The Commissioner and Department employees shall not use or authorize the use of Department resources for the purpose of campaigning for or against the nomination or election of a candidate or the qualification, passage, or defeat of a ballot question, except as permitted by Neb. Rev. Stat. 49-14,101.02 and this Policy.  “Department resources” means Department personnel, property, resources, or funds under the official care or control of the Commissioner or a Department Employee.  The Commissioner and Department employees shall not engage in campaign activity for or against the qualification, passage, or defeat of a ballot question or the nomination or election of a candidate while on government work time or when otherwise engaged in official duties.

The Commissioner or a Department employee under his or her direct supervision may respond to specific inquiries by the press or the public as to his or her opinion regarding a ballot question or may provide information in response to a request for information.

The Commissioner and Department employees may, in the normal course of their duties, use public resources to research and prepare materials to assist the Department in determining the effect of a ballot question on the Department.  The Commissioner and Department employees may not do mass mailings, mass duplication, or other mass communications at public expense for the purpose of qualifying, supporting, or opposing a ballot question.  Mass communications shall not include placing public records demonstrating the consequences of the passage or defeat of a ballot question affecting the Department on existing Department web sites.

This Policy does not prohibit the Commissioner or Department employees from identifying themselves by their official titles.

The Commissioner and Department employees are not prohibited from campaigning for or against the qualification, passage, or defeat of a ballot question or the nomination or election of a candidate when no Department resources are used and while not on government work time or when not otherwise engaged in official duties.

The Commissioner and Department employees shall not use or authorize the use of personnel, resources, property, or funds under his or her official care and control other than in accordance with prescribed constitutional, statutory, and regulatory procedures or use such items, other than compensation provided by law, for personal gain.