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.

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.

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.

A proposed ethics law would create a “revolving door” restriction for former West Virginia elected officials and senior members of their staff.

Under House Bill 2464, these people would have to wait one year after leaving office before acting as a lobbyist at the state level. A more controversial aspect of this bill would require public officials to disclose their spouse’s source of income in campaign disclosure filings.

A similar bill was proposed last year but stalled in the Senate Finance Committee.

Photo of the West Virginia state capitol building by Analogue Kid on Wikipedia.

State Senator Kathy Stein has introduced legislation to make Kentucky a “no cup of coffee” state. The bill would reduce lobbyist’s annual expenditure ceiling from $100 per year on a state official to absolutely nothing.

Additionally, the proposed ethics law would extend Kentucky’s prohibition on lobbyists making campaign contributions during a legislative session to the lobbyists’ employers and to PACs.

Photo courtesy of Julius Schorzman on Wikipedia.

Senate Bill 75, introduced to the Legislature on the first day of session, seeks to reinstate the state’s campaign contribution limits.  The bill limits contributions to $2,000 for statewide office, $1,000 for state senators, $500 for state representatives, $325 for any other office if the population is under 100,000, $850 if it is between 100,000 and 250,000, and $1,275 if the population is more than 250,000.

The bill also alters the state’s revolving door provision by preventing legislators from becoming lobbyists for two years after leaving office.

Photo of the Missouri State Capitol by Visitjeffersoncity on Wikipedia.

The American Bar Association’s Task Force on Federal Lobbying Laws has issued a report recommending several changes to existing federal lobbying laws. The Task Force proposes broadening registration requirements for lobbyist by eliminating the current twenty percent rule, the threshold amount of time devoted to lobbying required before triggering registration.

The Task Force also recommends disclosing outside lobbying support by other firms and individuals, including details of compensation, specific identities of those involved, and short narrative summaries of the work performed. Lobbying support would be defined to include monitoring legislative and administrative developments related to lobbying goals, strategic advice, polling, and other activities. Additionally, in some situations, the lobbying support entity would be required to file disclosures.

The report includes other recommendations including strengthening the regulation of lobbyist participation in political fundraising.

The report by the Task Force on Federal Lobbying Laws has not been approved by the Council of the Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice, the House of Delegates, or the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association.

Photo of the American Bar Association building in Washington, D.C. by AgnosticPreachersKid at enwikipedia.

Ronald DeFilippis, Chairman of the Election Law Enforcement Commission, revealed the upcoming plans for the commission, including the intention to have electronic filing available for quarterly and annual lobbyist reports by 2012. Writing in the latest ELEC-Tronic Newsletter, the monthly informational bulletin from the commission, the chairman noted the “staff is working to create the hardware and software components” to implement the new filing system.

The commission also intends to enhance its candidate and treasurer training, introducing instructional videos and making training available online, and to simplify the language in their lobbying and campaign finance law compliance manuals.

Q. Once I complete my lobbyist registration, what other obligations do I have in my state?

A. Filing lobbyist and/or principal disclosure reports is the bare minimum requirement in many states.  In addition, you may be required to obtain an ID badge.  Some states require mandatory lobbyist training on a regular basis.  Most often, this can be done online.  To date, the states requiring this are: Alaska, California, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia.

Many states have different gift law limitations for lobbyists.  For example, in Texas lobbyists are permitted to give gifts of $500 or less, while public servants may accept non-cash item of less than $50 from non-lobbyists.

In addition to reporting requirements, states may require pre- or post-notification to officials when an expenditure has been made on his/her behalf which is disclosed on a lobbying report.  In Illinois, a lobbyist who makes an expenditure on behalf of an official must inform him/her, in writing, at the time the expenditure.

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.

Amber Fish Linke is the Compliance Manager for State and Federal Communications, Inc.

State senator Jim Arnold announced he will introduce legislation to regulate lobbying disclosure rules for all levels of local government in Indiana. In his proposed bill, spending by vendors bidding for contracts of $100,000 or more with a governmental body would trigger mandatory disclosure.

Local governmental officials, including county commissioners and city council members, would be required to report whenever a lobbyist spent money on them over a threshold limit.

The law is not intended to supersede local ordinances but would still establish and necessitate minimum requirements of disclosure.

Photo of State senator Jim Arnold courtesy of the Indiana Senate Web site.

A superior court judge has ruled the Secretary of State cannot refuse to provide procedural information regarding a complaint made against a lobbyist. In NCICL v. North Carolina, Judge Paul G. Gessner found no basis in law for the refusal to grant information regarding a formal complaint previously made about a legislative lobbyist.

The Secretary of State had argued the state public records laws prohibited them from releasing any information, and had refused to reveal any details, including the status of the complaint or even whether any action had been taken.