Federal Lobbying Laws and Rules Governing Political Activity

Georgetown faculty, staff, and students may engage in politics, lobbying on issues of concern, and similar endeavors. There are a number of federal, state and local laws that regulate both the activities of Georgetown, as an institution, and its faculty, staff and students.

The Office of Federal Relations oversees or is involved with many of the political activities in which the university engages. The Office of Compliance and Ethics provides advice and assistance relating to compliance with laws and regulations, including those governing political activities. The Tax Department is responsible for ensuring compliance with IRS requirements. Each of these offices works closely with the Office of General Counsel.

Federal Lobbying Disclosure Laws

Lobby Disclosure Reports must be filed quarterly. These reports are required to reflect all federal lobbying activity by the university, including by faculty and staff, and federal lobbying activity conducted by external lobbyists that relate to the university. In addition, the university must calculate the proportion of Georgetown-paid memberships in organizations that lobby and reflect that in these reports.

While our office keeps records of the time of faculty and staff who are involved in lobbying in which our office is also involved, to ensure that the Lobby Disclosure Reports are accurate, faculty and staff involved in lobbying the Congress or the Administration on university-related issues need to be in contact with Associate Vice President for Federal Relations Katy Button no later than the 10th day of the first month of each calendar quarter (April 10, July 10, October 10 and January 10), so that those activities are appropriately reflected in the reports.

(Keep in mind that the Office of Federal Relations is available as a resource to you when you have concerns regarding federal legislation relating to the university, but that this reporting requirement does not extend to contacts you may have had with congressional offices or administration officials on matters of personal interest to you and that are not in any way related to the university.)

Please note that disclosure rules also require semiannual reports on political contributions of registered lobbyists and of contributions to certain events such as funds paid for an event to honor or recognize a covered official or to entities that are named for a covered official. Disclosure reports are due on a semiannual basis (July 30 and January 30). If you have any questions about whether you, your school or your department may have made such contributions or participated in an event requiring disclosure, please contact our office well prior to these dates.

For purposes of completing the IRS Form 990 report (prepared by the Office of Tax and Asset Management), similar information must be maintained and reported regarding federal, state and/or local lobbying activities. The 990 is filed on an annual basis and contains information gathered from the quarterly Lobby Disclosure Reports, and both university employees and external lobbyists who engaged in state and /or local lobbying activities on behalf of Georgetown.

Congressional Gift Rules severely limit gifts given, and entertainment provided, to Members of Congress or their staffs. Since the university does have a registered federal lobbyist, these restrictions extend to all university faculty and staff. In general, Members of Congress or staff persons may not accept anything of value from anyone, whether the gift is personal or official unless accepting the gift is allowed under specific exceptions. The exceptions include, among others:

The Personal Friendship Exception covers gifts that are based on a long-standing personal friendship that is reflected in a pattern of previous reciprocal gift-giving, the history of the relationship and a pattern of similar gifts to other friends. In no instance should a gift given under this exception have been paid for by the university or written off as a business deduction. Furthermore, any gift over $250 must receive pre-clearance from the Senate Select Committee on Ethics or the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, even if it is given under this exception.
The Widely Attended Event Exception covers the offer of free attendance at events attended by at least 25 other individuals from throughout a given field or profession from the sponsor of the event. This exemption would not apply, for the most part, to an event that includes only persons from the university community.
The Charity Events Exception, for 170(c)(3) organizations covers invitations for free attendance at charity events from the sponsoring organization.
The Educational Events Exception covers invitations to educational events by university or other non-profit sponsors, including university-sponsored lectures, seminars or discussion groups, but excluding presentations by lobbyists.

Still permitted are “food and refreshments of nominal value offered other than as part of a meal” (e.g. coffee, tea, bagels, pastries, “standing up foods” like light hors d’oeuvres), books and informational materials or special plaques or awards.

There are also rules limiting privately funded travel, but a special rule exists for higher education institutions. If a circumstance were to arise where you might be contemplating covering travel costs for a member of Congress or their staff, please be in touch in advance with our office to determine if it is permissible.

Rules Governing Political Activities

It is important that individual members of the university community help the university avoid any impression that personal political speech and activities are those of the university. While individuals are free to engage in political activity in a personal capacity, Internal Revenue Service rules place limits on the political activities of tax-exempt organizations, including Georgetown University.

The Internal Revenue Code prohibits the university from engaging directly or indirectly in any partisan political campaign activity or supporting any such activity. Partisan “political campaign activity” is the support of or opposition to a candidate for public office at the federal, state or local level, even if the candidate is not affiliated with a political party. The university cannot directly or indirectly participate in, or intervene in, any political campaign or engage in “candidate election advocacy.” This means that, unlike an individual, the university may not contribute to political campaign funds or make public statements that favor or oppose any candidate for public office.

Georgetown can (and does) do the following things, however:

Encourage members of its community to participate actively in political campaign-related activities of their choice and to speak or write freely, as long as they do not do so in ways that create the appearance that they are speaking on behalf of Georgetown University.
Conduct non-partisan voter education and voter registration activities (e.g., GU Votes and TurboVote sign-up) that do not favor a particular candidate.
Conduct election-related research, including public opinion polling and distributing questionnaires to candidates, as long as it is done in a neutral way.
Invite candidates to speak in a non-candidate capacity (e.g., allowing a sitting office holder who is running for re-election to speak about an issue related to the office he or she holds).
Provide candidates with opportunities to speak on campus.

Any university group or program that would like to invite and host a candidate on campus should notify the Office of Protocol and Events within the Office of Public Affairs.

If you are affiliated with Georgetown, please read the university’s guidelines for political activities and political candidate appearances for more information. Nothing in these guidelines prohibits university faculty or staff from participating in political campaign activity in their individual capacity apart from their relationship to the university, nor is there any restriction on the discussion of political issues or on academic endeavors that address public policy issues or teach about political processes or techniques. You may also read the Law Center’s policy on partisan political activities and lobbying.

Please don’t hesitate to be in touch with any of us as questions arise.