Senate Bill No. 256
(By Senator Grubb)
____________
[Introduced January 30, 1996; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article three, chapter
six-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, relating to reporting requirements for
the salary, compensation and other forms of remuneration of
lobbyists.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article three, chapter six-b of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended and reenacted to read as follows:
CHAPTER 6B. PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES;
ETHICS; CONFLICTS OF INTEREST; FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.ARTICLE 3.
Lobbyists.
§6B-3-4. Reporting by lobbyists.
(a) A lobbyist shall file with the commission reports of his
lobbying activities, signed under oath or affirmation by the
lobbyist. Lobbyists who are required under this article to file
copies of their registration statements with the clerks of the
respective houses of the Legislature shall also contemporaneously
file copies of all reports required under this section with the
clerks. Such reports shall be filed as follows:
(1) On or before the second Monday in January of each year, a
lobbyist shall file an annual report of all lobbying activities
which he or she engaged in during the preceding calendar year; and
(2) If a lobbyist engages in lobbying with respect to
legislation, then:
(A) Between the fortieth and forty-fifth days of any regular
session of the Legislature in which any such lobbying occurred, the
lobbyist shall file a report describing all of his or her lobbying
activities which occurred since the beginning of the calendar year;
and
(B) Within twenty-one days after the adjournment
sine die
of
any regular or extraordinary session of the Legislature in which
any such lobbying occurred, the lobbyist shall file a report describing all of his or her lobbying activities which occurred
since the beginning of the calendar year or since the filing of the
last report required by this section, whichever is later.
(b)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, each
report filed by a lobbyist shall show the total amount of all
salary, compensation and other forms of remuneration received or
paid for lobbying or lobbying-related services and the total amount
of all expenditures for lobbying made or incurred by such lobbyist,
or on behalf of such lobbyist by the lobbyist's employer, during
the period covered by the report. The report shall also show
subtotals segregated according to financial category, including
meals and beverages; living accommodations; advertising; travel;
contributions; gifts to public officials or employees or to members
of the immediate family of such persons; and other expenses or
services.
(2) Lobbyists are not required to report the following:
(A) Unreimbursed personal living and travel expenses not
incurred directly for lobbying;
(B) Any expenses incurred for his or her own living
accommodations;
(C) Any expenses incurred for his or her own travel to and from public meetings or hearings of the legislative and executive
branches;
(D) Any expenses incurred for telephone, and any office
expenses, including rent and salaries and wages paid for staff and
secretarial assistance; and
(E) Separate expenditures to or on behalf of a public official
or employee in an amount of less than five dollars.
(c) If a lobbyist is employed by more than one employer, the
report shall show the proportionate amount of such expenditures in
each category incurred on behalf of each of his employers.
(d) The report shall describe the subject matter of the
lobbying activities in which the lobbyist has been engaged during
the reporting period.
(e) If, during the period covered by the report, the lobbyist
made expenditures in the reporting categories of meals and
beverages, living accommodations, travel, gifts or other
expenditures, other than for those expenditures governed by
subsection (f) of this section, which expenditures in any such
reporting category total more than twenty-five dollars to or on
behalf of any particular public official or employee, the lobbyist
shall report the name of the public official or employee to whom or on whose behalf the expenditures were made, the total amount of the
expenditures, and the subject matter of the lobbying activity, if
any. Under this subsection (e), no portion of the amount of an
expenditure for a dinner, party, or other function sponsored by a
lobbyist or a lobbyist's employer need be attributed to or counted
toward the reporting amount of twenty-five dollars for a particular
public official or employee who attends such function if the
sponsor has invited to the function all the members of (1) the
Legislature, (2) either house of the Legislature, (3) a standing or
select committee of either house, or (4) a joint committee of the
two houses of the Legislature. However, the amount spent for such
function shall be added to other expenditures for the purpose of
determining the total amount of expenditures reported under
subsection (b) of this section.
(f) If, during the period covered by the report, the lobbyist
made expenditures in the reporting categories of meals and
beverages, lodging, travel, gifts and scheduled entertainment,
which reporting expenditures in any such reporting category total
more than twenty-five dollars for or on behalf of a particular
public official or public employee in return for the participation
of the public official or employee in a panel or speaking engagement at the meeting, the lobbyist shall report the name of
the public official or employee to whom or on whose behalf the
expenditures were made and the total amount of the expenditures.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require lobbyists to
report all salary, compensation and other forms of remuneration for
lobbying and lobbying-related services.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.