(a) No employer of a lobbyist, lobbyist or any person acting at the specific direction of an employer or lobbyist shall offer or attempt to offer anything of value to an official in the legislative or executive branch, or to the official’s immediate family, based on any stated or tacit understanding that the official’s vote, official action or judgment would be influenced thereby.
Candidate for public office: means any individual who has made a formal announcement of candidacy or who qualified under the law of this state to seek nomination for election or elections to any state public office, or has received contributions or made expenditures, except for incidental expenditures to determine if one shall be a candidate, or has given consent for a campaign committee to receive contributions or make expenditures, with a view to bringing about that person's nomination for election or the election to state public office, and any individual who has been nominated for appointment as an official in the legislative or executive branch. See Tennessee Code 3-6-301
Compensation: means any salary, fee, payment, reimbursement or other valuable consideration, or any combination thereof, whether received or to be received. See Tennessee Code 3-6-301
employer: means any person or entity that employs, retains or otherwise arranges for a lobbyist to engage in lobbying on behalf of the person or entity for compensation. See Tennessee Code 3-6-301
Immediate family: means a spouse or minor child living in the household. See Tennessee Code 3-6-301
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
lobby: includes communications by the contractor, subcontractor or other representative, and the contractor, subcontractor or other representative shall comply with the lobbying registration and other provisions of this part pertaining to lobbyists. See Tennessee Code 3-6-301
Lobbyist: means any person who engages in lobbying for compensation. See Tennessee Code 3-6-301
Official in the executive branch: means the governor, any member of the governor's staff, any member or employee of a state regulatory commission, including, without limitation, commissioners of the Tennessee public utility commission, or any member or employee of any executive department or agency or other state body in the executive branch. See Tennessee Code 3-6-301
Person: means any individual, partnership, committee, association, corporation, labor organization, or any other organization or group of persons. See Tennessee Code 3-6-301
Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Solicit: means to entreat, to implore, to ask, to attempt, or to try to obtain. See Tennessee Code 3-6-301
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) No employer of a lobbyist or lobbyist shall knowingly make or cause to be made any false statement or misrepresentation of the facts concerning any matter for which the lobbyist is registered to lobby to any official in the legislative or executive branch.(c) No official in the legislative or executive branch, or a member of the official’s staff or immediate family, shall solicit or accept anything of value in violation of subsection (a).(d) No lobbyist shall make a loan of money to a candidate for public office, official in the legislative or executive branch, or to anyone on their behalf.(e) No candidate for public office, official in the legislative or executive branch, or a member of the official’s staff or immediate family, shall solicit or accept a loan in violation of subsection (d).(f) No employer of a lobbyist, lobbyist or any person acting at the direction of an employer or lobbyist shall pay or agree to pay a candidate for public office or official in the legislative or executive branch compensation for property or services substantially in excess of that charged in the ordinary course of business.(g) No employer of a lobbyist, lobbyist or any person acting at the direction of an employer or lobbyist shall permit a candidate for public office, official in the legislative or executive branch or a staff member, or a member of the candidate or official’s immediate family, to use the credit or credit card of the employer or lobbyist or any other credit card over which the employer or the lobbyist has control.(h) Except to the extent permissible under § 3-6-305, no employer of a lobbyist, lobbyist or any person acting at the direction of an employer or lobbyist shall pay the lodging expenses of an official in the legislative or executive branch or immediate family of the official.(i) No employer of a lobbyist or multicandidate political campaign committee controlled by an employer of a lobbyist shall make any campaign contribution to a candidate for the office of governor or member of the general assembly during any regular annual session or any extraordinary session of the general assembly.(j) No lobbyist shall offer or make any campaign contribution, including any in-kind contribution, to or on behalf of the governor, any judge or chancellor, or any member of the general assembly, or any candidate for the office of governor, supreme court judge, court of appeals judge, court of criminal appeals judge, circuit court judge, chancellor, juvenile court judge, general sessions judge, state senator, or state representative.(k) No employer of a lobbyist shall offer or pay and no lobbyist shall solicit or accept any fee, compensation or bonus for lobbying wherein the amount of the fee, compensation or bonus is contingent upon achievement of an outcome deemed to be successful for the employer.(l) No member of the general assembly, elected official in the executive branch, member of the governor’s cabinet, or cabinet level staff within the governor’s office shall be a lobbyist during the twelve-month period immediately following departure from such office or employment.(m) No lobbyist shall serve as a member of any board, commission or governmental entity of state government having jurisdiction to regulate the business endeavors or professional activities of any employer of the lobbyist; nor shall any lobbyist serve as a member of the state election commission or any county election commission; provided, that this prohibition does not apply to a lobbyist serving on an election commission on February 15, 2006, as long as the lobbyist continuously serves as a member of that commission.(n) No official in the legislative or executive branch shall accept travel expenses, meals or lodging paid pursuant to § 2-10-116(a), if payment of the travel expenses, meals or lodging violates this section or constitutes a prohibited gift under § 3-6-305.
