Ethics Board rules

A. Introduction

A legislator may accept gifts of food and beverages on infrequent occasions in the
ordinary course of meals where attendance is related to the performance of official
duties – RCW 42.52.150(5).

B. Scope of Rule

This rule is limited to food and beverage paid for by a registered lobbyist or
lobbyist employer on behalf of a legislator. The rule does not pertain to sections of
the Ethics Act which permit the acceptance of complimentary food and beverage in
other circumstances. The effective date of this rule is January 1, 2015.

C. Definitions

"Infrequent occasions" means up to twelve qualifying meals total per calendar year.
"In the ordinary course of meals" means breakfast, lunch, or dinner, regardless of
cost. A qualifying meal would normally occur when the guest would be expected
to sit down and eat, such as in a restaurant or a private residence as opposed to, for
example, a hosted reception or other broad-based occasion when attendance is
related to the legislator's official duties or the legislator is making an appearance in
an official capacity.
"Attendance related to the performance of official duties" means at least some of
the discussion during the meal involves legislative business.
It is presumed that qualifying meals as described in RCW 42.52.150(5), whether
breakfast, lunch or dinner, include both food and a beverage and therefore they are
to be counted against the maximum number of meals allowed.

Examples: NOTE - The Ethics Act contains a number of gift exemptions for food
and beverage. If one of those exemptions applies, the meal does not count toward
the 12 meal limit.

Example 1: An association which employs a registered lobbyist visits Olympia
during a legislative session and invites legislators, over the lunch hour, for
complimentary food and conversations about legislative issues. The food is
available on a serving table and is basically self-served. While there are some
tables and chairs available for the convenience of the guests the event is designed
to allow the guests to mingle with one another. Complimentary food and beverage
provided at the event are not subject to the statute which limits the number of
meals. The Ethics Act presumes that food and beverages consumed at hosted
receptions where attendance is related to a legislator's official duties may be
accepted without regard to frequency (RCW 42.52.150). A setting in the nature of
this buffet style reception, where guests are not expected to sit down and eat, is a
hosted reception within the meaning of the Ethics Act (Advisory Opinions 1996
Nos. 3 and No. 15).
Example 2: A legislative committee is pursuing an interim schedule which
includes an approved work session with interested stakeholders on a subject of
interest to the committee. The work session will last over the lunch hour and the
stakeholders, who are lobbyists for a trade organization, offer to provide the
working lunch on behalf of their employer. The meal is not subject to the statute
which limits the number of meals. The Ethics Act exempts from the definition of
"gift" reasonable subsistence expenses paid for by a nongovernmental entity when
a legislator or committee staff appears at this work session in an official capacity
(RCW 42.52.010)(9d).
Example 3: Agencies of the Federal and State Government offer complimentary
transportation and meals to legislators during a proposed tour of the sites of forest
fires in eastern Washington. The tour is designed to acquaint the legislators with
the need for increased state funding for restoration and forest fire
prevention. Meals provided on the tour are not subject to the statute which limits
the number of meals. Payment by a governmental or nongovernmental entity of
reasonable subsistence expenses incurred in connection with a legislators
appearance in an official capacity are excluded from the definition of gift (RCW
42.52.010)(9)(d).
Example 4: A legislator is invited to a complimentary dinner at the home of a
lobbyist and is encouraged to bring a non-legislator guest. Although the meal is
provided in a buffet-style the guests are expected to sit down and eat. Such a dinner
is clearly a meal rather than a reception (Advisory Opinion 1996 No. 15). The
meal is subject to the statute which limits the number of meals. The
complimentary meal provided to the guest is a gift which is attributed to the
legislator for the purpose of determining whether the annual gift limit has been
exceeded, unless an independent business, family, or social relationship exists
between the donor and the guest (RCW 42.52.150)(1).
Example 5: Members of a caucus leadership are invited to use a lobbyist's home
for a meeting on legislative issues. The lobbyist is not involved in the substance of
the meeting and will not be present but has provided for a complimentary dinner to
be catered. The legislators have not met the calendar limit for complimentary
meals from lobbyists and seek to categorize the meal as allowable under the statute
which limits such meals to infrequent occasions. The meal is a gift and must be
treated as a gift from the lobbyist for the purpose of determining whether the
annual gift limit has been exceeded. The statute which permits gifts of meals on
infrequent occasions requires that there be some discussion of legislative business,
presumably the case here, and that the lobbyist-host be present (Advisory Opinion
1998 No. 5).
Example 6: A lobbyist invites a legislator to a morning meeting over a cup of
complimentary coffee to discuss a legislative issue. This complimentary beverage
is not subject to the statute which limits the number of meals to infrequent
occasions. The statute refers to gifts of food and beverage. This rule (5) presumes
that beverages of some sort accompany breakfast, lunch or dinner, but there is no
presumption that complimentary beverages are accompanied by complimentary
food.
Example 7: A school PTA holds an annual fundraising auction and solicits
donations to help pay for the event. Some of the donations come from registered
lobbyists or their employers. The event includes a sit-down dinner, the PTA invites
legislators to attend on a complimentary basis, and it uses a portion of the
donations to help offset the free meals. The meals are not subject to the statute
which limits meals to infrequent occasions. The Ethics Act presumes that
legislators may accept gifts in the form of the cost of admission and the cost of
food and beverage consumed at an event sponsored by or in conjunction with a
civic, charitable, governmental, or community organization (RCW 42.52.150)(2j)
PROVIDED, the entity, the PTA in this example, is the source of the invitation and
determines which legislators are to be invited (Advisory Opinion 1996 No. 16).
Example 8: A corporate entity which employs registered lobbyists hosts a
charitable fundraiser for an arts museum, the event includes a sit-down dinner, and
legislators are invited on a complimentary basis. The corporation has arranged the
evening so that its representatives will be present at the dinner tables with the
legislators with the expectation they will discuss the corporation's industry and its
legislative concerns. The meal is subject to the statute which limits the number of
meals. The lobbyist employer invited the legislators (unlike Example 7), paid for
their dinners, and the event involved some discussion of industry and legislative
issues so that the attendance of legislators was related to official duties (RCW
42.52.150)(5) and Advisory Opinion 1997 No. 10).
Example 9: Following a committee meeting, a lobbyist invites some of the
committee members to dinner at a local restaurant. The dinner conversation
includes a discussion of a bill before the committee. In this example, if a
recipient has not exceeded the calendar year limit of free meals under the statute,
the lobbyist is present, and legislative business is discussed, the gift of the meal
may be accepted as one of the 12 permitted under the infrequent occasions statute
(RCW 42.52.150)(5) and Advisory Opinion 1998 No. 5).
Example 10: Various groups often request legislators to attend a legislative
breakfast, lunch or dinner to discuss legislative business. These groups may
include, but are limited to, labor, business, school boards, and county and local
governments. A complimentary meal provided at one of these meetings may be
accepted and the meal does not count as of the 12 permitted by the Ethics Act and
this Rule. However, at a minimum, all the legislators from the legislative district in
which the meeting is held must be invited. The legislators' attendance is an
appearance in an official capacity and the meal is exempt from the gift rules (RCW
42.52.010(9)(d).
Example 11: Many associations hold meetings of their members on a periodic
basis and may invite legislators to address those members on pending legislative
issues. A complimentary sit-down meal is provided The meal does not count as
one of the 12 permitted by the Ethics Act and this Rule because the legislators are
delivering a speech or making a presentation in an official capacity pursuant to
RCW 42.52.010(9)(d).
Example 12: A legislator and a lobbyist have a social relationship which involves
sharing potluck dinners at the residence of one or the other. It is common for
family members to attend and it is not the purpose of the occasion to discuss
legislative business. Absent facts to the contrary, the Board will assume that each
attendee actually provides a fair contribution to the meal so that the occasion is
viewed as similar to a legislator paying for her or his own meal in a restaurant with
a lobbyist present. The meal is not a gift and does not count as one of the 12.
Example 13: Some organizations, such as the 4-H and the Farm Bureau, host an
annual sit-down dinner in Olympia during a legislative session and all legislators
are invited to attend on a complimentary basis. The Board views these occasions,
with their broad-based invitee list of all legislators, as fundamentally different from
the more private restaurant and residence complimentary meals which were the
impetus behind the Board's adoption of Rule 5. Attendance at these dinners is an
appearance in an official capacity and the meal is not a gift pursuant to RCW
42.52.010(9)(d) and therefore does not count as one of the 12.