The Texas Ethics Commission posted the 2022 lobbying registration thresholds, which increase every year in January to reflect the change in the consumer price index.

The thresholds for individual lobbyist compensation and reimbursement increased from $1,620 to $1,640.

Expenditures increased from $810 to $820 per calendar quarter, not including expenditures for an individual’s travel, food, lodging, or membership dues.

If a lobbyist does not intend to exceed $1,890 during a calendar year in lobbying expenditures, the lobbyist may file an annual report, due on January 10.

The previous threshold for 2021 was $1,860.

Salary reporting thresholds have also increased.

Compensation or reimbursement required to be reported must be reported as an exact amount if the compensation or reimbursement received exceeds $944,430.

The previous exact amount threshold for 2021 was $931,500.

On March 7, a bill to amend Saskatchewan’s lobbying law was introduced in the Legislative Assembly.

Bill No. 615, An Act to amend The Lobbyist Act, would remove the current 100-hour annual threshold required to trigger registration for in-house lobbyists.

Additionally, the bill would eliminate the registration exemption for non-profits, except for those non-profit entities with no more than five employees.

The bill also prohibits Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from accepting gifts, unless a gift is accepted in accordance with The Members’ Conflict of Interest Act. The gift prohibition in the bill extends to an MLA’s staff, members of the Executive Council and their staff, employees of the ministry, individuals in certain appointed positions, and employees, officers, directors, and members of governmental institutions.

If the legislation passes, the amendments would come into force on Assent.

Hawaii legislators are currently considering legislation aimed at closing an existing loophole in lobbyist registration and reporting rules. Currently, a lobbyist is one who spends more than five hours in a month or $750 in a reporting period attempting to influence a ballot issue or legislative or administrative action.

The law is not clear, however, with regards to the activities and time to be included when determining if an individual meets the lobbyist threshold. As a result, it has been utilized as a way to avoid public disclosure.

House Bill 290 would close the loophole by amending the registration threshold. A lobbyist would include anyone paid or who expects to be paid more than $1,000 in a year for lobbying, anyone who spends five hours in one month or 10 hours in a calendar year on lobbying, or anyone who lobbies on three or more measures during a legislative session.

The bill is just one part of a legislative package supported by the Hawaii State Ethics Commission. The Commission is also supporting bills to increase fines for ethics and lobbying violations, to amend various definitions related to lobbying, to amend special session lobbyist reporting requirements, and to allow lobbyist employers to file notices of termination.

This month, the Texas Ethics Commission adopted a new rule adjusting the compensation and reimbursement threshold for lobbyists.

The new rule eliminates an exception not requiring a person to register as a lobbyist if he or she lobbied no more than five percent of his or her compensated time during a calendar quarter. Under the new rule exception, a person is not required to register as a lobbyist if the person spends not more than 40 hours during a calendar quarter engaging in lobbying activity for which the person is compensated or reimbursed.Time spent on preparatory activity is included in determining whether the 40-hour threshold has been met.

This rule goes into effect January 1, 2017.