Colorado lobbyist rule changes were effective June 30. Much of the changes involve recodification to ensure uniform and proper administration and implementation of state law.

Such changes clarify professional lobbyist and lobbyist firm registration and disclosure requirements as well as add or amend several lobbying definitions.

Effective January 1, 2019, a professional lobbyist must also log by date all position changes (monitoring, oppose, or support) on a bill and must file a monthly log contemporaneously with each monthly disclosure statement.

The Phoenix City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to give final approval to the city’s lobbying ordinance overhaul.

Under the amended rules, lobbyists not filing required registration or disclosure forms can face sanctions, including fines of up to $2,500, suspension from lobbying and jail time.

The ordinance also requires lobbyists to disclose to city officials whom they contact if they are working in a capacity as a lobbyist and expands covered officials that trigger registration.

The ordinance will take effect July 1, 2017.

City Council discovered its lobbying regulations have no enforcement mechanism several months ago, but it has yet to agree on whether violations should be treated as civil or criminal matters.

The discovery began following a controversial vote on a request to pay out $1.2 million to a developer for stormwater culverts on a city owned property. The developer’s lobbyists, a former city staffer and a lawyer at the law firm Burch & Cracchiolo, were not registered according to city records.

While the former city staffer’s attorney accused the city of losing or misfiling his registrations, the city contends the documents produced by Burch & Cracchiolo were falsely created and backdated because they use the law firm’s current letterhead, not the letterhead the firm used in 2015.

When the matter was referred to the city prosecutor, he discovered the current ordinance does not explicitly say failure to file proper lobbying documents is unlawful and does not specify the penalty for failing to register. The city prosecutor previously assumed noncompliance could result in a misdemeanor charge.

Any changes to current lobbying regulations will impact the work of more than 300 registered lobbyists in the city.

Photo of Phoenix City Hall by Kevin Dooley

On March 1, a new lobbying law took effect in the Regional Municipality of Peel, Ontario. By-law Number 47-2016 creates a Lobby Registry and Registration System and establishes the position and duties of the Lobbyist Registrar.

The new law covers consultant, in-house, and voluntary unpaid lobbyists. A return is required to be filed within five business days of a covered communication or may take place in advance of lobbying. Lobbyists must register a separate subject matter registration for each issue they lobby and must include a description of the issue being lobbied, who will be lobbied, and when the lobbying will occur or has occurred.

Former public office holders are prohibited from lobbying for one year after leaving their position. Lobbying on a contingency basis is also prohibited under the new law.