South Carolina Code 2-17-90. Acts prohibited of lobbyists’ principals; acts prohibited of public officials and employees; exceptions; disclosure requirements
(1) as to members of the General Assembly, a function to which a member of the General Assembly is invited if the entire membership of the House, the Senate, or the General Assembly is invited, or one of the committees, subcommittees, joint committees, legislative caucuses or their committees or subcommittees, or county legislative delegations of the General Assembly of which the legislator is a member is invited. However, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, and the Speaker Pro Tempore of the House may be included in an invitation to one of the above groups. In addition, invitations may be extended and accepted when the invitation is extended to all members in attendance at (a) national and regional conventions and conferences of organizations for which the General Assembly pays annual dues as a membership requirement and (b) American Legislative Exchange Council conventions and conferences;
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 2-17-90
- Expenditure: means a purchase, payment, loan, forgiveness of a loan, an advance, in-kind contribution or expenditure, a deposit, transfer of funds, gift of money or anything of value for any purpose, and a payment to a lobbyist for compensation, for expenses, or lobbying, including the direct payment of expenses incurred at the request or suggestion of a lobbyist. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
- Lobbyist: means any person who is employed, appointed, or retained, with or without compensation, by another person to influence by direct communication with public officials or public employees: (i) the action or vote of any member of the General Assembly, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, or any other statewide constitutional officer concerning any legislation; (ii) the vote of any public official on any state agency, board, or commission concerning any covered agency actions; or (iii) the action of the Governor or any member of his executive staff concerning any covered gubernatorial actions. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
- Person: means an individual, a partnership, committee, an association, a corporation, labor organization, or any other organization or group of persons. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
- Public employee: means any person employed by the State. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
- Public official: means any elected or appointed official of the State, including candidates for any such state office. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
- thing of value: means :
(i) a pecuniary item, including money, a bank bill, or a bank note;
(ii) a promissory note, bill of exchange, an order, a draft, warrant, check, or bond given for the payment of money;
(iii) a contract, agreement, promise, or other obligation for an advance, a conveyance, forgiveness of indebtedness, deposit, distribution, loan, payment, gift, pledge, or transfer of money;
(iv) a stock, bond, note, or other investment interest in an entity;
(v) a receipt given for the payment of money or other property;
(vi) a chose-in-action;
(vii) a gift, tangible good, chattel, or an interest in a gift, tangible good, or chattel;
(viii) a loan or forgiveness of indebtedness;
(ix) a work of art, an antique, or a collectible;
(x) an automobile or other means of personal transportation;
(xi) real property or an interest in real property, including title to realty, a fee simple or partial interest in realty including present, future, contingent, or vested interests in realty, a leasehold interest, or other beneficial interest in realty;
(xii) an honorarium or compensation for services;
(xiii) a promise or offer of employment;
(xiv) any other item that is of pecuniary or compensatory worth to a person. See South Carolina Code 2-17-10
(2) as to a public official of a state agency, board, or commission, a function to which an official of a state agency, board, or commission is invited if the entire board or commission of which the public official is a member is invited;
(3) as to public employees, except for public employees of any statewide constitutional officer, a function to which a public employee is invited if a public official of the agency or department by which the public employee is employed also is invited under another provision of this section;
(4) as to public employees of any statewide constitutional officer, a function to which all statewide constitutional officers are invited;
(5) as to statewide constitutional officers, a function to which a statewide constitutional officer is invited;
(6) as to public officials or public employees, activities reasonably and directly related to state or local economic development efforts. However, the public official or public employee first must obtain prior written approval from:
(a) the Governor, in the case of any of his employees or of any public officials of any state agencies or any of their employees which are not listed in a subitem below;
(b) any statewide constitutional officer, in the case of himself or any of his employees;
(c) the President of the Senate, in the case of any member of the Senate or its employees; or
(d) the Speaker of the House, in the case of a member of the House of Representatives or its employees.
(7) as to cabinet officers, a function to which all cabinet officers are invited.
(B)(1) No lobbyist’s principal or person acting on behalf of a lobbyist’s principal may provide to a public official or a public employee pursuant to subsection (A)(1), (A)(2), (A)(3), (A)(4), (A)(5), or (A)(7) the value of lodging, transportation, entertainment, food, meals, or beverages exceeding fifty dollars in a day and four hundred dollars in a calendar year per public official, public employee, or cabinet officer.
(2) The daily dollar limitation in item (1) must be adjusted on January first of each even-numbered year by multiplying the base amount by the cumulative Consumer Price Index and rounding it to the nearest five dollar amount. For purposes of this section, "base amount" is the daily limitation of fifty dollars, and "Consumer Price Index" means the Southeastern Consumer Price Index All Urban Consumers as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(3) The State Ethics Commission must determine the cumulative increase in the Consumer Price Index through June thirtieth in odd-numbered years, and determine the adjustment, if any, to be made in the daily limitation. The State Ethics Commission shall approve the adjustment of the annual amount to a figure eight times the adjusted daily limitation.
(4) The State Ethics Commission must notify all lobbyists’ principals of the adjusted limitations at the time of registration.
(C) Except as otherwise provided by subsection (E), any public official or any public employee who is required to file a statement of economic interests under § 8-13-1110 and who accepts lodging, transportation, entertainment, food, meals, or beverages under subsection (A) or (G) must report on his statement of economic interests pursuant to § 8-13-1120 the value of anything received.
(D) Except as otherwise provided by subsection (E), a lobbyist’s principal extending an invitation under subsection (A) must report all expenses as required by § 2-17-35.
(E) If the disclosure required by subsection (C) or (D) would compromise the confidentiality of a state or local economic development project and the approving official under subsection (A)(6) has indicated in the prior written approval that disclosure of that information would jeopardize the negotiations in an economic development project, then the approving official must forward a confidential copy of the prior written approval to the lobbyist’s principal involved and the State Ethics Commission. The public official must disclose only the value of the thing of value received with a notation "for economic development-confidential" on the forms required by §§ 8-13-1110 and 8-13-1120. The lobbyist’s principal must not disclose any information identifying the recipient or details of the expenditure on the form required by § 2-17-35. The public official and the lobbyist’s principal must report all required information on forms developed by the State Ethics Commission for the reporting of information under this subsection. These forms must be marked "confidential" and must not be a part of the public record until such time as the approving official determines that public disclosure is appropriate.
(F) The provisions of this section do not apply to a public official or a public employee who pays for his lodging, transportation, entertainment, meals, food, or beverages at a function to which he has been invited by a lobbyist’s principal or to a public official or a public employee who pays the face value of a ticket to attend a ticketed event sponsored by a lobbyist’s principal when the ticketed event is open to the general public.
(G) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, a public official or public employee may accept lodging, transportation, entertainment, food, meals, beverages, or an invitation to a function paid for by a lobbyist’s principal if it is provided to the public official or public employee solely on the basis that the spouse of the public official or public employee is an official or employee of the providing lobbyist’s principal and the spouse’s receipt of the lodging, transportation, entertainment, food, meals, beverages, or invitation is purely incidental to the spouse’s office or employment with the lobbyist’s principal and the public official or public employee is receiving it only as the spouse of an official or employee of the providing lobbyist’s principal.