Gov. Bill Ritter of Colorado and the state’s attorney general, John W. Suthers, are asking state workers not to panic over a new ethics measure that could make the children of public employees ineligible for college scholarships.

In a letter sent on Tuesday to all state employees, the two elected officials said they were “troubled” by reports of government workers’ leaving their jobs rather than jeopardizing their children’s chances at the awards, according to The Coloradoan, a newspaper in Fort Collins, Colo. “We ask for your patience and understanding while work continues to clarify the meaning of Amendment 41,” they wrote.

Constitutional Amendment 41, which was approved overwhelmingly by voters last November, was meant to prevent public officials from accepting gifts or favors, but it also could bar public-university professors from accepting money that comes with a Nobel Prize and block state employees’ children from receiving certain scholarships.

On Friday a state judge ruled, in a lawsuit filed by the Boettcher Foundation, that the Denver-based nonprofit group could grant scholarships to children of government employees because the awards require students to earn good grades and stay in Colorado. Under the amendment, a gift is permitted if it requires future action, or if the recipient provides something in return.