More and more state governments prohibit the lobbying of former agencies on matters in which the official or employee was personally and substantially involved.
Such restrictions must be defined narrowly so as not to discourage highly qualified professionals from entering government service, infringe on the constitutional rights of present state officials, or prevent the flow of communication and understanding between the public and private sector.
The complexity of the federal “revolving-door” statute is such that the OGE spent more than a decade promulgating regulations. Employees leaving federal service must distinguish between regulations on seeking and negotiating employment and on post-employment. A senior OGE administrator explained in May 2004 that most agencies require senior officials to have exit briefings on ethics, and ethics offices spend more and more time counseling former federal officials.
From the public’s point of view, eliminating the revolving-door problem should be clear-cut. The U.S. political system encourages people to both enter and leave government with the idea that this encourages cross-fertilization and participation. There- fore, the problem is not the revolving door as such but individuals taking illicit advantage of their public positions when they leave the government. The question really is, How do we restrict this activity without preventing people from earning a living after they leave public service?