It depends on the details of the case -- I am not familiar with this one. There is Supreme Court precedent for the position that any government "recommendation"

It depends on the details of the case -- I am not familiar with this one. There is Supreme Court precedent for the position that any government "recommendation" that has direct and material financial consequences based on whether that recommendation is followed is de facto coercive and therefore illegal if used to circumvent Constitutional restrictions on the government. The historical context is abusing regulatory or tax power to force acquiescence on an unrelated policy issue that would otherwise be unconstitutional if done directly. The limits of coercion that fall below the threshold of "material" are still not well-defined AFAIK.