[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 Publishing 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).