Maryland Public Ethics Law - Officials of the Legislative Branch - Gifts of Food and Beverages

EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*hb0136*

HOUSE BILL 136
G2 6lr0699
(PRE–FILED)
By: Delegate Vogel
Requested: August 14, 2025
Introduced and read first time: January 14, 2026
Assigned to: Government, Labor, and Elections

A BILL ENTITLED

AN ACT concerning 1

Maryland Public Ethics Law – Officials of the Legislative Branch – Gifts of Food 2
and Beverages 3

FOR the purpose of altering an exemption that allows an official of the Legislative Branch 4
to accept a gift of food or beverages a s part of a meal or reception to which a 5
legislative unit is invited to instead allow an official of the Legislative Branch to 6
accept a gift of food or beverages at a meal or reception to which all members of the 7
General Assembly are invited and that was open to the public; altering the written 8
invitation and registration report requirements a regulated lobbyist must meet if 9
inviting all members of the General Assembly to a meal or reception; requiring the 10
Department of Legislative Services to post on the General Assembly website certain 11
information regarding the meal or reception; and generally relating to officials of the 12
Legislative Branch and gifts of food and beverages. 13

BY repealing 14
Article – General Provisions 15
Section 5–101(w) 16
Annotated Code of Maryland 17
(2019 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 18

BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 19
Article – General Provisions 20
Section 5–505(c)(1) and 5–705(a) 21
Annotated Code of Maryland 22
(2019 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 23

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 24
Article – General Provisions 25
Section 5–505(c)(2)(i), 5–607(a) and (e)(3), 5–705(b), and 5–709 26
Annotated Code of Maryland 27
2 HOUSE BILL 136

(2019 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 1

BY renumbering 2
Article – General Provisions 3
Section 5–101(x) through (gg) and (gg–1) 4
to be Section 5–101(w) through (gg), respectively 5
Annotated Code of Maryland 6
(2019 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 7

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENER AL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 8
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 9

Article – General Provisions 10

5–101. 11

[(w) “Legislative unit” means: 12

(1) the General Assembly; 13

(2) either house of the General Assembly; 14

(3) a standing committee of the General Assembly, provided that the 15
presiding officer of the House of Delegates and the presiding officer of the Senate shall be 16
deemed an ex officio member of any standing committee of the presiding officer’s chamber; 17
or 18

(4) a county or regional delegation of members of the General Assembly 19
that is recognized by a presiding officer of the General Assembly.] 20

5–505. 21

(c) (1) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, an official or employee 22
may accept a gift listed in paragraph (2) of this subsection unless: 23

(i) the gift would tend to impair the impartiality and independent 24
judgment of the official or employee; or 25

(ii) as to a gift of significant value: 26

1. the gift would give the appearance of impairing the 27
impartiality and independent judgment of the official or employee; or 28

2. the official or employee believes or has reason to believe 29
that the gift is designed to impair the impartiality and independent judgment of the official 30
or employee. 31

HOUSE BILL 136 3

(2) Subject to paragraph (1) of this subsection, subsection (b) of this section 1
does not apply to: 2

(i) 1. except for officials of the Legislative Branch, meals or 3
beverages received and consumed by the official or employee in the presence of the donor 4
or sponsoring entity; 5

2. for officials of the Legislative Branch, food or beverages 6
received and consumed by the official in the presence of the donor or sponsoring entity as 7
part of a meal or reception: 8

A. to which all members of [a legislative unit ] THE 9
GENERAL ASSEMBLY were invited; AND 10

B. THAT WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; 11

3. for a member of the General Assembly, food or beverages 12
received from a donor or sponsoring entity, other than an individual regulated lobbyist 13
described in § 5 –702(a)(1) of this title, during a period w hen the General Assembly is not 14
in session, at a location that is within a county that contains the member’s district, provided 15
that the donor or sponsoring entity is located within a county that contains the member’s 16
district; or 17

4. for a member of t he General Assembly, food or beverages 18
received at the time and geographic location of a meeting of a legislative organization for 19
which the member’s presiding officer has approved the member’s attendance at State 20
expense; 21

5–607. 22

(a) A FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE statement that is required under § 5 –601(a) of 23
this subtitle shall contain schedules disclosing the information and interests specified in 24
this section, if known, for the individual making the statement for the applicable period. 25

(e) (3) (i) Except as provided in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, the 26
schedule shall include each gift with a value of more than $20 and each of two or more gifts 27
with a cumulative value of $100 or more received from one entity during the applicable 28
period. 29

(ii) The FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE statement need not include as a 30
gift: 31

1. food or beverages received and consumed by an official of 32
the Legislative Branch in the presence of the donor or sponsoring entity as part of a meal 33
or reception: 34

4 HOUSE BILL 136

A. to which all memb ers of [a legislative unit ] THE 1
GENERAL ASSEMBLY were invited; AND 2

B. THAT WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; 3

2. food or beverages received by a member of the General 4
Assembly at the time and geographic location of a meeting of a legislative organization for 5
which the member’s presiding officer has approved the member’s attendance at State 6
expense; or 7

3. except as provided in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph, 8
a ticket or free admission extended to a member of the General Assembly by the person 9
sponsoring or conducting the event as a courtesy or ceremony to the office to attend a 10
charitable, cultural, or political event to which all members of [a legislative unit] THE 11
GENERAL ASSEMBLY were invited. 12

(iii) The FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE statement shall include the 13
acceptance of each of two or more tickets or free admissions, extended to a member of the 14
General Assembly by the person sponsoring or conducting the event, with a cumulative 15
value of $100 or more received from one entity during the applicable period. 16

5–705. 17

(a) (1) A regulated lobbyist shall file electronically with the Ethics 18
Commission, under oath and for each registration, a separate report concerning the 19
regulated lobbyist’s lobbying activities: 20

(i) by May 31 of each year, to cover t he period from November 1 of 21
the previous year through April 30 of the current year; and 22

(ii) by November 30 of each year, to cover the period from May 1 23
through October 31 of that year. 24

(2) If the regulated lobbyist is not an individual, an authori zed officer or 25
agent of the regulated lobbyist shall sign the report. 26

(3) If a prorated amount is reported as compensation, it shall be labeled as 27
prorated. 28

(b) A report required by this section shall include: 29

(1) a complete, current statement of t he information required under § 30
5–704(b) of this subtitle; 31

(2) total expenditures in connection with influencing executive action or 32
legislative action in each of the following categories: 33
HOUSE BILL 136 5

(i) total individual regulated lobbyist compensation, excluding 1
expenses reported under this paragraph; 2

(ii) office expenses of the regulated lobbyist; 3

(iii) professional and technical research and assistance; 4

(iv) publications that expressly encourage communication with one 5
or more officials or employees; 6

(v) witnesses, including the name of each and the fees and expenses 7
paid to each; 8

(vi) except as otherwise reported under this paragraph, meals and 9
beverages for officials, employees, or members of the immediate families of officials or 10
employees; 11

(vii) except as provided in § 5 –709(d)(2) of this subtitle, food, 12
beverages, and incidental expenses for officials of the Legislative Branch for meals and 13
receptions: 14

1. to which all members of [any legislative unit ] THE 15
GENERAL ASSEMBLY were invited; AND 16

2. THAT WERE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; 17

(viii) food and beverages for members of the General Assembly at the 18
times and geographic locations of meetings of legislative organizations, as allowed under § 19
5–505(c)(2)(i)4 of this title; 20

(ix) food, lodging, and scheduled entertainment for officials and 21
employees at meetings at which the officials and employees were scheduled speakers or 22
scheduled panel participants; 23

(x) tickets and free admission extended to members of the General 24
Assembly, as a courtesy or ceremony to the office, to attend charitable, cultural, or political 25
events sponsored or conducted by the reporting entity, as allowed under § 5 –505(c)(2)(viii) 26
of this title; 27

(xi) other gifts to or for officials, employees, or members of the 28
immediate families of officials or employees; and 29

(xii) other expenses; and 30

6 HOUSE BILL 136

(3) as to expenditures reported in item (2)(vii), (viii), (ix), and (x) of this 1
subsection, the date, location, and total expense of the regulated lobbyist for each meal, 2
reception, event, or meeting. 3

5–709. 4

(a) A regulated lobbyist who invites all members of [a legislative unit ] THE 5
GENERAL ASSEMBLY to a meal or reception shall, at least [5] 14 days before the date of 6
the meal or reception: 7

(1) extend a written invitation to all members of the [legislative unit ] 8
GENERAL ASSEMBLY; and 9

(2) register the meal or reception with the Department of Legislative 10
Services by filing a report electronically as required by the Ethics Commission. 11

(b) A [legislative unit] registration report required under subsection (a) of this 12
section shall include[: 13

(1)] the TIME, date, and location of the meal or reception[; and 14

(2) the name of the legislative unit invited]. 15

(c) (1) [Based on information containe d in a legislative unit ] WITHIN 1 16
BUSINESS DAY OF RECE IVING A registration report filed under subsection (a) of this 17
section, the Department of Legislative Services shall [publish once a week a list containing] 18
POST ON THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY WEBSITE the TIME, date, and location of each 19
upcoming meal or reception [and the name of the legislative unit invited ] AS DISCLOSED 20
IN THE REPORT. 21

(2) (i) The Department of Legislative Services shall allow public 22
inspection of any [legislative unit] registration report required under this section during 23
regular business hours. 24

(ii) The Department of Legislative Services shall maintain a 25
photocopy or electronic copy of each registration report required under this section. 26

(d) (1) (i) A regulated lobbyist who is required to register under subsection 27
(a) of this section shall report the total cost of the meal or reception, and the name of each 28
sponsor who contributes to the cost and the amount of the contribution, to the Ethics 29
Commission within 14 days after the date of the meal or reception. 30

(ii) If any information required under subparagraph (i) of this 31
paragraph is not known within 14 days after the date of the meal or reception, the regulated 32
lobbyist shall, as to the information not known, specify the nature and estimate the amount 33
of each item. 34
HOUSE BILL 136 7

(2) If all of the information required by paragraph (1)(i) of this subsection 1
is reported accurately and completely, the regulated lobbyist is not required to report the 2
cost of the meal or reception under § 5–705(b)(2)(vii) of this subtitle. 3

(3) The Ethics Commission shall allow public inspection of each 4
registration report required under this subsection during regular business hours. 5

(e) A report required under this section shall be filed electronically in the manner 6
required for reports filed under § 5–705 of this subtitle. 7

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That Section(s) 5 –101(x) through 8
(gg) and (gg –1) of Article – General Provisions of the Annotated Code of Maryland be 9
renumbered to be Section(s) 5–101(w) through (gg), respectively. 10

SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 11
October 1, 2026. 12