2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 1 - Government Organization › Chapter 11A - Ethics and Government Accountability › Subchapter II - Ethics Act › Part E - Lobbyists › § 1–1162.31. Prohibited activities

§ 1–1162.31. Prohibited activities.
(a) No registrant or anyone acting on behalf of a registrant shall offer, give, or cause to be given a gift or service to an official in the legislative or executive branch or a member of his or her staff that exceeds $100 in value in the aggregate in any calendar year. This section shall not be construed to restrict in any manner contributions authorized in §§ 1-1163.33, 1-1163.34, and 1-1163.38.
(b) No official in the legislative or executive branch or a member of his or her staff shall solicit or accept anything of value in violation of subsection (a) of this section.
(c) No person shall knowingly or willfully make or cause to be made any false or misleading statement or misrepresentation of the facts relating to pending administrative decisions or legislative actions to any official in the legislative or executive branch;
(d) No person shall, knowing a document to contain a false statement relating to pending administrative decisions or legislative actions, cause a copy of the document to be transmitted to an official in the legislative or executive branch without notifying the official in writing of the truth.
(e) No information copied from registration forms and activity reports required by this part or from lists compiled from such forms and reports shall be sold or utilized by any person for the purpose of soliciting campaign contributions or selling tickets to a testimonial or similar fundraising affair or for any commercial purpose.
(f) No public official shall be employed as a lobbyist while acting as a public official, except as provided in § 1-1162.28.
(g)(1) No lobbyist or registrant or person acting on behalf of the lobbyist or registrant, shall provide legal representation, or other professional services, to an official in the legislative or executive branch, or to a member of his or her staff, at no cost or at a rate that is less than the lobbyist or registrant would routinely bill for the representation or service in the marketplace.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this section, a nonprofit organization that routinely provides legal representation or other services to clients at no cost may provide such representation or services to such client when doing so serves the purposes for which such services are routinely provided.
(h) Registrants shall not bundle contributions to principal campaign committees, exploratory committees, inaugural committees, transition committees, or legal defense committees.
(Apr. 27, 2012, D.C. Law 19-124, § 231, 59 DCR 1862; Feb. 22, 2014, D.C. Law 20-79, § 2(c), 61 DCR 153; Mar. 13, 2019, D.C. Law 22-250, § 6(e), 66 DCR 985.)
Effect of Amendments
The 2014 amendment by D.C. Law 20-79 deleted “and the representation and services are not provided by a lobbyist or registrant” from the end of (g)(2).
Applicability
Section 7183 of D.C. Law 24-45 repealed section 10(a) of D.C. Law 22-250 removing the applicability provision impacting this section. Therefore the amendment of this section by Law 22-250 has been implemented.
Section 7183 of D.C. Act 24-159 repealed section 10(a) of D.C. Law 22-250 removing the applicability provision impacting this section. Therefore the amendment of this section by Law 22-250 has been implemented.
Applicability of D.C. Law 22-250: § 10 of D.C. Law 22-250 provided that the change made to this section by § 6(e) of D.C. Law 22-250 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.
Section 7009 of D.C. Law 21-160 repealed § 3 of D.C. Law 20-79. Therefore the changes made to this section by D.C. Law 20-79 have been given effect.
Editor's Notes
Applicability of D.C. Law 20-79: Section 3 of D.C. Law 20-79 provided that the act shall apply upon the latest of: (1) The inclusion of the fiscal effect of the act in an approved budget and financial plan, as certified by the Chief Financial Officer to the Budget Director of the Council in a certification published by the Council in the District of Columbia Register; or (2) January 31, 2015.
A certification dated February 4, 2015, that the fiscal effect of the Campaign Finance Reform and Transparency Amendment Act of 2013, D.C. Law 20-79, has been included in an approved budget and financial plan was published in the D.C. Register on March 13, 2015 (62 DCR 2988).