These bills would alter reporting and disclosure requirements to mandate reports be filed each month during the period from January through May of each year, as well as during any other month in which the legislature is in session. Further, an additional report would be filed on January 15 of each year to cover the period of June 1 to December 31.

Additionally, the bills would require lobbyists and their clients to make new disclosures, including campaign contributions made, the existence of any contractual relationships with legislators, and events attended wherein members of the legislature were in attendance and an average cost of $25 or more per person or total of $500 including gifts was expended. The bills also provide for definitions to pertinent terms, including ‘candidate,’ ‘candidate committee,’ ‘committee,’ and ‘contractual relationship.’

The state supreme court has declared a special gubernatorial election must be held this year. Under West Virginia law, if a Governor vacates the office, the President of the Senate becomes “acting Governor” but may only do so for one year or less.

Last year, after the passing of Senator Byrd, then-Governor Manchin won a special election for the vacant Senate seat. Current “acting Governor” Earl Ray Tomblin and Secretary of State Natalie Tennant have each indicated they will be candidates in the October 4, 2011 election.

House Bill 44, a bill regarding ‘revolving door’ legislation, has been introduced in the Mississippi legislature. According to the bill, a member of the legislature would not be permitted to engage in or perform any function which would require registration as a lobbyist for a period of four years following the expiration of his or her legislative term. If passed, the bill would take effect July 1, 2011.

Photo of the Mississippi State Capitol by Charlie Brenner on Wikipedia.

City Council has confirmed the appointments of Herbert Berman, Margaret Morton, Lesley Horton, and Jamila Ponton Bragg to the New York City Lobbying Commission.  Berman, a lobbyist and former Council Finance Committee Chair, was selected to be the Lobbying Commission Chair.

Formation of the Lobbying Commission had stalled for three years as suitable candidates were sought.  The Lobbying Commission is an advisory body charged with making recommendations to improve New York City’s 2006 lobbying laws.

Photo of the New York City Hall by Momos on Wikipedia.

Representative Joseph M. McNamara introduced HB 5127 to amend the state’s “Code of Ethics” law. The bill would create a cooling off period for executive branch government officials who wish to lobby for specific entities once they leave office.

The law would require those employed by the department of administration in a decision-making position or capacity or those with influence over legislation with the executive branch to not lobby for or even work for a state agency, quasi-public agency, or any other state subsidized corporation or entity should they leave their employment until a new governor is elected.

SB1037 would prohibit certain officials from working for a company receiving certain state contracts or grants for one year if the former official was involved in the award process.

SB1038, a “revolving door” law, would prohibit state officials or legislators from working as a lobbyist for one year after leaving office.

Elizabeth Bartz and several staff members from State and Federal Communications will be attending the Public Affairs Council’s National Grassroots Conference in Key West, Florida from January 25-28.

The conference is offering an exciting lineup of speakers presenting on grassroots leadership, best practices, and the use of social media.

If you are attending, be sure to stop by and say hello! We would be pleased to see you!

The bill would affect an individual who submits a competitive bid or proposal for a contract as an individual, partner or owner of a privately held business, or board member or executive officer of a business.

They would be prohibited from making a political contribution to a candidate for statewide office, a statewide officeholder, or a specific-purpose committee for supporting or opposing a candidate for statewide office or assisting a statewide officeholder, during the period beginning with the date the bid or proposal is submitted and ending when the contract is awarded to another person or the 30th day after the bidder is awarded the contract.

Further, the same restrictions would be applied to a general-purpose committee established or administered by a corporation. If passed in current form, the legislation would take effect September 1, 2011.

Last week marked the 115th anniversary of the death of Mathew Brady. Many of our readers probably never have heard of Mathew Brady, yet we know some of his photographs very well. Today’s Highlighted Site of the Week, Mathewbrady.com, is dedicated to him.

Born in 1822, Brady is credited with being the father of photojournalism. He took his camera and gear right into the battlefields of the Civil War and took thousands of pictures. So much of what we know about the war we owe to Mathew Brady. In addition to photos of the battles, he created portraits of officers on both the Union and Confederate sides including Ulysses S. Grant, William Sherman, General Custer, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson. Brady photographed other notables including King Edward VII of England, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, and Edgar Allen Poe.

According to the site, Brady photographed 18 United States Presidents, and the most famous from the list would have to be Abraham Lincoln. This is what makes Mathew Brady so familiar to all of us – it was his photographs that were used for the Lincoln five-dollar bill, for Lincoln postage stamps, and the Lincoln penny.

There is a sad irony that Brady, someone so important to our country, had a difficult life and – according to the web site – died alone and penniless in 1896.

Mathewbrady.com is a fitting tribute to this historic photographer. The site offers a biography of Mathew Brady and a history of the processes of photography. Far and away the best feature, however, is the gallery of portraits, which is simply amazing.

Perhaps we all have come to take for granted that we have easy access to 24-hour news with visual coverage from anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice. But for those of us who follow government news and world events, in a way it all started with Mathew Brady. I urge everyone to take a few moments to visit Mathewbrady.com and learn a bit about this truly great American treasure.

Because of a technical malfunction, the Illinois Secretary of State‘s reporting system was unavailable from January 16th until early on January 18th. Accordingly, the Index Department has extended the deadline for reporting expenditures made in the first half of January.

Instead of being due on January 20th, those required to file reports now have until January 23.

According to a report in the Indiana Business Journal, Sarah Nagy, Executive Director and General Counsel for the Indiana Lobby Registration Commission has been placed on paid administrative leave. She received notice of the leave by e-mail the day before the state’s legislative lobbying registration renewals became due.

Ms. Nagy, who has held both jobs for 14 years, said she does not understand why she was put on leave.

Q.  If my employer hosts a function to which all members of the state legislature are invited, must I disclose the name of each individual legislator attending, or can I merely reference the fact that all members were invited?

A. This is a very common occurrence for most lobbyists: to pay for events where all members of the legislature, or some other identifiable group, are invited. The reporting implications for such events range from simple aggregate disclosure to detailed reporting where the name of every legislator attending must be listed. The key to accurate reporting is to know how the state defines “all invited” and whether it takes into consideration any type of “sub-group.”

Here is a representative summary of the varied reporting requirements you might encounter with this type of event:

Arizona – All expenditures incurred by a principal or lobbyist for a special event for legislators – including parties, dinners, athletic events, entertainment, and other functions – to which all members of the legislature, either house of the legislature, or any committee of the legislature are invited must be reported. These expenditures do not have to be reported based on the cost per legislator. However, a description of the event, date and location of the event, number of persons invited, and total expenditures must be reported.

Arkansas – A “special event” is a planned activity to which a specific governmental body or identifiable group of public servants is invited. One of the unique aspects of Arkansas disclosure in this situation is that if the event has multiple co-hosts, the names of all other lobbyists sharing in the cost of the event must be reported.

Also in Arkansas, hospitality rooms may be reported as a “special event” provided the lobbyist invites specific governmental bodies or identifiable groups of public servants. When reporting hospitality room expenses, the lobbyist must itemize the date the hospitality room was open; the name of the event hosted; the exact amount paid by the lobbyist towards the total expenditure for the hospitality room; and the names of all other lobbyists sharing in the cost of the room.

Georgia – Aggregate expenditures on food, beverages, and registration at group events to which all members of an agency, including the legislature and its committees and subcommittees, are invited must be disclosed. Also, if an expenditure is made on behalf of a public official and is simultaneously incurred for an identifiable group of public officials, the individual identification of whom would be impractical, the name of the individual official need not be disclosed. A general description of the identifiable group will suffice.

Louisiana – For legislative lobbying, the following must be invited before invoking group disclosure: the entire legislature; either house; any standing committee; select committee; statutory committee; committee created by resolution of either house; subcommittee of any committee; recognized caucus; or any delegation thereof. Disclosure includes the name of the group invited; the amount, date, and location of the event.

For executive branch lobbying, group disclosure is when more than 25 executive branch officials are invited to a reception, social gathering, or other function. The name of the event, amount, date, and location must be reported.

Utah – In Utah, food or beverage expenditures must be reported if the aggregate daily expenditures benefitting the public official are greater than $25, unless the food or beverage is provided in connection with an event to which all of the members of the legislature, a standing committee, interim committee, legislative task force, or a party caucus are invited.

Washington – Washington does not provide for group reporting. Even if all members of the legislature, or all members of any sub-group within the legislature, are invited, every individual person must be listed by name if the expenditure exceeds $25 per occasion (which it usually does when group events are involved).

If two or more lobbyist employers share the expenses of a reception or other entertainment event, the lobbyist primarily responsible for organizing the event must disclose on his or her monthly L-2 report the names of the legislators (and members of their immediate families) attending the group event. Rather than duplicating this list of attendees, the L-2 reports filed by the lobbyists of the other employers sponsoring the event may make reference to the lobbyist’s report that contains these details.

We have not listed rules for all the states, only examples of some states. If you have a question on a state not listed here, please contact us directly at 330-761-9960.

We are always available to answer questions from clients that are specific to your needs, and we encourage you to continue to call or e-mail us with questions about your particular company or organization. As always, we will confidentially and directly provide answers or information you need. Our replies to your questions are not legal advice. Instead, these replies represent our analysis of laws, rules, and regulations.

Companion bills seeking to create “revolving door” restrictions for members of the Texas legislature have been introduced during the 2011 session. Senate Bill 128 and House Bill 508 seek to prevent former members of the legislature from lobbying “before the date of final adjournment of the second regular session of the legislature to convene after the date the person ceases to be a member.”

If passed as presently written, a violation would be considered a class A misdemeanor in Texas.

Image of the Texas flag and state courtesy of Shem on Wikipedia.

Senate Bill 37, introduced by Senator Daniel Squadron, proposes to curtail political contributions by lobbyists.   The bill limits lobbyist political contributions to $250 per candidate, per election and contributions may only be made between the first of July and the end of the year.

The bill further bars lobbyists from soliciting or transmitting a contribution or a request for a contribution from any person, including a political committee, for the benefit of a public official or party committee.

Photo of New York State Capitol courtesy of UpstateNYer on Wikipedia.