34-13.310. Prohibitions Against Accepting and Giving Gifts

(1) A reporting individual or procurement employee, or any other person on the individual’s or employee’s behalf, is prohibited from knowingly accepting, directly or indirectly, a gift from a lobbyist who lobbies the individual’s or employee’s agency, or directly or indirectly on behalf of the partner, firm, employer, or principal of such a lobbyist, or from a vendor doing business with the individual’s or employee’s agency, if he knows or reasonably believes that the gift has a value in excess of $100.

(2) A vendor; a lobbyist who lobbies a reporting individual’s or procurement employee’s agency; the partner, firm, employer, or principal of a lobbyist; or another on behalf of the lobbyist or partner, firm, principal, or employer of the lobbyist or vendor is prohibited from giving, either directly or indirectly, a gift that has a value in excess of $100 to the reporting individual or procurement employee or any other person on his behalf.

(3) A reporting individual, or his or her parent, spouse, child, or sibling, is prohibited from soliciting or knowingly accepting, directly or indirectly, anything of value that is not primarily related to contributions, expenditures, or other political activities authorized pursuant to Chapter 106, F.S., from a political committee.

(4) A political committee is prohibited from giving anything of value that is not primarily related to contributions, expenditures, or other political activities authorized pursuant to Chapter 106, F.S., to a reporting individual or procurement employee, or his or her parent, spouse, child, or sibling.

(5) The prohibitions expressed in this rule apply as of the time the gift is given by the donor.

(6) Reasonable inquiry shall be made by the reporting individual or procurement employee of the source of the proposed gift to determine whether it is prohibited.

(7) Where a gift is to be provided by multiple donors, the value of the gift provided by any one donor is equal to the portion of the gift’s value attributable to that donor based upon the donor’s contribution to the gift. The value of the portion provided by any lobbyist, partner, firm, employer or principal of a lobbyist, or vendor cannot exceed $100, and the reporting individual or procurement employee cannot accept the gift if the value of that portion of the gift exceeds $100.

(8) Indirect Gifts.

(a) Where a gift is provided to a person other than the reporting individual or procurement employee by a political committee or vendor, by a lobbyist who lobbies the agency of the reporting individual or procurement employee, or by the partner, firm, employer, or principal of a lobbyist, where the gift or the benefit of the gift ultimately is received by the reporting individual or procurement employee, and where the gift is provided with the intent to benefit the reporting individual or procurement employee, such gift will be considered an indirect gift to the reporting individual or procurement employee.

(b) Where a gift or the benefit of a gift is provided to a reporting individual or procurement employee by someone other than a political committee, a lobbyist, or the partner, firm, employer, or principal of a lobbyist, or a vendor, but the gift or the expense of the gift has been provided by or paid for by a political committee, a vendor, or a lobbyist, or the partner, firm, employer, or principal of a lobbyist, who intends thereby to benefit the reporting individual or employee, such gift will be considered an indirect gift to the reporting individual or procurement employee.

(c) Factors which the Commission will consider in determining whether an indirect gift has been made include but are not limited to:

1. The existence or nonexistence of communications by the donor indicating the donor’s intent to make or convey the gift to the reporting individual or procurement employee rather than to the intervening third person;

2. The existence or nonexistence of any relationship between the donor and the third person, independent of the relationship between the donor and the reporting individual or procurement employee, that would motivate a gift to the third person;

3. The existence or nonexistence of any relationship between the third person and the reporting individual or procurement employee that would motivate the gift.

4. Whether the same or similar gifts have been or are being provided to other persons having the same relationship to the donor as the third person;

5. Whether, under the circumstances, the third person had full and independent decision-making authority to determine whether the reporting individual or procurement employee, or another, would receive the gift;

6. Whether the third person was acting with the knowledge or consent of, or under the direction of, the donor;

7. Whether there were or were intended any payments or bookkeeping transactions between the third person and the donor, reimbursing the third person for the gift; and

8. The degree of ownership or control the donor has over the third person.

(d) The provisions of this subsection may be illustrated by the following examples:

Example 1: A law firm which lobbies the agency of Reporting Individual C (“C”) invites all of its attorneys to attend a weekend retreat. The attorneys are encouraged to bring their spouses or significant others at the firm’s expense. C is married to an attorney in the firm and has been asked by her spouse to attend the retreat. The lodging provided to C for the retreat would be considered a gift to C from her spouse and thus not prohibited, because the firm’s invitation was extended to C’s spouse by virtue of his employment with the firm.

Example 2: Reporting Individual D (“D”) hosts a fox hunt attended by other reporting individuals. Lobbyists who lobby the agency of D give money to a third person, who is not a reporting individual, to pay for the food and beverages which will be served at the fox hunt. D orders and prepares the food and beverages. The money provided to the third person by the lobbyists would be a gift to D, because it was given with the intent of benefiting D and his guests at the fox hunt.

Example 3: A principal which employs 10 lobbyists who lobby the agency of Reporting Individual M (“M”) channels a gift costing $1,000 to M through its 10 lobbyists. Although each lobbyist’s share of the gift is $100, the gift would be prohibited because it is an indirect gift from the principal with a value of excess of $100.

Example 4: Reporting Individual N (“N”) and N’s spouse have arranged to take a vacation trip together. A lobbyist who lobbies N’s agency meets with the spouse and offers to pay for the spouse’s travel expenses, which would exceed $100. The lobbyist and N’s spouse know each other only through the lobbyist’s involvement with N. This would constitute an indirect gift to N, and would be prohibited because its value exceeds $100.

Rulemaking Authority 112.322(9)(b) FS. Law Implemented 112.3148, 112.31485 FS. History–New 4-16-92, Amended 2-27-95, 1-11-16.