OLYMPIA — A legislative ethics panel gave final approval to a rule to limit lawmakers to just 12 free meals from lobbyists each year.
The Legislative Ethics Board voted Tuesday to reaffirm an August vote to define, for the first time, what current law means when it prohibits public officials from accepting free meals on more than “infrequent occasions.”
The rule takes effect Jan. 1.
The change comes after The Associated Press and a consortium of public radio stations found that the state’s 50 most active lobbyists spent $65,000 in meals for lawmakers in the first four months of 2013. Last year, the board dismissed a complaint filed about the practice, noting that that the “infrequent occasion” rule is not clearly defined in the Ethics in Public Service Act.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.