After receiving warnings from OSC, he reduced the partisanship of his campaign, but remained in the race. The Board in 2003 ordered him suspended without pay for 120 days. Special Counsel u McEntee, MSPB Docket No. CB-1216-02- 007-T-1 (2003). Federal and District of Columbia Employees Nearly all federal executive branch em- ployees are covered by the Hatch Act, as are most District of Columbia government and legislative branch employees. The Hatch Act bars these employees from run- ning as a candidate for any partisan politi- cal office. If any candidate on a ballot runs as a representative of a specific party, the election is considered to be partisan for purposes of the Hatch Act. Employees are barred from using their official authority to influence the result of an election, such as coercing subordinates into making time or money donations to a campaign. Solicitation or acceptance of political contributions is also prohibited, with a narrow exception for solicitation by continued on page 2 WHT' TH DISO Political Activity in the Public Sector Workplace, p. 1 Fall Meeting Info, p. 37-- Career Column, p.4 Recap of ABA Annual Meeting,y p. 5 Division Delegate Report, p. 6 % Job Listings, p. 7 P ASS tIYL Fall 2004

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