T.C.A. § 3-6-305(b)(10)

  1. Food, refreshments, meals, or beverages that are provided by an employer of a lobbyist in connection with an in-state event to which invitations are extended to an official or officials in the legislative branch or official or officials in the executive branch; provided, that:
     
    1. No employer of a lobbyist may provide food, refreshments, meals, or beverages, the value of which to the official exceeds fifty dollars ($50.00) per event per day, excluding sales tax and gratuity; nor may such employer of a lobbyist provide any such items to any official pursuant to this subdivision (b)(10)(A)(i) that have a cumulative value of more than one hundred dollars ($100) to the official during a calendar year;
    2. The value of any such gift may not be reduced below such monetary limitations by dividing the cost of the gift among two (2) or more employers of lobbyists;
    3. This exception to the prohibition in subsection (a) only applies to a member or members of the general assembly, if the member or members do not receive a per diem allowance pursuant to § 3-1-106, for the day on which the event is held and the member or members do not receive any food, refreshments, meals or beverages that are provided in connection with the in-state event that are not offered or provided to other nonmembers in attendance at the event; and
    4. An officer or management-level employee of each employer of a lobbyist paying for the event shall attend the event; however, a lobbyist shall not be considered to be an officer or management-level employee of an employer of the lobbyist paying for the event for purposes of this subdivision (b)(10)(A)(iv).
  2. The fifty dollar ($50.00) and one hundred dollar ($100) amounts in subdivision (b)(10)(A)(i) shall be increased to the nearest one dollar ($1.00) amount to reflect the percentage of change in the average consumer price index (all items-city average) as published by the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics, every odd-numbered year on January 1 starting in 2007. The ethics commission shall publish the increased amount on its web site.