US Legislator Gift Restrictions Overview Resources in United States
US Legislator Gift Restrictions Overview Resources
The Center for Ethics in Government – UPDATED March, 2008
This table is intended to provide general information and does not necessarily address all aspects of this topic. Because the facts of each situation may vary, this information may need to be supplemented by consulting legal advisors. It reflects in summary form statutes in effect as of 12/31/07 or statutes set to take effect shortly thereafter.
Many states place the greatest restrictions on gifts from lobbyists to legislators. In some states, these restrictions take the form of a general prohibition or gift ban. Generally, non-lobbyists are not completely prohibited from giving gifts, but are limited to certain monetary values. Most states also specifically state that no one shall offer and no legislator shall accept any gift or anything of value in return for being influenced in the performance of the legislator’s duties.
Differences exist between what a lobbyist can give a legislator and what a legislator can receive from a lobbyist, the general public, or other outside interests.
State |
Statute |
Gift Limits |
Definitions / Exceptions |
Alabama | 36-25-7 | No person shall offer or give to a public official or member of his household a thing of value for the purpose of influencing official action. No legislator or member of his household shall solicit or receive a thing of value for such purpose. | Thing of value includes:
The term, thing of value, does not include any of the following:
|
Alaska | Sec. 24.60.080 | A legislator or legislative employee may not solicit, accept, or receive, directly or indirectly, a gift worth $250 or more, whether in the form of money, services, a loan, travel, entertainment, hospitality, promise, or other form, or gifts from the same person worth less than $250 that in a calendar year aggregate to $250 or more in value., a legislator or legislative employee may not solicit, accept, or receive a gift with any monetary value from a lobbyist, an immediate family member of a lobbyist, or a person acting on behalf of a lobbyist | Exceptions:
|
Arizona | 41-1232.0238-504 | A principal or lobbyist or any other person acting on behalf of a principal or lobbyist shall not give to any state officer or state employee and a state officer or state employee shall not accept from a principal or lobbyist either of the following:1. Gifts with a total value of more than ten dollars during any calendar year.
2. Gifts that are designed to influence the state officer’s or state employee’s official conduct. A public officer or employee shall not use or attempt to use the officer’s or employee’s official position to secure any valuable thing or valuable benefit for the officer or employee that would not ordinarily accrue to the officer or employee in the performance of the officer’s or employee’s official duties if the thing or benefit is of such character as to manifest a substantial and improper influence on the officer or employee with respect to the officer’s or employee’s duties |
Exceptions:
|
Arkansas | 21-8-801, 21-8-804, 21-8-402 |
No public servant shall receive a gift or compensation as defined in subchapter 4 of this chapter, other than income and benefits from the governmental body to which he or she is duly entitled, for the performance of the duties and responsibilities of his or her office of position.The public official accepting a gift, grant, or donation on behalf of the appropriate entity shall, on a quarterly basis, disclose to the Ethics Commission the information cited in 21-8-804( c ). |
“Gift” means any payment, entertainment, advance, services, or anything of value, unless consideration of equal of greater value has been given therefor. The term “gift” does not include:
|
California | 8620389503 | It shall be unlawful for a lobbyist, or lobbying firm, to make gifts to one person aggregating more than ten dollars ($10) in a calendar month.No elected state officer, elected officer of a local government agency, or other individual specified in Section 87200shall accept gifts from any single source in any calendar year with a total value of more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250). | Payments, advances, or reimbursements for travel and related lodging and subsistence permitted by Section 89506.Wedding gifts and gifts exchanged between individuals on birthdays, holidays, and other similar occasions, provided that the gifts exchanged are not substantially disproportionate in value. |
Colorado | Article XXIX Colorado State Constitution |
Section 3. Gift Ban(1) No… member of the general assembly…shall accept of receive any money, forbearance, or forgiveness of indebtedness from any person, without such person receiving lawful consideration of equal or greater value in return from the…member of the general assembly…who accepted or received the money, forbearance or forgiveness of indebtedness.
(2) No…member of the general assembly, either directly or indirectly as the beneficiary of a gift or thing of value given to such person’s spouse or dependent child, shall solicit, accept or receive any gift or other thing of value having either a fair market value or aggregate actual cost greater than $50 in any calendar year, including but not limited to, gifts, loans, rewards, promises or negotiations of future employment, favors or services, honoraria, travel, entertainment, orspecial discounts, from a person, without the person receiving lawful consideration of equal or greater value in return from the…member of the general assembly who solicited, accepted or received the gift or other thing of value. (4) Notwithstanding any provisions of [section 3] to the contrary, and excepting campaign contributions as defined by law, no professional lobbyist, personally or on behalf of any other person or entity, shall knowingly offer, give, or arrange to give, to any…member of the general assembly…or to a member of such person’s immediate family, any gift or thing of value, of any kind or nature, nor knowingly pay for any meal, beverage or other item to be consumed by such…member of the general assembly…whether or not such gift or meal, beverage or other item to be consumed is offered, given or paid for in the course of such lobbyists’s business or in connection with a personal or social event; provided, however, that a professional lobbyists shall not be prohibited from offering or giving to a…member of the general assembly…who is a member of his or her immediate family any such gift, thing of value, meal, beverage or other item. |
Exceptions: The prohibitions listed in subsections (1) and (2) of Section 3 do not apply if the gift or thing of value is:
|
Connecticut | Sec. 1-84 | No public official or state employee or candidate for public office shall knowingly accept, directly or indirectly, any gift as defined in subsection e of 1-79, from any person the official or employee knows or has reason to know(1) Is doing business with or seeking to do business with the department or agency in which the official or employee is employed or (2) is engaged in activities which are directly regulated by such department or agency. No person shall knowingly give, directly or indirectly, any gift or gifts in violation of this provision. | “Gift” means anything of value that is directly or personally received, unless equal consideration is given in return.Exceptions:
|
Delaware | §29 5806 (b) | No state employee, state officer or honorary state official shall accept a gift, payment of expenses or any other thing of monetary value under circumstances in which such acceptance may result in any of the following: (1) Impairment of independence of judgment in the exercise of official duties; (2) An undertaking to give preferential treatment to any person; (3) The making of a governmental decision outside official channels; or (4) Any adverse effect on the confidence of the public in the integrity of the government of the State. |
“Gift” shall not include a political contribution otherwise reported as required by law, a commercially reasonable loan made in the ordinary course of business, or a gift received from a spouse or any relative within the 3rd degree of consanguinity of the person or person’s spouse or from the spouse of any such relative. |
Florida | 112.313 (2)
Note: 11.045 (4a) Notwithstanding s. 112.3148, s.112.3149, or any other provision of law to the contrary, no lobbyist or principal shall make, directly or indirectly, and no member or employee of the Legislature shall knowingly accept, directly or indirectly, any expenditure, except floral arrangements or other celebratory items given to legislators and displayed in chambers the opening day of a regular session. |
No public officer, employee of an agency, local government attorney, or candidate for nomination or election shall solicit or accept anything of value to the recipient, including a gift, loan, reward, promise of future employment, favor, or service, based upon any understanding that the vote, official action, or judgment of the public officer, employee, local government attorney, or candidate would be influenced thereby. | Exceptions:
Exceptions:
|
Georgia | 21-5-1121-5-3 (14) | No public officer other than a public officer elected state wide shall accept a monetary fee or honorarium in excess of $101.00 for a speaking engagement, participation in a seminar, discussion panel, or other activity which directly relates to the official duties of that public officer or the office of that public officer. | “Gift” means any gratuitous transfer to a public officer, or any member of the family of the public officer or a loan of property or services which is not a contribution as defined in paragraph (7) of this Code section and which is in the amount of $101.00 or more.Gift does not include:
|
Hawaii | §84-11 §84-11.5 |
No legislator or employee shall solicit, accept, or receive, directly or indirectly, any gift, whether in the form of money, service, loan, travel, entertainment, hospitality, thing, or promise, or in any other form, under circumstances in which it can reasonably be inferred that the gift is intended to influence the legislator or employee in the performance of the legislator’s or employee’s official duties or is intended as a reward for any official action on the legislator’s or employee’s part. | Exceptions to gift reporting statute:
|
Idaho | 18-1356 (4) | No legislator or public servant employed by the legislature or by any committee or agency thereof shall solicit, acceptor agree to accept any pecuniary benefit in return for action on a bill, legislation, proceeding or official transaction from any person known to be interested in a bill, legislation, official transaction or proceeding, pending or contemplated before the legislature or any committee or agency thereof. | Exceptions:
|
Illinois | 5 ILCS 425/10 Sec. 10. | Except as otherwise provided in this Act, no member, officer, or state employee shall intentionally solicit or accept any gift from any prohibited source or in violation of any federal or State statute, rule, or regulation. This ban applies to and includes spouses of and immediate family living with the member, officer, employee, or judge. No prohibited source shall offer or make a gift that violates this Section.A prohibited source is anyone who: is seeking official action, does business or is seeking to do business with the member, conducts activities regulated by the member, has interests that may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the member’s official duties, is a registered lobbyist. | Exceptions:
|
Indiana | IC 4-2-6 | Indiana legislators are not subject to the state ethics law. | |
Iowa | 68B.22 | A public official, public employee, or candidate, or that person’s immediate family member shall not, directly or indirectly, accept or receive any gift or series of gifts from a restricted donor. A public official, public employee, candidate, or the person’s immediate family member shall not solicit any gift or series of gifts from a restricted donor at any time. | Exceptions:
|
Kansas | 46-237. | No state officer or employee, candidate for state office or state officer elect shall accept, or agree to accept any economic opportunity, gift, loan, gratuity, special discount, favor, hospitality, or service having an aggregate value of $40 or more in any calendar year from any one person known to have a special interest, under circumstances where such person knows or should know that a major purpose of the donor is to influence such person in the performance of their official duties or prospective official duties. | Exceptions:
|
Kentucky | 6.6116.751 | A legislator or his spouse shall not solicit, accept, or agree to accept anything of value from a legislative agent or an employer. | Exceptions:
|
Louisiana | 15-1115.15-1123 | No public servant shall solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any thing of economic value as a gift or gratuity from any person or from any officer, director, agent, or employee of such person, if such public servant knows or reasonably should know that such person:(1) Has or is seeking to obtain contractual or other business or financial relationships with the public servant’s agency, or
(2) Is seeking, for compensation, to influence the passage or defeat of legislation by the public servant’s agency. |
This Part shall not preclude:The acceptance by a legislator of anything of economic value as a gift or gratuity from any person when the value of such gift does not exceed one hundred dollars per event, up to an aggregate amount of five hundred dollars in a calendar year from any person, and when the nature of the gift is limited to a cultural or sporting event within the boundaries of this state including the territorial waters thereof, including the entertainment reasonably incident thereto. These provisions shall also be applicable to legislators who are on official state business outside of the boundaries of this state as long as said legislators are entitled to per diem for such official business. |
Maine | 25-101225-1014 | A conflict of interest shall include the following:B. Where a Legislator or a member of his immediate family accepts gifts, other than campaign contributions duly recorded as required by law, from persons affected by legislation or who have an interest in a business affected by proposed legislation, where it is known or reasonably should be known that the purpose of the donor in making the gift is to influence the Legislator in the performance of his official duties or vote, or is intended as a reward for action on his part. [ | “Gift” means anything of value, including forgiveness of an obligation or debt, given to a person without that person providing equal or greater consideration to the giver.”Gift” does not include:
|
Maryland | 15-505. | (a) (1) An official or employee may not solicit any gift.(2) A regulated lobbyist described in subsection (b)(4) of this section may not knowingly make a gift, directly or indirectly, to an official or employee that the regulated lobbyist knows or has reason to know is in violation of this section.
(3) An official may not directly solicit or facilitate the solicitation of a gift, on behalf of another person, from an individual regulated lobbyist described in § 15-701(a)(1) of this title. (b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, an official or employee may not knowingly accept a gift, directly or indirectly, from an entity that the official or employee knows or has reason to know: (1) does or seeks to do any business of any kind, regardless of amount, with the official’s or employee’s governmental unit; (2) engages in an activity that is regulated or controlled by the official’s or employee’s governmental unit; (3) has a financial interest that may be affected substantially and materially, in a manner distinguishable from the public generally, by the performance or nonperformance of the official’s or employee’s official duties; or (4) is a regulated lobbyist with respect to matters within the jurisdiction of the official or employee. |
Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, an official or employee may accept a gift specified in paragraph (2) of this subsection unless:(i) the gift would tend to impair the impartiality and independent judgment of the official or employee; or
(ii) as to a gift of significant value: 1. the gift would give the appearance of impairing the impartiality and independent judgment of the official or employee; or 2. The official or employee believes or has reason to believe that the gift is designed to impair the impartiality and independent judgment of the official or employee. (2) Subject to paragraph (1) of this subsection, subsection (b) of this section does not apply to: (i) 1. except for officials of the Legislative Branch, meals or beverages received and consumed by the official or employee in the presence of the donor or sponsoring entity; 2. for officials of the Legislative Branch, food or beverages received and consumed by the official in the presence of the donor or sponsoring entity as part of a meal or reception, to which were invited all members of a legislative unit; 3. for a member of the General Assembly, food or beverages received from a donor or sponsoring entity, other than an individual regulated lobbyist described in § 15-701(a)(1) of this title, during a period when the General Assembly is not in session, at a location that is within a county that contains the member’s district, provided that the donor or sponsoring entity is located within a county that contains the member’s district; or 4. for a member of the General Assembly, food or beverages received at the time and geographic location of a meeting of a legislative organization for which the member’s presiding officer has approved the member’s attendance at State expense; (ii) ceremonial gifts or awards of insignificant monetary value; (iii) except for a State official of the Executive or Legislative Branch, unsolicited gifts of nominal value; (iv) as to a State official of the Executive or Legislative Branch, unsolicited gifts that are not meals or alcoholic beverages and that do not exceed $20 in cost, from a regulated lobbyist; (v) trivial gifts of informational value; (vi) in return for participation on a panel or a speaking engagement at a meeting, reasonable expenses for food, travel, lodging, or scheduled entertainment of the official or employee if the expenses are associated with the meeting, except that, if such expenses for a State official of the Legislative or Executive Branch are to be paid by a regulated lobbyist and are anticipated to exceed $500, the official shall notify the appropriate advisory body before attending the meeting; (vii) as to a member of the General Assembly, reasonable expenses for food, travel, lodging, or scheduled entertainment to attend a legislative conference that has been approved by the member’s presiding officer; (viii) tickets or free admission extended to an elected constitutional officer from the person sponsoring or conducting the event, as a courtesy or ceremony to the office, to attend a charitable, cultural, or political event; (ix) a specific gift or class of gifts exempted from subsection (b) of this section by the Ethics Commission upon a written finding that: 1. acceptance of the gift or class of gifts would not be detrimental to the impartial conduct of government; and 2. the gift is purely personal and private in nature; (x) a gift from: 1. an individual related to the official or employee by blood or marriage; or 2. any other individual who is a member of the household of the official or employee; or (xi) to the extent provided in subsection (d) of this section, honoraria. |
Massachusetts | Chapter 3 Sec. 43 Chapter 268B Chapter 268B: Section 1 |
Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, no executive or legislative agent shall knowingly offer or knowingly give to any public official or public employee, as defined in section one of chapter two hundred and sixty-eight B, or to a member of such person’s immediate family any gift, as defined in said section one of said chapter two hundred and sixty-eight B, of any kind or nature, nor knowingly pay for any meal, beverage, or other item to be consumed by such public official or employee, whether or not such gift or meal, beverage or other item to be consumed is offered, given or paid for in the course of such agent’s business or in connection with a personal or social event; provided, however, that an executive or legislative agent shall not be prohibited from offering or giving to a public official or public employee who is a member of his immediate family or a relative within the third degree of consanguinity or of such agent’s spouse or the spouse of any such relative any such gift or meal, beverage or other item to be consumed. No legislative agent shall knowingly and willfully offer or give to a public official or public employee or a member of such person’s immediate family, and no public official or public employee or member of such person’s immediate family shall knowingly and willfully solicit or accept from any legislative agent, gifts with an aggregate value of one hundred dollars or more in a calendar year. Note: The Ethics Commission, upheld by caselaw, has set a limit of $50. |
“Gift” means a payment, entertainment, subscription, advance, services or anything of value, unless consideration of equal or greater value is received; “Gift” shall not include:
|
Michigan | 15-3424.414 | A public officer or employee shall not solicit or accept a gift or loan of money, goods, services, or other thing of value for the benefit of a person or organization, other than the state, which tends to influence the manner in which the public officer or employee or another public officer or employee performs official duties. | “Gift” means a payment, advance, forbearance, or the rendering or deposit of money, services, or anything of value, the value of which exceeds $25.00 in any 1-month period, unless consideration of equal or greater value is received therefor.Gift does not include:
|
Minnesota | 10A.071 Subd. 2. |
A lobbyist or principal may not give a gift or request another to give a gift to an official. An official may not accept a gift from a lobbyist or principal. | Exceptions:
The prohibitions in this section do not apply if the gift is given:
|
Mississippi | 25-4-101. | No public servant shall use his official position to obtain pecuniary benefit for himself other than that compensation provided for by law, or to obtain pecuniary benefit for any relative or any business with which he is associated. | “Anything of value” means:
“Anything of value” does not mean:
|
Missouri | 105.452105.470. | No elected or appointed official or employee of the state or any political subdivision thereof shall:Act or refrain from acting in any capacity in which he is lawfully empowered to act as such an official or employee by reason of any payment, offer to pay, promise to pay, or receipt of anything of actual pecuniary value paid or payable, or received or receivable, to himself or any third person, including any gift or campaign contribution, made or received in relationship to or as a condition of the performance of an official act, other than compensation to be paid by the state or political subdivision | “Expenditure” means:
“Expenditure” shall not include the following:
|
Montana | 2-2-104.2-2-102 | A public officer, legislator, or public employee may not: accept a gift of substantial value or a substantial economic benefit tantamount to a gift: (i) that would tend improperly to influence a reasonable person in the person’s position to depart from the faithful and impartial discharge of the person’s public duties; or (ii) that the person knows or that a reasonable person in that position should know under the circumstances is primarily for the purpose of rewarding the person for official action taken. |
“Gift of substantial value” means a gift with a value of $50 or more for an individual.The term does not include:
|
Nebraska | 49-149049-1423 (definitions) | (1) No principal, lobbyist, or person acting on behalf of either shall within one calendar month give any gifts with an aggregate value of more than fifty dollars to the following: (a) An official or a member of the official’s staff in the executive branch of state government; (b) An official or a member of the official’s staff in the legislative branch of state government; or (c) A member of the immediate family of an official in the executive or legislative branch of state government.2) No executive or legislative official shall accept gifts worth more than $50 in one calendar month | Gift shall mean a payment, subscription, advance, forbearance, rendering, or deposit of money, services, or anything of value, unless consideration of equal or greater value is given therefor.Gift shall not include:
|
Nevada | 281.481218.942
218.908 |
A public officer or employee shall not seek or accept any gift, service, favor, employment, engagement, emolument or economic opportunity which would tend improperly to influence a reasonable person in his position to depart from the faithful and impartial discharge of his public duties.A member of the legislative branch or a member of his staff or immediate family shall not solicit anything of value from a registrant or accept any gift that exceeds $100 in aggregate value in any calendar year. | “Gift” means a payment, subscription, advance, forbearance, rendering or deposit of money, services or anything of value unless consideration of equal or greater value is received.”Gift” does not include:
|
New Hampshire | Legislative Ethics Guidelines and Procedural RulesThe above publication is published by the Legislative Ethics Committee, which, under Chapter 105 of the New Hampshire Laws of 1991, has the authority to develop ethical standards for members, officers, and employees of the New Hampshire General Court. | I. Legislators shall not solicit, accept, or agree to accept anything of value from another for themselves or other persons, if the legislator receives such thing of value:(a) Knowing or believing the other’s purpose to be the influencing of an action, decision, opinion, recommendation, or other official activity.
(b) Knowing or believing that the giver is or is likely to become subject to or interested in any matter or action pending before or contemplated by the giver or another member of the legislature. (c) In return for advice or other assistance relating to a legislator’s official activities. (d) In return for introducing legislation, testifying before any legislative committee or state agency, voting in committee or in House or Senate session, or otherwise participating in, influencing, or attempting to influence any decision of the legislature, county delegation or any state agency. (e) In return for an endorsement, nomination, appointment, approval or disapproval of any person for a position as, or advancement of, a public servant. (f) In return for having given a decision, opinion, recommendation, nomination, vote, or other official activity. …III. Legislators shall not use their public position or office to obtain anything of value for the private benefit of the legislator or the legislator’s immediate family. VI. Nothing in this section on prohibited activities should be construed to prohibit the following: (e) Acceptance of awards, prizes or other honors of a minimal value. (f) Acceptance of anything of value the receipt of which would otherwise be a violation of this section where the value is less than $250.00 in aggregate from any single source during any calendar year. |
“Anything Of Value” includes but is not limited to the following:
|
New Jersey | 52:13D-24.19:44A | No member of the legislature may accept, directly or indirectly, any compensation, reward, employment, gift, honorarium or other thing of value from each lobbyist or legislative agent as defined in 52:13C-18, totalling more than $250 in a calendar year. This does not apply if the lobbyist is a member of the legislator’s immediate family. This section applies to members of the legislator’s household. | “Gift” means any money or thing of value received other than as income, and for which a consideration of equal or greater value is not received, but does not include any political contribution reported as otherwise required by law, any loan made in the ordinary course of business, or any devise, bequest, intestate estate distribution or principal distribution of a trust or gift received from a member of a person’s household or from a relative within the third degree of consanguinity of the person or his spouse, or from the spouse of that relative;Exceptions:
Section doesn’t apply if the legislator makes a full reimbursement to the giver within 90 days. |
New Mexico | 10-16-310-16B-1, et seq. | No legislator, public officer or employee may request or receive, and no person may offer a legislator, public officer or employee, any money, thing of value or promise thereof that is conditioned upon or given in exchange for promised performance of an official act. Any person who knowingly and willfully violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a fourth degree felony.A gift is any donation or transfer without commensurate consideration of money, property, service, loan or anything of value including food, lodging, transportation and tickets to events. Gift does not include any activity authorized by the Campaign Reporting Act of the Federal Election Campaign Act; a gift clearly motivated by a family or close personal relationship; compensation for services rendered; payment for sale or lease of property; commercially reasonable loan; reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses for service to person making reimbursement; a gift accepted on behalf of and to be used by the state or political subdivision; reasonable expenses for an educational program directly related to official duties or a retirement gift. Defines restricted donor. A state officer or employee may not accept a gift from a restricted donor that exceeds $250. A lobbyist shall not donate gifts of an aggregate value over $1,000 to any one official or candidate. A violation is a petty misdemeanor. | Exceptions:
|
New York | S 73. Article 1 A-1-c. (j) |
5. No statewide elected official, state officer or employee, member of the legislature or legislative employee shall, directly or indirectly, solicit, accept or receive any gift having more than a nominal value whether in the form of money, service, loan, travel, entertainment, hospitality, thing or promise, or in any other form, under circumstances in which it could reasonably be inferred that the gift was intended to influence him, or could reasonably be expected to influence him, in the performance of his official duties or was intended as a reward for any official action on his part. No person shall, directly or indirectly, offer or make any such gift to a statewide elected official, or any state officer or employee, member of the legislature or legislative employee under such circumstances. Sets out penalties. | The term “gift” shall mean anything of more than nominal value given to a public official including, but not limited to, money, service, loan, travel, lodging, meals, beverages, entertainment or promise having monetary value.The following are excluded from the definition of a gift:
|
North Carolina | G.S. 138A-32 | (a) A covered person or a legislative employee shall not knowingly, directly or indirectly, ask, accept, demand, exact, solicit, seek, assign, receive, or agree to receive anything of value for the covered person or legislative employee, or for another person, in return for being influenced in the discharge of the covered person’s or legislative employee’s official responsibilities, other than that which is received by the covered person or the legislative employee from the State for acting in the covered person’s or legislative employee’s official capacity. (b) A covered person may not solicit for a charitable purpose any gift from any subordinate state employee. [There are specified exceptions.] (c) No public servant, legislator, or legislative employee shall knowingly accept a gift, directly or indirectly, from a lobbyist or lobbyist principal. | G.S. 138A-3(15) defines gifts as “anything of monetary value given or received without valuable consideration” by or from a lobbyist, a lobbyist principal, or certain persons doing business with a public servant’s employer. There is no de minimis exception to the definition of gift. However, the definition specifically excludes the following:• Items for which the recipient paid full value
• Loans made on the same terms as are available to the general public • Contracts or commercial relationships in the normal course of business and not for lobbying purposes • Certain academic or athletic scholarships • Campaign contributions that otherwise comply with state law Also, G.S. 138A-32(e) exempts the following gifts from the gift ban (the exemptions do not apply if a gift is a quid pro quo gift): • Food and beverage for immediate consumption at public events. Public events are defined differently for legislators and legislative employees than for public servants. • Food, beverages, registration fees, travel expenses, and entertainment received by a covered person or legislative employee for attendance at certain educational meetings or meetings of legislative organizations if (1) the expenditures are made by a lobbyist’s principal; (2) the food, beverages, and entertainment are provided to all attendees or a defined group of at least ten attendees; and (3) the entertainment is incidental to the primary purpose of the meeting. • A plaque or similar “nonmonetary memento” recognizing individual services in a field or specialty or to a charitable cause. • Gifts accepted on behalf of the state and for the state’s benefit. • Anything generally made available to the general public or all other state employees by lobbyists or lobbyists’ principals. • Gifts from extended family or members of the same household. • Gifts given to a public servant that are associated with industry recruitment or the promotion of international trade or tourism, if the gifts are reported electronically to the Ethics Commission within a specified time period and tangible gifts are given to the Department of Commerce. • Certain gifts under $100 in value that are given to a public servant while on a trade mission in another country. |
North Dakota | 54-05.1-05(1)(2) | (1) When any lobbyist invites a legislator to attend a function sponsored in whole or part by the lobbyist or the principal, the lobbyist shall, upon the request of the legislator, supply the legisltor with the true or estimated cost of the gratuity and allow the legislator to attend the function and pay the legislator’s own share of the expenses.(2) When any lobbyist offers a gift of a non-information-bearing nature to a legislator, a lobbyist shall, upon the request of the legislator, supply the legislator with the true or estimated cost of the gratuity and allow the legislator to pay the cost of and receive the gift. | |
Ohio | 102.03102.031 | No public official or employee shall solicit or accept anything of value that is of such a character as to manifest a substantial and improper influence upon the public official or employee with respect to that person’s duties.No person shall promise or give to a public official or employee anything of value that is of such a character as to manifest a substantial and improper influence upon the public official or employee with respect to that person’s duties. | No member of the general assembly shall knowingly accept any of the following from a legislative agent:
“Gift” does not include any contribution or any gifts of meals and other food and beverages or the payment of expenses incurred for travel to destinations either inside or outside this state that is received by the member of the general assembly and that is incurred in connection with the member’s official duties. It is not a violation of division (C)(2) of this section if, within sixty days after receiving notice from a legislative agent that the legislative agent has provided a member of the general assembly with more than seventy-five dollars aggregated in a calendar year as payment for meals and other food and beverages, the member of the general assembly returns to that legislative agent the amount received that exceeds seventy-five dollars. |
Oklahoma | 257:20-1-9257:1-1-2. | Influence of official act, fraud or official duty. No state officer and no state employee shall, directly or indirectly, ask, demand, exact, solicit, seek, accept, assign, receive, or agree to receive anything of value for the state officer or employee or for any other person or entity, in return for being:
influenced in the performance of an official act; influenced to commit, aid in committing, collude in, or allow fraud, or make an opportunity for the commission of fraud on a governmental entity; or Induced to perform or fail to perform an act in violation of the state officer’s or state employee’s official duty. (b) Calendar year limits on things of value. No state officer, state employee, or an immediate family member of a state officer or state employee shall, directly or indirectly, ask, demand, exact, solicit, seek, accept, assign, receive, or agree to receive things of value in a calendar year which, in the aggregate, are valued at more than three hundred dollars ($300) from a person who the state officer or state employee knows or should know: is a lobbyist or lobbyist principal, provided that the following shall not be subject to this subsection: (A) things of value received as a result of or arising out of employment by, or doing business with, a lobbyist or lobbyist principal; and (B) things of value received from any director, stockholder, partner, agent, affiliate, member, employee or officer of a lobbyist principal as a result of a personal or casual relationship with the recipient; is seeking to do business or doing business with the governmental entity of which the state officer’s or state employee’s office or employment is a part; or (3) Has a substantial financial interest in actions or matters before or affecting the governmental entity of which the state officer’s or state employee’s office or employment is a part. (c) Prohibition versus limit–Exception. Nothing in Subsection (b) shall allow a state officer or state employee to accept anything of value in violation of Subsection (a) of this section. Subsection (b) shall not apply to public members when things of value are received but are not given as a result of the public member’s status as a public member. |
“Anything of value”, “Thing of value” or “Things of value”
These terms, to the extent that consideration of equal or greater value is not received, include the following:
These terms do not include:
|
Oregon | 244.040244.020 | (2) No public official or candidate for office or a relative of the public official or candidate shall solicit or receive, whether directly or indirectly, during any calendar year, any gift or gifts with an aggregate value in excess of $100 from any single source who could reasonably be known to have a legislative or administrative interest in any governmental agency in which the official has or the candidate if elected would have any official position or over which the official exercises or the candidate if elected would exercise any authority.(5) No person shall offer during any calendar year any gifts with an aggregate value in excess of $100 to any public official or candidate therefor or a relative of the public official or candidate if the person has a legislative or administrative interest in a governmental agency in which the official has or the candidate if elected would have any official position or over which the official exercises or the candidate if elected would exercise any authority. | “Gift” means something of economic value given to a public official or the public official’s relative without valuable consideration of equivalent value, including the full or partial forgiveness of indebtedness, which is not extended to others who are not public officials or the relatives of public officials on the same terms and conditions; and something of economic value given to a public official or the public official’s relative for valuable consideration less than that required from others who are not public officials.”Gift” does not mean:
|
Pennsylvania | Title 65 Sec. 1103 | (b) No person shall offer or give to a public official, public employee, or nominee or candidate for public office or a member of his immediate family or a business with which he is associated, anything of monetary value, including a gift, loan, political contribution, reward or promise of future employment based on the offeror’s or donor’s understanding that the vote, official action, or judgement of the public official or public employee or nominee or candidate for public office would be influenced thereby.(c) No public official, public employee or nominee or candidate for public office shall solicit or accept anything of monetary value, including a gift, loan, political contribution, reward, or promise of future employment based on any understanding of that public official, public employee or nominee that the vote, official action, or judgement of the public official or public employee or nominee or candidate for public office would be influenced thereby. | “Gift”. Anything which is received without consideration of equal or greater value. The term shall not include a political contribution otherwise reported as required by law or a commercially reasonable loan made in the ordinary course of business. |
Rhode Island | 36-14-536-14-17 | (g) No person subject to this code of ethics, or spouse (if not estranged), dependent child, or business associate of the person, or any business by which the person is employed or which the person represents, shall solicit or accept any gift, loan, political contribution, reward, or promise of future employment based on any understanding that the vote, official action, or judgment of the person would be influenced thereby.(i) No person shall give or offer to any person covered by this code of ethics, or to any candidate for public office, or to any person within his or her family or business associate of any person, or to any business by which the person is employed or which the person represents, any gift, loan, political contribution, reward, or promise of future employment based on any understanding or expectation that the vote, official action, or judgment of the person would be influenced thereby. | Note: By regulation of the State Ethics Commission, all public officials are prohibited from accepting any gift worth more than $25 from a lobbyist. |
South Carolina | 8-13-7058-13-100 | (A) A person may not, directly or indirectly, give, offer, or promise anything of value to a public official, public member, or public employee with the intent to:(1) influence the discharge of a public official’s, public member’s, or public employee’s official responsibilities;
(2) influence a public official, public member, or public employee to commit, aid in committing, collude in, or allow fraud on a governmental entity; or (3) Induce a public official, public member, or public employee to perform or fail to perform an act in violation of the public official’s, public member’s, or public employee’s official responsibilities. (B) A public official, public member, or public employee may not, directly or indirectly, knowingly ask, demand, exact, solicit, seek, accept, assign, receive, or agree to receive anything of value for himself or for another person in return for being: (1) influenced in the discharge of his official responsibilities; (2) influenced to commit, aid in committing, collude in, allow fraud, or make an opportunity for the commission of fraud on a governmental entity; or (3) Induced to perform or fail to perform an act in violation of his official responsibilities. |
“Anything of value” or “thing of value” means:
“Anything of value” or “thing of value” does not mean:
“Gift” means anything of value, including entertainment, food, beverage, travel, and lodging given or paid to a public official, public member, or public employee to the extent that consideration of equal or greater value is not received. A gift includes a rebate or discount on the price of anything of value unless it is made in the ordinary course of business without regard to that person’s status. A gift does not include campaign contributions accepted pursuant to this chapter *Of special note: 8-13-710 (B) A public official, public member, or public employee required to file a statement of economic interests under Section 8-13-1110 who receives, accepts, or takes, directly or indirectly, from a person, anything of value worth twenty-five dollars or more in a day and anything of value worth two hundred dollars or more in the aggregate in a calendar year must report on his statement of economic interests pursuant to Section 8-13-1120 the thing of value from: (1) a person, if there is reason to believe the donor would not give the thing of value but for the public official’s public member’s, or public employee’s office or position; (2) a person, or from an officer or director of a person, if the public official, public member, or public employee has reason to believe the person: (a) has or is seeking to obtain contractual or other business or financial relationships with the public official’s, public member’s, or public employee’s governmental entity; (b) Conducts operations or activities which are regulated by the public official’s, public member’s, or public employee’s governmental entity. (C) Nothing in this section requires a public official, public member, or public employee to report a gift from a parent, grandparent, or relative to a child, grandchild, or other immediate family member for love and affection. |
South Dakota | No restrictions. | ||
Tennessee | 3-6-301(11)3-6-304
3-6-305(b) |
(a) No lobbyist or anyone acting at the specific direction of a lobbyist shall offer or attempt to offer anything of value to an official in the legislative or executive branch or to such official’s immediate family based on any stated or tacit understanding that the official’s vote, official action or judgment would be influenced thereby.(c) No official in the legislative or executive branch or a member of such official’s staff or immediate family shall solicit or accept anything of value in violation of subsection (a). | “Gift” means any payment, honorarium, subscription, loan, advance, forbearance, rendering or deposit of money or services, unless consideration of equal or greater value is received.”Gift” does not include:
|
Texas | Chapter 305, Government Code sec.305.024
Penal Code 36.02 Penal Code 36.07-.10 |
A [lobbyist] may provide one or more gifts to a state officer or stateemployee, or to immediate family or guests invited by a state officer or employee, up to a maximum expenditure total of $500 per offier, employee, immediate family, or guest during a calendar year.
A person may not offer, confer, or agree to confer on a public servant, and a public servant may not solicit, accept, or agree to accept, a “benefit” as consdieration for a decision, opinion, recommendation, vote, or other exercise of discretion by the public servant. A member or employee of the legislature should not: |
Exceptions
Exceptions are listed in Texas Penal Code 36.10, and include: (2) a gift or other benefit conferred on account of kinship or a personal, professional, or business relationship independent of the official status of the recipient; or (3) a benefit to a public servant required to file a statement under Chapter 572, Government Code, or a report under Title 15, Election Code, that is derived from a function in honor or appreciation of the recipient if: (A) the benefit and the source of any benefit in excess of $50 is reported in the statement; and (B) the benefit is used solely to defray the expenses that accrue in the performance of duties or activities in connection with the office which are nonreimbursable by the state or political subdivision (4) a political contribution as defined by Title 15, Election Code; (5) a gift, award, or memento to a member of the legislative or executive branch that is required to be reported under Chapter 305, Government Code; (6) an item with a value of less than $50, excluding cash or a negotiable instrument as described by Section 3.104, Business & Commerce Code; or (7) an item issued by a governmental entity that allows the use of property or facilities owned, leased, or operated by the governmental entity, (b) Section 36.08 (Gift to Public Servant) does not apply to food, lodging, transportation, or entertainment accepted as a guest and, if the doner is required by law to report those items, reported by the doner in accordance with that law. (c) Section 36.09 (Offering Gift to Public Servant) does not apply to food, lodging, transportation, or entertainment accepted as a guest and, if the donor is required by law to report those items, reported by the donor in accordance with that law. |
Utah | 67-16-5. | It is an offense for a public officer, public employee, or legislator, under circumstances not amounting to a violation of Section 63-56-72 or 76-8-105, to knowingly receive, accept, take, seek, or solicit, directly or indirectly for himself or another a gift of substantial value or a substantial economic benefit tantamount to a gift: (a) that would tend improperly to influence a reasonable person in the person’s position to depart from the faithful and impartial discharge of the person’s public duties; (b) that the person knows or that a reasonable person in that position should know under the circumstances is primarily for the purpose of rewarding the person for official action taken; or (c) if he recently has been, is now, or in the near future may be involved in any governmental action directly affecting the donor or lender, unless a disclosure of the gift, compensation, or loan and other relevant information has been made in the manner provided in Section 67-16-6. |
Exceptions:
|
Vermont | 2- 11-266.2-11-261 | It shall be prohibited conduct:For a legislator or administrative official to solicit a gift, other than a political contribution, from a registered employer or registered lobbyist, except that charitable contributions for nonprofit organizations qualified under section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code may be solicited from registered employers and registered lobbyists | “Gift” means: a political contribution, anything of value, tangible or intangible, that is bestowed for less than adequate consideration, including travel expenses such as travel fare, room and board, and other expenses associated with travel; a meal or alcoholic beverage; a ticket, fee, or expenses for, or to, any sporting, recreational, or entertainment events; a speaking fee or honorarium, except actual and reasonable travel expenses; a loan made on terms more favorable than those made available to the general public in the normal course of business.Gift does not mean: anything given between immediate family members, printed educational meterial such as books, reports, pamphlets, or periodicals; a gift which is not used and which, within 30 days after receipt, is returned to the donor or for which the donor is reimbursed for its fair market value; a devise or inheritance. |
Virginia | 2.1-639.33.2.1-639.31 | No legislator shall:Accept any money, loan, gift, favor, service, or business or professional opportunity that reasonably tends to influence him in the performance of his official duties.
Accept gifts from sources on a basis so frequent as to raise an appearance of the use of his public office for private gain. Violations of this subdivision shall not be subject to criminal law penalties. |
“Gift” means:Any gratuity, favor, discount, entertainment, hospitality, loan, forbearance, or other item having monetary value. It includes services as well as gifts of transportation, local travel, lodgings and meals, whether provided in-kind, by purchase of a ticket, payment in advance or reimbursement after the expense has been incurred.
“Gift” shall not include:
|
Washington | RCW 42.52.150RCW 42.52.150 | No state officer or state employee may receive, accept, take, seek, or solicit, directly or indirectly, any thing of economic value as a gift, gratuity, or favor from a person if it could be reasonably expected that the gift, gratuity, or favor would influence the vote, action, or judgment of the officer or employee, or be considered as part of a reward for action or inaction.Limitations on gifts.
(1) No state officer or state employee may accept gifts, other than those specified in subsections (2) and (5) of this section, with an aggregate value in excess of fifty dollars from a single source in a calendar year or a single gift from multiple sources with a value in excess of fifty dollars. For purposes of this section, “single source” means any person, as defined inRCW 42.52.010, whether acting directly or through any agent or other intermediary, and “single gift” includes any event, item, or group of items used in conjunction with each other or any trip including transportation, lodging, and attendant costs, not excluded from the definition of gift under RCW 42.52.010. The value of gifts given to an officer’s or employee’s family member or guest shall be attributed to the official or employee for the purpose of determining whether the limit has been exceeded, unless an independent business, family, or social relationship exists between the donor and the family member or guest. |
Exceptions:
A state officer or state employee may accept gifts in the form of food and beverage on infrequent occasions in the ordinary course of meals where attendance by the officer or employee is related to the performance of official duties. Gifts in the form of food and beverage that exceed fifty dollars on a single occasion shall be reported as provided inchapter 42.17 RCW. |
West Virginia | 6B-2-5. | A public official or public employee may not solicit any gift unless the solicitation is for a charitable purpose with no resulting direct pecuniary benefit conferred upon the official or employee or his or her immediate family: Provided,That no public official or public employee may solicit for a charitable purpose any gift from any person who is also an official or employee of the state and whose position as such is subordinate to the soliciting official or employee: Provided, however, That nothing herein shall prohibit a candidate for public office from soliciting a lawful political contribution. No official or employee may knowingly accept any gift, directly or indirectly, from a lobbyist or from any person whom the official or employee knows or has reason to know: (A) Is doing or seeking to do business of any kind with his or her agency; (B) Is engaged in activities which are regulated or controlled by his or her agency; or (C) Has financial interests which may be substantially and materially affected, in a manner distinguishable from the public generally, by the performance or nonperformance of his official duties. |
Exceptions:
|
Leave a Reply