Gordon Fox Fined $1500 by Ethics Commission

After failing to disclose the income he earned from legal work he performed for the Providence Economic Development Partnership (PEDP), House Speaker Gordon Fox on Tuesday agreed to pay a $1,500 fine.

The R.I. Ethics Commission voted unanimously to approve a settlement with Fox.

All state-appointed and elected officials are required to file annual financial disclosures that detail certain sources of income – including payments from any state or municipal agency.

The PEDP is quasi-public agency within the city’s Department of Planning and Development that administers a federally funded small business loan fund. Because the speaker was paid by the law firm and not by the city he didn’t believe he needed to disclose his income

This is the second time Fox has been forced to pay a fine to the ethics commission. In 2004, when he was the House Majority Leader, he paid $10,000 for voting on legislation related to lottery giant GTECH, which employed Fox’s law firm.

Fox no longer does legal work for the PEDP.