The Oklahoma Corporation Commission adopted a “cooling off” period for the second time this year. The rule is that two years after leaving office, an elected state officer or agency head cannot lobby, represent a third party for compensation or use influence on an agency. The Legislature rejected the rules when they were adopted in February.
According to the Ethics Commission, two-thirds of states currently have some kind of cooling off period. The state constitution currently has a two year cooling off period on legislators having contracts with state agencies.
Former state elected officers and agency heads can apply for a waiver to the rule.
The Legislature can still reject this set of rules during the next session. If it doesn’t, they can go into effect once the session is over.
