H. B. 4016


(By Delegates Amores, Faircloth, Caputo and Smirl)

[Introduced January 10, 2002; referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary.]





A BILL to amend and reenact sections two, three, four and nine, article three, chapter six-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated section three-a, all relating to the regulation of lobbyist activities; increasing the registration fee for lobbyists; establishing an additional administrative fee for lobbyists who are required to file more than two notices of representation; eliminating the requirement that lobbyists file duplicate copies of the lobbyist's registration statement; allowing the ethics commission to apply the fees to defray the commission's general expenses; eliminating the requirement that lobbyist registration statements be signed under oath or affirmation; removing the references to false swearing and the associated criminal penalties; making the filing of a false or fraudulent application, statement or report by a lobbyist a criminal offense; and establishing the scope of criminal sanctions that may be imposed for any such offense.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections two, three, four and nine, article three, chapter six-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section three-a, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. LOBBYISTS.
§6B-3-2. Registration of lobbyists.
(a) Before engaging in any lobbying activity, or within thirty days after being employed as a lobbyist, whichever occurs first, a lobbyist shall register with the ethics commission by filing a lobbyist registration statement. signed under oath or affirmation. The registration statement shall contain such information and be in such form as the ethics commission may prescribe by legislative rule, including, but not limited to, the following information:
(1) The registrant's name, business address, telephone numbers and any temporary residential and business addresses and telephone numbers used or to be used by the registrant while lobbying during a legislative session;
(2) The name, address and occupation or business of the registrant's employer;
(3) A statement as to whether the registrant is employed or retained by his or her employer solely as a lobbyist or is a regular employee performing services for the employer which include, but are not limited to, lobbying;
(4) A statement as to whether the registrant is employed or retained by his or her employer under any agreement, arrangement or understanding according to which the registrant's compensation, or any portion thereof, is or will be contingent upon the success of his or her lobbying activity;
(5) The general subject or subjects, if known, on which the registrant will lobby or employ some other person to lobby in a manner which requires registration under this article;
(6) An appended written authorization from each of the lobbyist's employers confirming the lobbyist's employment and the subjects on which the employer is to be represented.
(b) A registrant who lobbies with regard to matters before the Legislature must file duplicate copies of the lobbyist's registration statement required by subsection (a) or (d) of this section with the clerk of the Senate and the clerk of the House of Delegates contemporaneously with the filing with the ethics commission before engaging in any lobbying activity.
(c) (b) Any lobbyist who receives or is to receive compensation from more than one person for services as a lobbyist shall file a separate notice of representation with respect to each person compensating him or her for services performed as a lobbyist. When a lobbyist whose fee for lobbying with respect to the same subject is to be paid or contributed by more than one person, then such lobbyist may file a single statement, in which he shall detail the name, business address and occupation of each person so paying or contributing.
(d) (c) Whenever a change, modification or termination of the lobbyist's employment occurs, the lobbyist shall, within one week of such change, modification or termination, furnish full information regarding the same by filing with the commission an amended registration statement.
(e) (d) Each lobbyist who has registered shall file a new registration statement, revised as appropriate, on the Monday preceding the second Wednesday in January of each odd-numbered year, and failure to do so shall terminate his registration. Until such registration is renewed, the person may not engage in lobbying activities unless he or she is otherwise exempt under paragraph (B), subdivision (7), section one of this article.
§6B-3-3. Photograph and information-booklet-publication.

Each lobbyist shall, at the time he or she registers, submit to the commission a recent photograph of the lobbyist of a size and format as determined by rule of the commission, together with the name of the lobbyist's employer, a brief biographical description, and any other information the lobbyist may wish to submit, not to exceed fifty words in length. Such photograph and information shall be published at least annually in a booklet form by the commission for distribution to government officers or employees, lobbyists, and to the public. The method of distribution shall be in the discretion of the commission, which shall not be required to compile and maintain a distribution list of all persons who may be entitled to receive such booklet. Each lobbyist, upon registering, shall pay a fee of twenty dollars to the commission to help defray the costs of preparing such booklet.
§6B-3-3a. Registration fees, administrative fees.
Each lobbyist shall, at the time he or she registers, pay the following registration and administration fees to the commission:
(a) A registration fee of sixty dollars($60.00) shall be filed with the initial registration statement and with each new registration statement filed by the lobbyist in subsequent odd numbered years: Provided, that if a lobbyist files his or her initial registration after the first of January during an even- numbered year, he or she shall only be required to pay a reduced registration fee of thirty dollars ($30) for the balance of that year.
(b) Each lobbyist who has registered and paid the required registration fee shall be entitled to file up to two notices of representation, as provided in subsection (b), section two [§ 6B- 3-2(b)] of this article, during a given registration period, without incurring any additional administrative fee. If a lobbyist is required to file more than two notices of representation during a given registration period, the lobbyist shall be required to pay an additional administrative fee of ten dollars ($10.00) for each additional notice of representation that he or she is required to file by this article.
(c) The registration fees and administrative fees authorized by this section are to be collected and applied to defray the ethics commission's general personnel, publication and postage costs associated with its lobbyist registration and reporting responsibilities, including but not limited to the commission's cost and expense of preparing and publishing a directory of registered lobbyists, as required by section three of this article.
§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 Monday preceding the second Wednesday 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 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.
§6B-3-9. Penalties.

(a) Any person who is required under the provisions of this article to file a an application, statement or report is guilty of false swearing when such person willfully and knowingly, under oath or affirmation, files a false statement or report concerning a matter or thing material. Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection (a) shall be and who willfully and knowingly makes a false statement, conceals a material fact or otherwise commits a fraud in such application, statement or report is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined or fined and confined in accordance with the provisions of section three, article five, chapter sixty-one of this code not more than one thousand dollars, or confined in a county or regional jail not more than one year, or both fined and imprisoned.
(b) A person who is subject to the registration and reporting requirements of this article and who fails or refuses to register or who fails or refuses to file a required statement or report or who otherwise violates the provisions of this article may be the subject of a complaint filed with the ethics commission and may be proceeded against in the same manner and to the same ends as a public officer or public employee under the provisions of this chapter.
(c) A person who willfully and knowingly files a false report under the provisions of this article is liable in a civil action to any government officer or employee who sustains damage as a result of the filing or publication of the report.