California Code of Regulations › Title 2 - Administration › Division 6 - Fair Political Practices Commission › Chapter 9.5 - Ethics › Section 18942 - Exceptions to Gift and Exceptions to Gift Limits

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) For purposes of Sections
				82028,
				82030, and the gift regulations,
				except as otherwise indicated, the following payments that otherwise meet the
				definition of gift as provided in Section
				82028, subdivision (a) are neither
				gifts nor income:
(1) Informational material
				as defined by Regulation 18942.1. (Section
				82028(b)(1).)
(2) A payment that is not used and that,
				pursuant to Regulation 18941 is returned, donated, or for which reimbursement
				is paid. (Section
				82028(b)(2).)
(3) A payment from: the official's spouse or
				former spouse; child or step-child; parent; grandparent; grandchild; brother;
				sister; current or former parent-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law;
				nephew; niece; aunt or uncle; including grand nephew, grand niece, grand aunt,
				or grand uncle, or first cousin including first cousin once removed or the
				spouse, or former spouse, of any such person other than a former in-law, unless
				the donor is acting as an agent or intermediary for any person not identified
				in this paragraph. (Section
				82028(b)(3).)
(4) A campaign contribution required to be
				reported under Chapter 4 of the Act (commencing with Section
				84100). (Section
				82028(b)(4).)
(5) Any devise or inheritance. (Section
				82028(b)(5).)
(6) A personalized plaque or trophy valued at
				less than $250. (Section
				82028(b)(6).)
(7)
(A) The
				cost of home hospitality, as defined in Regulation 18942.2, provided to an
				official by an individual in the individual's home when the individual is
				present, unless one of the following provisions applies:
(i) Any part of the cost of the hospitality
				provided by the host is paid directly or reimbursed by another
				person.
(ii) Any person deducts any
				part of the cost of such hospitality as a business expense on any government
				tax return.
(iii) There is an
				understanding between the individual extending the hospitality and another
				person that any amount of compensation the individual receives from that person
				includes a portion to be utilized to provide gifts of hospitality in the
				individual's home.
(B) In
				determining the applicability of subparagraph (A), the following apply:
(i) The cost of providing hospitality does
				not include any part of the value or rental cost of the home nor does it
				include any depreciation value on the home where the hospitality is
				extended.
(ii) An official may
				presume that the cost of home hospitality is paid by the host unless the host
				discloses to the official, or it is clear from the surrounding circumstances at
				the time the hospitality is provided, that a person, other than the host, paid
				the cost of the hospitality.
(8)
(A)
				Benefits commonly exchanged between an official and an individual who is not a
				lobbyist who is registered to lobby the official's agency, on a holiday,
				birthday, or other occasions, including reciprocal exchanges as identified in
				subparagraph (B) below where benefits are commonly exchanged, to the extent
				that the value of the benefits exchanged is not substantially disproportionate
				and includes food, entertainment, and nominal benefits provided to guests at an
				event, by an honoree or another individual, other than a lobbyist, hosting the
				event.
(B) Reciprocal Exchanges
				made in a social relationship between an official and another individual, who
				is not a lobbyist who is registered to lobby the official's agency, with whom
				the official participates in repeated social events or activities such as
				lunches, dinners, rounds of golf, attendance at entertainment or sporting
				events, where the parties typically rotate payments on a continuing basis so
				that, over time, each party pays for approximately the party's share of the
				costs of the continuing activities, so long as the total value of payments
				received by the official within the calendar year is not substantially
				disproportionate to the amount paid by the official. If the official receives a
				disproportionate amount relative to what the official paid, the official has
				received a gift for the excess amount. This reciprocal exchange payment
				provision does not apply to any single payment that is equal to or greater than
				the amount specified in Regulation 18940.2.
(9) Leave credits, including vacation, sick
				leave, or compensatory time off, donated to the official in accordance with a
				bona fide catastrophic or similar emergency leave program established by the
				official's employer and available to all employees in the same job
				classification or position except for donations of cash.
(10) Payments received under a government
				agency program or a program established by a bona fide charitable organization
				exempt from taxation under Section
				501(c)(3) of the
				Internal Revenue Code designed to provide disaster relief or food, shelter, or
				similar assistance to qualified recipients if the payments are available to
				members of the public without regard to official status.
(11) Admission, where paid admission is
				required, food, and nominal items provided as part of the paid admission to
				those attending, to an official where the official makes a speech (as defined
				in Regulation 18950 (b)(2)) is not a "payment" as defined in Section
				82044 so long as the admission is
				provided by the person who organizes the event. For purpose of this
				subdivision, nominal means an insignificant item typically purchased in large
				volume and provided for free as a means of advertisement at events, such as a
				pen, pencil, mouse pad, rubber duck, stress ball, note pad, or similar
				item.
(12) Payments for campaign
				activities as specified in Regulation 18950.3.
(13) A ticket provided to an official and one
				guest of the official for the admission to a facility, event, show, or
				performance for an entertainment, amusement, recreational, or similar purpose
				at which the official performs a ceremonial role on behalf of the official's
				agency, as defined in Regulation 18942.3, so long as the official's agency
				complies with the posting provisions set forth in Regulation 18944.1,
				subdivision (d). Any official who attends the event as part of the person's job
				duties to assist the official who is performing the ceremonial role has not
				received a gift or income by attending the event.
(14) A prize or award received in a manner
				not related to the official's status in a bona fide contest, competition, or
				game of chance. A prize or award that is not reported as a gift shall be
				reported as income unless the prize or award is received as a winning from the
				California State Lottery.
(15)
				Benefits received as a guest attending a wedding or civil union so long as the
				benefits are substantially the same as the benefits received by the other
				guests attending the event.
(16)
				Bereavement offerings typically provided in memory of and concurrent with the
				passing of a spouse, parent, child, or sibling or other relative of the
				official.
(17) Acts of
				Neighborliness. A service performed, such as a loan of an item, an occasional
				needed ride, personal assistance in making a repair, bringing in the mail or
				feeding the cat while the official is away, and other similar acts of ordinary
				assistance consistent with polite behavior in a civilized society that would
				not normally be part of an economic transaction between like participants under
				similar circumstances.
(18)
(A) Bona Fide Date or Dating Relationship.
				Personal benefits commonly exchanged between people on a date or in a dating
				relationship, unless the individual providing the benefit to the official is
				listed under (D)(i-iii) below. If the benefit is from an individual listed
				under (D)(i-iii) the benefit is a gift that is not reportable or subject to
				limits but the aggregate value is subject to the Act's conflict of interest
				provisions if the value meets the amount specified in Regulation
				18940.2.
(B) Acts of Human
				Compassion. Payments provided to an official, or an official's family member,
				by an individual to offset family medical or living expenses that the official
				can no longer meet without private assistance because of an accident, illness,
				employment loss, death in the family, or other unexpected calamity; or to
				defray expenses associated with humanitarian efforts such as the adoption of an
				orphaned child, so long as the source of the donation is an individual who has
				a prior social relationship with the official of the type where it would be
				common to provide such assistance (such as a relative, long-term friend,
				neighbor, co-worker or former co-worker, member of the same local religious or
				other similar organization, etc.), or the payment is made without regard to
				official status under other circumstances in which it would be common to
				receive community outreach, unless the individual providing the benefit to the
				official is listed under (D)(i-iii) below.
(C) A payment provided to an official by an
				individual with whom the official has a long term, close personal friendship
				unrelated to the official's position with the agency, unless the individual
				providing the benefit to the official is listed under (D)(i-iii)
				below.
(D) The limitations placed
				on the exceptions contained within this paragraph (18) apply to the following
				persons:
(i) A lobbyist, lobbying firm,
				lobbyist employer, or other person required to file reports under Chapter 6
				(commencing with Section
				86100) of the Act and who is
				registered to lobby the official's agency.
(ii) A person who has, or may reasonably
				foreseeably have, a contract, license, permit, or other entitlement for use
				pending before the official's agency, and for 12 months following the date a
				contract is signed or a final decision is rendered in the proceeding, if the
				official makes or participates in making a governmental decision, as defined in
				the Act's conflict of interest regulations (Regulation 18702 et seq.) regarding
				the contract, license, permit, or other entitlement for use.
(iii) A person, or an agent of a person,
				involved in a licensing or enforcement proceeding before a regulatory agency
				that employs the official and in which the official may reasonably foreseeably
				participate, or has participated, within 12 months of the time the gift is
				made.
(19) Any
				other payment not identified above, that would otherwise meet the definition of
				gift, where the payment is made by an individual who is not a lobbyist
				registered to lobby the official's agency, where it is clear that the gift was
				made because of an existing personal or business relationship unrelated to the
				official's position and there is no evidence whatsoever at the time the gift is
				made that the official makes or participates in the type of governmental
				decisions that may have a reasonably foreseeable material financial effect on
				the individual who would otherwise be the source of the
				gift.