The Ohio Joint Legislative Ethics Committee published a reminder they will not accept cash, money orders, or physical checks for payment of 2021 lobbying registration fees.

The online payment portal, accessible via the lobbyist’s OLAC account was established in 2019.

Registrations fees for 2021 must be paid electronically by VISA, MasterCard, or ACH.

Lobbyists may begin renewing registrations for legislative, executive, and retirement system engagements in OLAC on December 1.

The renewal option closes January 15, 2021.

Any lobbyist who does not complete the renewal process by January 15 must file a new initial registration statement.

The registration statement requires a signature page.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office will conduct online training sessions to introduce the new lobbyist filing system enhancement.

The new filing system is pursuant to the passage of legislation effective January 1, 2020.

House Bill 1248 will require lobbyists to file notification of any new positions or position changes on new or existing legislation within 72 hours of that change.

Secretary of state staff will be available to walk through the technical aspects of how to file the new disclosure in the online system.

There will be two separate online training sessions. The first training will take place on January 6, 2020, at 9 a.m.

The second training will take place on January 7, 2020, at 11 a.m.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) sent out a statement clarifying an earlier email reminder regarding lobbyist bimonthly filings due this week.

The previous email reminder was sent out to JCOPE’s distribution list containing clients, lobbyists, and other entities no longer registered in New York.

The email reminder was only relevant for lobbyists filing bimonthly reports covering the period of September through October.

Client filings are not due again until January 15, 2020.

The New York State Joint Commission of Public Ethics announced an extension for the submission of bimonthly reports for the May to June reporting period until July 31.

JCOPE extended the deadline due to ongoing technical difficulties with the online Lobbying Application.

This extension corresponds with the previously announced extension for client semiannual reports and source of funding disclosures.

The commission is working to fix the issues and further updates will be announced on the JCOPE website.

The State Ethics Commission will launch a new lobbying filing system, replacing the current system that has been in use for over 10 years. The current system uses outdated software and there is a limited number of programmers who can work on the system, which necessitated the change. The new system will utilize the latest advancements in software and should be user friendly. The new filing system is expected to go live on September 1.