The Joint Commission on Public Ethics is seeking public comment on a proposed advisory opinion. The advisory opinion is in regards to the applicability of New York’s Lobbying Act to the activities of consultants when they are taking part in direct and grassroots lobbying, and whether they are subject to registration and reporting requirements.

The advisory opinion seeks to articulate when the Lobbying Act covers the services of consultants, and to clarify the test used to determine when grassroots advocacy constitutes reportable activity.

Comments will be taken by the Committee until December 4, 2015.

Beginning November 1, the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council assumed responsibility for all lobbyist registrations and disclosures. Created in the spring by the passage of House Bill 2070, the Council is required to review all disclosure forms filed by lobbyists, as well as state officers, employees, and legislators.

Paper and electronic versions of lobbyist registration and reporting are available through the Council’s website, however, electronic reporting will become mandatory beginning with the December 15, 2016 report.

House Bill 2070 followed an unsuccessful attempt to create the Council in 2014. In the previous instance, a battle over the state budget between the General Assembly and the governor resulted in the Council not receiving funding.

Proposition C, a measure requiring registration fees and monthly reports from expenditure lobbyists, was approved by voters in San Francisco. The measure creates a new category of lobbyists, termed expenditure lobbyists, defined as organizations who employ lobbyists to influence city officials.

The measure imposes a registration threshold of $2,500 or more in a calendar month spent soliciting, requesting, or urging other persons to communicate directly with a city official. Expenditure lobbyists must pay a $500 fee to register with the city.

The measure takes effect February 1, 2016.

The National Assembly in Quebec has introduced new legislation proposing to strengthen and expand lobbying activities. Bill 56, titled the Lobbying Transparency Act, expands the scope of the definition of lobbyists to include shareholders lobbying for an entity as well as directors and officers of a non-profit. The bill also expands the types of activity considered to be lobbying.

Under Bill 56, all lobbying engaged in by enterprise or organization lobbyists triggers registration, not just those activities which represent a significant portion of his or her job, as is the threshold under current law. Making an appointment or setting up a meeting with a public office holder is considered lobbying under the proposed legislation.

Bill 56 requires each lobbyist to file a return before engaging in lobbying activity. This provision makes Quebec the only Canadian province to require registration prior to lobbying.

Finally, the bill imposes stricter penalties and higher fines on violators of the law.

The state’s legislature has agreed to a bill amending the code of ethics.

Senate Bill 850, now known as Public Act 15-15, creates an additional exception to the definition of expenditure, adds to who is not included in the definition of a lobbyist, and raises the threshold for lobbyist registration from $2,000 to $3,000.

After passing both chambers, the measure awaits the governor’s signature. If signed, the new provisions will be effective January 1, 2016.

Photo of the Connecticut State Capitol by jglazer75 on Wikimedia Commons.

Gov. Susana Martinez has signed House Bill 155 to require increased lobbyist registration fees and additional public access to lobbyist information. Amendments to the bill stripped out provisions requiring issue disclosure and lobbyist employer reporting.

Effective June 19, 2015, lobbyist registration fees will double to $50 per client and the Secretary of State’s Office website will be required to provide public access to lobbyist registrations and reports.

Martinez has until April 10 to act on legislation.

The Office of the City Clerk will make a presentation at the next meeting of the Ethics Commission to advocate for increased lobbyist registration fees and electronic payment of those fees.

The clerk’s office published a report concluding the city should increase the $40 lobbyist fee in light of fees set by other California cities such as Long Beach ($100) and Los Angeles ($450).

The meeting will be held on April 9, 2015, at 5:00 p.m. in the committee room on the 12th floor of the City Administration Building. Changes to fee schedules and electronic payment would take effect January 1, 2016.

Q. Many of the state legislatures I lobby are currently in session. Does this affect when my lobbying reports are due?

A. While some states have reporting schedules that do not vary from year to year, others tie their lobbyist reporting schedules to their legislature’s activity. Currently, 11 states have reporting schedules that vary to some degree with their legislative sessions: Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. Some of these states require additional reports during the legislative session, while others tie reporting dates to the session’s adjournment.

For example, Georgia requires legislative lobbyist reports twice per month while the Legislature is in session. Reporting frequency decreases to once per month once the Legislature adjourns. Connecticut, Arkansas, and Alaska all require monthly legislative lobbyist reports while their legislatures are in session.

Other states have reports tied to the official adjournment of the legislature. Mississippi requires an end-of-session report 10 days after the Legislature adjourns sine die. Some legislatures, such as Mississippi and Nebraska, have the flexibility to change their planned adjournment date, in which case a report may be due earlier or later than previously announced. It is also important to note only official adjournment dates affect the reporting schedule. State legislatures concluding business for the year, but not officially adjourned, may still require a lobbyist to use the “in session” reporting schedule. Rhode Island, for example, requires monthly reports only when the Legislature is in session, but the Legislature does not officially adjourn until January of the following year.

Special legislative sessions may also trigger a lobbying report. States such as Nebraska and Hawaii require an additional report following the adjournment of a special legislative session. In states requiring special session reports, a report may be required even if the full legislature did not convene in special session.

Each jurisdiction’s statutory reporting schedule is different. Be sure to know your state’s reporting schedule and whether a legislative session will change your requirements.

You can directly submit questions for this feature, and we will select those most appropriate and answer them here. Send your questions to: experts@stateandfed.com.

(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.

The Internal Services Department in Miami-Dade County has combined the separate vendor enrollment and registration processes into one online vendor registration. The online vendor registration process can be accessed here.

Paper based registrations are no longer accepted.

All registered vendors whose status was “Active” prior to September 15, 2014 will be able to update their existing registration profiles through this portal. An email containing the login information will be sent to each firm currently registered or enrolled. These vendors will only be required to log-in to the portal to establish an online, secure profile. Thereafter, the existing registration records will be available to them online.

Vendors still must return a notarized business entity registration application by regular mail.

Gov. Sam Brownback has vetoed a bill increasing the spending threshold for lobbyist registration. Senate Bill 99 would have raised the expenditure threshold triggering lobbyist registration from $100 per calendar year to $500 per calendar year.

The increased threshold was recommended by the state ethics commission because the current threshold had not been increased in 25 years.

In vetoing the bill, Gov. Brownback stated he understood the bill’s purpose and intent but believed the current threshold better served the interest of government transparency.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has submitted technical changes to the General Assembly on the major ethics legislation passed this session, including a change to the effective date of the legislation.

The legislation enacts a limit on gifts from lobbyists and principals and increases the frequency for lobbyist filings.

The changes must be approved by the House and Senate before the legislation takes effect.

Photo of Gov. Terry McAuliffe courtesy of Kate Wellington in Wikimedia Commons.

New York’s City Council passed legislation this week containing many changes to lobbying regulations. The majority of the law’s provisions take effect May 8, 2014.

As part of the new law, the definition of “lobbying” has been expanded to include attempts to influence “any determination made by an elected city official or an officer of employee of the city to support or oppose any state or federal legislation, rule or regulation.”

This provision is unique because very few cities regulate lobbying a city official to weigh in on state or federal policy. The new law also directs the City Clerk to search for noncompliance with registration requirements by scouring public records.

Further, lobbyists will be required to file six periodic reports each year, up from four reports under the outgoing law. Also, as of January 1, 2014, the registration threshold will increase from $2,000 to $5,000 per calendar year.

Photo of Manhattan by AngMoKio in Wikimedia Commons.

State Key Dates and Legislative Sessions for 2014 are now available on State and Federal Communications’ website.

The Key Dates represent registration and reporting dates for those involved in lobbying and election and reporting dates for campaign finance.