At last Thursday’s Board meeting of the Office of State Ethics, further discussion was focused on changing the definition of lobbying. This blogger had described in an earlier post the OSE’s intention to adopt language similar to the IRS codifying grassroots lobbying. This effort continues and that language is ready for submittal to the General Assembly for consideration in the 2010 legislative session.
In addition, the Citizens Board took action on a full legislative agenda presented by the agency’s staff making a range of changes to the current statute. Of particular interest to the lobbying community is a section that addresses when a lobbyist must register. Currently the statute reads that a lobbyist shall register when he (or it) agrees to receive or receives $2000 or more in a calendar year for lobbying whether that compensation is solely for lobbying or incidental to that person’s employment. The regulated community felt that the words “incidental to” were not clear and sought clarification. This proposal substitutes in the words “within the scope of” the person’s employment in place of “incidental to.” One of the Board members raised the concern that this was also not defined and would require regulatory clarification. OSE staff agreed and stated that they would confer with the regulated community to try to reach an equitable solution through regulation. The Board voted to move the legislative agenda forward.
Finally, the Board had proposed a registration fee increase. Because they are a watchdog agency, their process is through regulation rather then via the budget and the general fund. The OSE held their hearing on the fee increase where they heard the testimony of several lobbyists. The proposed increase would raise the one year fee from $75 to $125 and the two year registration from $150 to $250. The OSE argued that fees have not increased since 1996 and the cost of processing registrations has increased significantly. The Board asked questions about the impact on small businesses and said that they were waiting for a fiscal impact statement from OFA. The Board postponed their vote on the increase until they receive all written comments from the public and the OFA report.
Tags: definition of lobbying, grassroots, lobbyist, Office of State Ethics, registration, registration fee
