Leon County, Florida commissioners have approved an ordinance updating the county’s lobbying regulations.

The new ordinance updates the registration and reporting process by removing the notary requirement and developing an online registration form.

The ordinance also defines a clear process for enforcement and adds new penalties for violations of the lobbyist regulations.

A public hearing will be held on the new ordinance on October 13.

The threshold for being required to register as an in-house lobbyist will soon be lower. Bill 195, The Lobbyists Amendment Act, 2019, which received Royal Assent this summer, will come into force once the order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council is given.

The bill reduces the threshold for registration as an in-house lobbyist from 100 to 30 hours; prohibits gifts to public office holders from lobbyists, except for gifts valued at less than $200 and that are given as an incident of the protocol or social obligations normally accompanying the duties or responsibilities of office of the public office holder; and grants power to the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations concerning gifts and personal benefits.

The bill outlines a gift or personal benefit to include: an amount of money, if there is no obligation to repay it; a service, hospitality or property, including the use of property, that is provided without charge or for a charge that is less than its commercial value; and any other prescribed gift or personal benefit.

Additionally, Bill 195 directs the Lobbying Act not apply when persons are acting in their official capacity as officers, directors or employees of a non-profit organization, association, society, coalition or interest group, any of which has both a charitable purpose and fewer than five employees, if the lobbying activity performed by the officers, directors and employees combined is less than 30 hours annually.

On August 11, a bipartisan bill to amend the federal lobbying law was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Submitted by Republican Rep. Ben Cline and Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips, the Lobbying Disclosure Reform Act would require registration with both the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate, move enforcement of the lobbying laws to the U.S. Office of the Attorney General, amend registration and reporting thresholds, and assign a unique identification number to each individual registering as a federal lobbyist and to each client of that lobbyist.

H.R. 8022 would also require the disclosure of any persons providing strategic lobbying services in support of a registered lobbyist, who would then also be assigned unique identification numbers.

The Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate would have the responsibility of assigning the unique identification numbers.

The New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) announced their policy on COVID-19 and lobbying filings.

Upon request, JCOPE will grant reasonable extensions to filers who may not be able to meet the upcoming filing deadline due to a COVID-19 issue.

If a filer misses the deadline due to COVID-19 related issues, please contact the JCOPE help desk at:

• • • (518) 408-3976
    • helpdesk@jcope.ny.gov

Please contact as soon as possible to discuss a reasonable accommodation.

Effective immediately, the Legislative Ethics Commission has requested updated registration statements be filed either by fax or via email, by scanning and sending the signed forms.

• • Fax to (502) 573-2929
  • Email to Donnita.crittenden@lrc.ky.gov  or lori.smither@lrc.ky.gov

To change from paper filing to filing online, please email the above for an ID and password.

This is a preventative measure to cut down on unnecessary mail handling and interaction by their staff, in order to keep the spread of the coronavirus to a minimum.

The Chicago Board of Ethics released a fourth binding advisory opinion to provide additional guidance on Ethics Ordinance 2019-5305.

Effective April 20, it will impose new registration and reporting requirements on certain nonprofit interactions with the city.

The board states the 14 questions addressed in the new advisory opinion reflect the fundamental principal of Chicago’s lobbying law:

If an individual is paid by another person or organization to influence city administrative or legislative actions, the activity should be done transparently, either through official documented administrative processes or through registration and reporting lobbying activity.

House Bill 64, implementing the Local Government and Board of Education Lobbyist Disclosure and Regulation Act became effective on May 14, 2019.

Additionally, House Bill 147, making changes to the existing Lobbyist Disclosure Act became effective on the same day.

The Lieutenant Governor’s Office has released additional guidance on the new rules.

Guidance includes how online registration and reporting will be accomplished for local lobbyists.

The guidance also discusses the shift to annual registration for state level lobbyists.

Previously registered lobbyists choosing to renew their license in 2020 and new registrations will be required to pay a $60 fee and obtain new badges.

The new requirements also include completion of a workplace harassment and discrimination training.

Current, active lobbyists are not required to complete the new training until the license is renewed.

The lieutenant governor has asked that questions be directed to lobbyists@utah.gov or 801-538-1041.

Mayor Marty Walsh signed an ordinance last week requiring lobbyist registration and reporting for individuals and entities attempting to influence city action.

The ordinance was passed by city council in late September and requires registration by every person retained, employed or designated by any client or lobbying entity to engage in lobbying or lobbying activities.

This comes after two years of Mayor Walsh calling for increased transparency through the implementation of a lobbying ordinance.

In July, Mayor Walsh vetoed a lobbying ordinance passed by council as it failed to define and regulate lobbying and did not create an adequate enforcement mechanism.

The new ordinance, effective April 13, 2019, creates a quarterly reporting requirement and penalties for late registration and reporting.

Broward Health, the county’s hospital system, is currently creating an online lobbyist registration system to coincide with its recently discovered registration policy.

The policy, created 12 years ago, was never implemented and came to light only after months of discussions by the board of commissioners on how to create such a policy.

The policy requires lobbyists to identify their clients, disclose the nature of their business activities, and report any business or financial relationships with Broward Health board members. The online system will be modeled after those of Broward County and Broward Public Schools.

The Cuyahoga County Council recently updated the county’s code of ethics to clarify the ethical rights, responsibilities, and prohibitions applicable to elected officials, employees, board members, contractors, and lobbyists.

New provisions include, but are not limited to, a new lobbyist registration threshold, a new lobbyist reporting requirement, updated gift rules with a presumption of influence standard, and a lower monetary contract threshold for contractor registration and ethics training.

A summary of the changes to the ethics laws and a copy of the ordinance are available for review on the county inspector general’s website. The ordinance became effective May 27.

Effective July 1, Ontario’s Office of the Integrity Commissioner will begin enforcing a new lobbying law for the province. On December 9, 2014, the Legislative Assembly had passed an omnibus bill with changes to the province’s Lobbyists Registration Act, 1998. The law is now coming into force by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.

Schedule 8 of Bill 8, the Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency Act, 2014, gives the Ontario Integrity Commissioner as Lobbyist Registrar new investigative and enforcement power for violations. Individuals found in violation can be prohibited from lobbying for up to two years. Additional changes include a streamlined registration form for certain companies, a lower threshold registration for in-house lobbyists, and new questions on registration forms.

The Texas Ethics Commission adopted rule changes to conform with House Bill 3517 of 2015. The bill had removed the exemption for registration for an individual who is solely paid to communicate in a capacity other than as an employee of a vendor of a product or service to a member of the executive branch concerning state agency purchasing decisions involving a product, service, or service provider or negotiations regarding such decisions if the compensation for the communication is not totally or partially contingent on the outcome of any administrative action.

The Texas Ethics Commission Rules definition of independent contractor under T.E.C.R. §34.1(5) has been repealed. The Texas Ethics Commission Rules allowing for $75 registration for certain independent contractors under T.E.C.R. §34.46 has also been repealed. On May 3, the rule changes became effective.

Last week, Gov. Matt Bevin signed a revenue bill including changes for executive agency lobbyists. House Bill 80 contains a provision increasing the registration fee for lobbying executive agencies from $125 to $500 beginning July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018.

The change was included in a last-minute amendment by the Senate on the final day of the legislative session. The Executive Branch Ethics Commission had been pushing hard during the closing days of the session to increase the fee, fearing a budget short-fall would result in cuts to the Commission’s staff.

Mayor Sam Liccardo is proposing new lobbyist disclosure rules for the city of San Jose. The rules would require lobbyists to report lobbyist activity weekly in electronic form. Currently, the city of San Jose requires quarterly disclosures be filed on paper.

The new rules also would require lobbyists to specify how they are contacting city officials – in person, by phone, or by email.

The city council will consider the mayor’s proposals at its next meeting, scheduled for December 15, 2015.