SEC. 2.115. LIMITS AND PROHIBITIONS.
§ 2.115
This section prohibits lobbyists from initiating legislation for purposes of later profiting from it, restricting contact methods and campaign contribution activities, and bars them from evading these rules through indirect means or agents.
Lobbyists cannot start or push for new laws or city actions just so they can later be hired to help pass or block them. When lobbyists talk to city officials, they must use real names and get permission if using someone else's name. Lobbyists cannot use go-betweens or employees to get around these rules. Lobbyists also cannot give money to city officials or candidates if they are currently registered to lobby that official's agency, or have been registered to do so in the last 90 days. If a lobbyist didn't properly report which agencies they're trying to influence, they cannot give money to any city officials or candidates at all. Lobbyists also cannot deliver other people's money to candidates if they lobby that candidate's agency or have lobbied it recently. The city's Ethics Commission can write rules to explain how these limits work, but cannot create exceptions to them.
- Controversial:Campaign contribution restrictions on lobbyists are a politically contested area where enforcement and scope generate ongoing debate in San Francisco.
- Complex:Subsections (d), (e), and (f) contain multiple cross-referenced conditions and overlapping rules about contributions and bundling that could be simplified.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
(a) FUTURE EMPLOYMENT. No lobbyist shall cause or influence the introduction or initiation of any local legislative or administrative action for the purpose of thereafter being employed or retained to secure its granting, denial, confirmation, rejection, passage, or defeat.
(b) FICTITIOUS PERSONS. No contact lobbyist shall contact any officer of the City and County in the name of any fictitious person or in the name of any real person, except with the consent of such real person.
(c) EVASION OF OBLIGATIONS. No lobbyist shall attempt to evade the obligations imposed by this Chapter through indirect efforts or through the use of agents, associates, or employees.
(d) CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS – PROHIBITIONS.
(1) No lobbyist shall make any contribution to a City elective officer or candidate for City elective office, including the City elective officer’s or candidate’s controlled committees, if that lobbyist (A) is registered to lobby the agency of the City elective officer or the agency for which the candidate is seeking election or (B) has been registered to lobby that agency in the previous 90 days.
(2) If a lobbyist has failed to disclose which agencies the lobbyist attempts to influence, as required by Section 2.110(b), the lobbyist may not make a contribution to any City elective officer or candidate for City elective office, or any City elective officer’s or candidate’s controlled committees.
(e) BUNDLING OF CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS – PROHIBITIONS.
(1) No lobbyist shall deliver or transmit, or deliver or transmit through a third party, any contribution made by another person to any City elective officer or candidate for City elective office, or any City elective officer’s or candidate’s controlled committees, if that lobbyist (A) is registered to lobby the agency for which the candidate is seeking election or the agency of the City elective officer or (B) has been registered to lobby that agency in the previous 90 days.
(2) If a lobbyist has failed to disclose which agencies the lobbyist attempts to influence, as required by Section 2.110(b), the lobbyist may not deliver or transmit, or deliver or transmit through a third party, any contribution made by another person to any City elective officer or candidate for City elective office, or any City elective officer’s or candidate’s controlled committees.
(f) AGGREGATION OF AFFILIATED ENTITY CONTRIBUTIONS. For purposes of the contribution limits imposed by subsections (e) and (f), the contributions of an entity whose contributions are directed and controlled by any lobbyist shall be aggregated with contributions made by that lobbyist as set forth in Section 1.114(c).
(g) REGULATIONS. The Ethics Commission may adopt regulations implementing this Section 2.115, but such regulations may not establish any exceptions from the limits and prohibitions set forth therein.
(Added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000; amended by Ord. 235-09, File No. 090833, App. 11/10/2009; Prop. C, App. 11/3/2015, Oper. 2/1/2016; Prop. T, App. 11/8/2016, Oper. 1/1/2018; re-enacted and amended by Proposition D, 3/5/2024, Eff. 4/12/2024, Oper. 10/12/2024)