[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 105th Congress]
[105th Congress]
[House Document 104-272]
[Rules of the House of Representatives]
[Pages 836-842]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
Rule XLVII.
limitations on outside employment and earned income.
|
Sec. 943. Income limitations. |
1. (a)(1) Except as provided
by subparagraph (2), in calendar year 1991 or thereafter, a Member or an
officer or employee of the House may not--
|
(A) have outside earned income attributable to such calendar
year which exceeds 15 percent of the annual rate of basic pay for level
II of the Executive Schedule under section 5313 of title 5, United
States Code, as of January 1 of such calendar year; or
(B) receive any honorarium.
[[Page 837]]
such individual is a Member, officer, or employee during such
calendar year and the denominator of which is 365.
(2) In the case of any individual who becomes a Member or an officer
or employee of the House during calendar year 1991 or thereafter, such
individual may not have outside earned income attributable to the
portion of that calendar year which occurs after such individual becomes
a Member, officer or employee which exceeds 15 percent of the annual
rate of basic pay for level II of the Executive Schedule under section
5313 of title 5, United States Code, as of January 1 of such calendar
year multiplied by a fraction the numerator of which is the number of days
(3) In calendar year 1991 or thereafter, any payment in lieu of an
honorarium which is made to a charitable organization on behalf of a
Member, officer or employee of the House may not be received by such
individual. No such payment shall exceed $2,000 or be made to a
charitable organization from which such individual or a parent, sibling,
spouse, child, or dependent relative of such individual derives any
financial benefit.
(b)(1) Except as provided by subparagraph (2), in calendar year 1990,
a Member may not have outside earned income (including honoraria
received in such calendar year) attributable to such calendar year which
exceeds 30 percent of the annual pay as a Member to which the Member was
entitled in 1989.
(2) In the case of any individual who becomes a Member during calendar
year 1990, such individual may not have outside earned income (including
honoraria) attributable to the portion of that calendar year which
occurs after such individual becomes a Member which exceeds 30 percent
of $89,500 multiplied by a fraction the numerator of which is the number
of days such individual is a Member during such calendar year and the
denominator of which is 365.
[[Page 838]]
2. On or after January 1, 1991, a Member or an officer or employee of
the House shall not--
(1) receive compensation for affiliating with or being
employed by a firm, partnership, association, corporation, or other
entity which provides professional services involving a fiduciary
relationship;
(2) permit that Member's, officer's, or employee's name to be
used by any such firm, partnership, association, corporation, or other
entity;
(3) receive compensation for practicing a profession which
involves a fiduciary relationship;
(4) serve for compensation as an officer or member of the
board of any association, corporation, or other entity; or
(5) receive compensation for teaching, without the prior
notification and approval of the Committee on Standards of Official
Conduct.
3. A Member, officer, or employee of the House may not--
[[Page 839]]
(1) receive any advance payment on copyright royalties, but
this paragraph does not prohibit any literary agent, researcher, or
other individual (other than an individual employed by the House or a
relative of that Member, officer, or employee) working on behalf of that
Member, officer, or employee with respect to a publication from
receiving an advance payment of a copyright royalty directly from a
publisher and solely for the benefit of that literary agent, researcher,
or other individual; or
(2) receive any copyright royalties pursuant to a contract
entered into on or after January 1, 1996, unless that contract is first
approved by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct as complying
with the requirement of clause 4(e)(5) (that royalties are received from
an established publisher pursuant to usual and customary contractual
terms).
4. For the purposes of this rule--
(a) The term ``Member'' means any Member of the House of
Representatives, a Delegate to the House of Representatives, or the
Resident Commissioner in the House of Representatives.
(b)(1) Except as provided by paragraph (2), the term ``officer
or employee of the House'' means any individual (other than a Member)
whose pay is disbursed by the Clerk and who is paid at a rate equal to
or greater than the annual rate of basic pay in effect for grade GS-16
of the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5, United States
Code, and so employed for more than 90 days in a calendar year.
(2) When used with respect to honoraria, the term ``officer or
employee of the House'' means any individual (other than a Member) whose
salary is disbursed by the Clerk.
[[Page 840]]
tual and necessary travel expenses incurred by such individual (and one
relative) to the extent that such expenses are paid or reimbursed by any
other person, and the amount otherwise determined shall be reduced by the
amount of any such expenses to the extent that such expenses are not paid
or reimbursed.
(c) The term ``honorarium'' means a payment of money or any thing of
value for an appearance, speech, or article by a Member or an officer or
employee of the House, excluding any ac-
(d) The term ``travel expenses'' means, with respect to a Member or an
officer or employee of the House, or a relative of any such individual,
the cost of transportation, and the cost of lodging and meals while away
from his or her residence or principal place of employment.
(e) The term ``outside earned income'' means, with respect to a
Member, officer or employee, wages, salaries, fees, and other amounts
received or to be received as compensation for personal services
actually rendered but does not include--
(1) the salary of such individual as a Member, officer or
employee;
(2) any compensation derived by such individual for personal
services actually rendered prior to the effective date of this rule or
becoming such a Member, officer or employee, whichever occurs later;
(3) any amount paid by, or on behalf of, a Member, officer or
employee, to a tax-qualified pension, profit-sharing, or stock bonus
plan and received by such individual from such a plan;
[[Page 841]]
which the individual or his family holds a controlling interest and in
which both personal services and capital are income-producing factors,
any amount received by such individual so long as the personal services
actually rendered by the individual in the trade or business do not
generate a significant amount of income; and
(4) in the case of a Member, officer or employee engaged in a
trade or business in
(5) copyright royalties received from established publishers
pursuant to usual and customary contractual terms.
Outside earned income shall be determined without regard to any
community property law.
(f) The term ``charitable organization'' means an organization
described in section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
[[Page 842]]
1989). In the 102d Congress clause 2
was further amended to specify that the ban on affiliation with a firm
applies only if compensation is received and only with respect to a
professional services firm, and clause 3 was further amended to specify
the applicability of outside earned income restrictions to officers and
employees of the House (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. 39). In the 104th
Congress clause 3 was redesignated as clause 4, and a new clause 3 was
added to prohibit the receipt of advance payments on copyright royalties
and the receipt of any payments on copyright royalties under future
contracts unless approved in advance by the Committee on Standards of
Official Conduct (H. Res. 299, Dec. 2, 1995, p. ----).
The rule on outside earned income was adopted in the 95th Congress (H.
Res. 287, Mar. 2, 1977, pp. 5933-53). It was amended for the first time
in the 96th Congress to increase the limit on a single honorarium from
$750 to $1000 (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16). The rule was amended
further in the 97th Congress to (1) increase the limitation on outside
earned income for a calendar year from 15 to 30 percent of a Member's
salary; (2) strike the $1000 limitation on a single honorarium; and (3)
provide that honoraria shall be attributable to the calendar year in
which payment is received, effective January 1, 1981 (H. Res. 305, Dec.
15, 1981, p. 31529). In the 99th Congress, paragraphs (a) and (b) were
amended to delete the 30 percent of aggregate salary limitation on
outside earned income and to conform the limitation to that contained in
law (2 U.S.C. 31-1 provides that a Member of Congress may not accept
honoraria in excess of 40 percent of his aggregate salary) (H. Res. 427,
Apr. 22, 1986, p. 8328). The next day, the House adopted a resolution
vacating the proceedings by which that resolution had been adopted and
laying that resolution on the table (H. Res. 432, Apr. 23, 1986, p.
8474). The Ethics Reform Act of 1989: (1) amended the title of the rule;
(2) amended clause 1 to effect for 1991 and future years the elimination
of honoraria not assigned to charity and closer restrictions on outside
earned income (including limitation to 15 percent of Executive Level II
pay); (3) amended clause 2 to effect for 1991 and future years new
limits on outside employment; and (4) amended clause 3 to revise certain
definitions (P.L. 101-194, Nov. 30,
For an in depth discussion of this rule prepared by the Committee on
Standards of Official Conduct, see the House Ethics Manual (102d Cong.,
2d Sess.).
Before its coverage was restricted to the Senate in the Ethics Reform
Act of 1989 (sec. 601(b), P.L. 101-194, Nov. 30, 1989), a separate
provision of law (2 U.S.C. 441i) provided criminal penalties for any
elected or appointed Federal employee who accepts an honorarium of more
than $2000 per speech. A statutory ceiling of $25,000 from honoraria in
a calendar year was repealed in 1981 (P.L. 97-51, Oct. 1, 1981). The
Senate repealed its rule on outside earned income in the 97th Congress
(S. Res. 512, Dec. 14, 1982, p. 30640).
For provisions of the federal criminal code restricting postemployment
activities, see 18 U.S.C. 207, which was originally enacted in title V
of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-521) and most recently
amended in the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 (P.L. 101-194, Nov. 30, 1989)
and a related technical corrections Act (P.L. 101-280, May 4, 1990).