Section 100.30  Instances Where Restrictions Do Not Apply

The restrictions do not apply to the following:

a)         Instances in which the interests of the Commission and the people of Illinois are served by participation of Commissioners or Commission personnel in widely attended luncheon meetings, dinner meetings and similar gatherings sponsored by industrial, technical, and professional associations for the discussion of matters of mutual interest of the Commission and in the performance of its duties;

b)         Specialty advertising items of nominal intrinsic value;

c)         Customary exchange of social amenities between personal friends and relatives when motivated by such relationship and extended on a personal basis;

d)         Things available impersonally to the general public, such as a free exhibition by an interested party at a national or regional meeting open to the public;

e)         Trophies, entertainment, rewards, prizes given to competitors in contests which are open to the public;

f)         Transportation provided by an interested party in connection with the performance of the Commission's official business and when alternate arrangements are clearly impracticable;

g)         Participation in civic and community activities by Commissioners and Commission employees when the relationship with the interested party can reasonably be characterized as a normal public or civic relationship;

h)         The acceptance of accommodations, subsistence or services furnished in kind in connection with official travel, when authorized by the Chairman as in the overall interest of the Commission and the Government of Illinois. Commissioners and Commission personnel may not accept personal reimbursement from a private source for expenses incident to official travel, unless authorized by the Chairman. In no case shall Commissioners or Commission employees accept, in kind or on a reimbursable basis benefits which, under prudent standards, are extravagant or excessive in nature.

i)          Situations not specifically covered herein, but where in the judgment of the individual concerned, participation by Commissioners or Commission personnel will serve the interests of the Commission and the people of Illinois, and for which the Chairman has granted prior approval.