VIII. Business Site Visits

You and a guest may accept local transportation to visit a business site in your official capacity.[55] Specifically, you may accept

• Local transportation, outside of the District of Columbia, to the business site
  • The travel must not start or end in the District of Columbia
  • Includes travel from the local airport or other terminus to the business site
  • Local transportation means within 35 miles
• Meals offered by the management of the site being visited
  • Meal must be on that business’s premises
  • Meal must be in a group setting with employees of the organization, not just board members

Example. A local business invites you to tour its facility. Part of the tour includes a cafeteria where all of the facility’s employees eat lunch together.  You may eat lunch in the facility’s cafeteria with the other employees as part of the business site visit.

Example. A local business invites you to tour its facility. The invitation includes an offer to staff to tour the facility, as well as guests that anyone may want to bring. You may bring one guest of your choosing.

Example. Your district relies heavily on the local waterways, including an extensive locks system. The company that manages the locks invites you to tour the locks system. To see the entire system, you must travel by boat through the locks. You will board the boat at the north end of the system and disembark at the south end of the system. You may accept that local transportation as part of the business site visit.

For travel expenses that are more than just local transportation and an on-site meal, you may need to seek pre-approval for privately-sponsored, officially-connected travel.