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S1365......................................................by STATE AFFAIRS
LOBBYISTS - Amends existing law to further define "lobbying," "lobby" and
"public office"; and to revise information that must be submitted by
lobbyists in reports.
02/09 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/10 Rpt prt - to St Aff
02/13 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/14 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
02/22 3rd rdg - PASSED - 34-0-1
AYES -- Andreason, Brandt(Harper), Broadsword, Bunderson, Burkett,
Burtenshaw, Cameron, Coiner, Compton, Corder, Darrington, Davis,
Fulcher, Gannon, Geddes, Goedde, Hill, Jorgenson, Kelly, Langhorst,
Little, Lodge, Malepeai, Marley, McGee, McKenzie, Pearce, Richardson,
Schroeder, Stegner, Stennett, Sweet, Werk, Williams
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- Keough
Floor Sponsors - Kelly, Davis & Langhorst
Title apvd - to House
02/23 House intro - 1st rdg - to St Aff
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2006
IN THE SENATE
SENATE BILL NO. 1365
BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO LOBBYISTS; AMENDING SECTION 67-6602, IDAHO CODE, TO FURTHER DEFINE
3 "LOBBY" OR "LOBBYING" AND "PUBLIC OFFICE"; AND AMENDING SECTION 67-6619,
4 IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE INFORMATION THAT MUST BE SUBMITTED BY LOBBYISTS IN
5 REPORTS.
6 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
7 SECTION 1. That Section 67-6602, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
8 amended to read as follows:
9 67-6602. DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter, the following terms have
10 the following meanings:
11 (a) "Candidate" means an individual who has taken affirmative action to
12 seek nomination or election to public office. An individual shall be deemed to
13 have taken affirmative action to seek such nomination or election to public
14 office when he first:
15 (1) Receives contributions or makes expenditures or reserves space or
16 facilities with intent to promote his candidacy for office; or
17 (2) Announces publicly or files for office.
18 (3) For purposes of this chapter, an incumbent shall be presumed to be a
19 candidate in the subsequent election for his or her office. Contributions
20 received by an incumbent candidate shall not be in excess of the pre-
21 scribed contribution limits for the subsequent election by which the
22 incumbent candidate's name would first appear on the ballot. An incumbent
23 shall no longer be a candidate for his or her office after the deadline
24 for the filing of a declaration of candidacy to first appear on the ballot
25 for that office has expired.
26 (b) "Compensation" includes any advance, conveyance, forgiveness of
27 indebtedness, deposit, distribution, loan, payment, gift, pledge or transfer
28 of money or anything of value, and any contract, agreement, promise or other
29 obligation, whether or not legally enforceable, to do any of the foregoing,
30 for services rendered or to be rendered, but does not include reimbursement of
31 expenses if such reimbursement does not exceed the amount actually expended
32 for such expenses and is substantiated by an itemization of such expenses.
33 (c) "Contribution" includes any advance, conveyance, forgiveness of
34 indebtedness, deposit, distribution, loan, payment, gift, pledge, subscription
35 or transfer of money or anything of value, and any contract, agreement, prom-
36 ise or other obligation, whether or not legally enforceable, to make a contri-
37 bution, in support of or in opposition to any candidate, political committee
38 or measure. Such term also includes personal funds or other property of a can-
39 didate or members of his household expended or transferred to cover expendi-
40 tures incurred in support of such candidate but does not include personal
41 funds used to pay the candidate filing fee. Such term also includes the ren-
42 dering of personal and professional services for less than full consideration,
43 but does not include ordinary home hospitality or the rendering of "part-time"
2
1 personal services of the sort commonly performed by volunteer campaign workers
2 or advisors or incidental expenses not in excess of twenty-five dollars
3 ($25.00) personally paid for by any volunteer campaign worker. "Part-time"
4 services for the purposes of this definition, means services in addition to
5 regular full-time employment, or, in the case of an unemployed person or per-
6 sons engaged in part-time employment, services rendered without compensation
7 or reimbursement of expenses from any source other than the candidate or
8 political committee for whom such services are rendered. For the purposes of
9 this act, contributions, other than money or its equivalents shall be deemed
10 to have a money value equivalent to the fair market value of the contribution.
11 (d) "Election" means any general, special or primary election.
12 (e) "Election campaign" means any campaign in support of or in opposition
13 to a candidate for election to public office and any campaign in support of,
14 or in opposition to, a measure.
15 (f) (1) "Electioneering communication" means any communication broadcast
16 by television or radio, printed in a newspaper or on a billboard, directly
17 mailed or delivered by hand to personal residences, or telephone calls
18 made to personal residences, or otherwise distributed that:
19 (i) Unambiguously refers to any candidate; and
20 (ii) Is broadcasted, printed, mailed, delivered, made or distributed
21 within thirty (30) days before a primary election or sixty (60) days
22 before a general election; and
23 (iii) Is broadcasted to, printed in a newspaper, distributed to,
24 mailed to or delivered by hand to, telephone calls made to, or other-
25 wise distributed to an audience that includes members of the elector-
26 ate for such public office.
27 (2) "Electioneering communication" does not include:
28 (i) Any news articles, editorial endorsements, opinion or commen-
29 tary, writings, or letter to the editor printed in a newspaper, maga-
30 zine, or other periodical not owned or controlled by a candidate or
31 political party;
32 (ii) Any editorial endorsements or opinions aired by a broadcast
33 facility not owned or controlled by a candidate or political party;
34 (iii) Any communication by persons made in the regular course and
35 scope of their business or any communication made by a membership
36 organization solely to members of such organization and their fami-
37 lies;
38 (iv) Any communication which refers to any candidate only as part of
39 the popular name of a bill or statute;
40 (v) A communication which constitutes an expenditure or an indepen-
41 dent expenditure under this chapter.
42 (g) "Expenditure" includes any payment, contribution, subscription, dis-
43 tribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift of money or anything of value, and
44 includes a contract, promise, or agreement, whether or not legally enforce-
45 able, to make an expenditure. The term "expenditure" also includes a promise
46 to pay, a payment or a transfer of anything of value in exchange for goods,
47 services, property, facilities or anything of value for the purpose of assist-
48 ing, benefiting or honoring any public official or candidate, or assisting in
49 furthering or opposing any election campaign.
50 (h) "Independent expenditure" means any expenditure by a person for a
51 communication expressly advocating the election, passage or defeat of a
52 clearly identified candidate or measure that is not made with the cooperation
53 or with the prior consent of, or in consultation with, or at the consent of,
54 or in consultation with, or at the request of a suggestion of, a candidate or
55 any agent or authorized committee of the candidate or political committee sup-
3
1 porting or opposing a measure. As used in this subsection, "expressly advocat-
2 ing" means any communication containing a message advocating election, passage
3 or defeat including, but not limited to, the name of the candidate or measure,
4 or expression such as "vote for," "elect," "support," "cast your ballot for,"
5 "vote against," "defeat" or "reject."
6 (i) "Lobby" and "lobbying" each means attempting through contacts with,
7 or causing others to make contact with, members of the legislature or legisla-
8 tive committees, holders of public office to influence the approval, modifica-
9 tion or rejection of any legislation. by the legislature of the state of Idaho
10 or any committee thereof. Neither "lobby" nor "lobbying" includes an
11 association's or other organization's act of communicating with the members of
12 that association or organization.
13 (j) "Lobbyist" includes any person who lobbies.
14 (k) "Lobbyist's employer" means the person or persons by whom a lobbyist
15 is employed, directly or indirectly, and all persons by whom he is compensated
16 for acting as a lobbyist.
17 (l) "Measure" means any proposal, to be voted statewide, submitted to the
18 people for their approval or rejection at an election, including any initia-
19 tive, referendum or revision of or amendment to the state constitution. An
20 initiative or referendum proposal shall be deemed a measure when the attorney
21 general reviews it and gives it a ballot title.
22 (m) "Nonbusiness entity" means any group (of two (2) or more individu-
23 als), corporation, association, firm, partnership, committee, club or other
24 organization which:
25 (1) Does not have as its principal purpose the conduct of business activ-
26 ities for profit; and
27 (2) Received during the preceding calendar year contributions, gifts or
28 membership fees, which in the aggregate exceeded ten percent (10%) of its
29 total receipts for such year.
30 (n) "Person" means an individual, corporation, association, firm, part-
31 nership, committee, political party, club or other organization or group of
32 persons.
33 (o) "Political committee" means:
34 (1) Any person specifically designated to support or oppose any candidate
35 or measure; or
36 (2) Any person who receives contributions and makes expenditures in an
37 amount exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) in any calendar year for the
38 purpose of supporting or opposing one (1) or more candidates or measures.
39 Any entity registered with the federal election commission shall not be
40 considered a political committee for purposes of this chapter.
41 (3) A county, district or regional committee of a recognized political
42 party shall not be considered a political committee for the purposes of
43 this chapter unless such party committee has expenditures exceeding five
44 thousand dollars ($5,000) in a calendar year.
45 (p) "Political treasurer" means an individual appointed by a candidate or
46 political committee as provided in section 67-6603, Idaho Code.
47 (q) "Public office" means any state office or position, state senator,
48 state representative, governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, super-
49 intendent of public instruction, secretary of state, state controller, state
50 treasurer, justice of the supreme court, judge of the court of appeals and
51 judge of the district court that is filled by election.
52 SECTION 2. That Section 67-6619, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
53 amended to read as follows:
4
1 67-6619. REPORTING BY LOBBYISTS. (a) Any lobbyist registered under sec-
2 tion 67-6617, Idaho Code, shall file with the secretary of state an annual
3 report of his activities signed by both the lobbyist and the lobbyist's
4 employers. The reports shall be made in the form and manner prescribed by the
5 secretary of state and shall be filed on January 31. In addition to the annual
6 report, while the legislature is in session, every registered lobbyist shall
7 file interim monthly periodic reports for each month or portion thereof that
8 the legislature is in session, which reports need be signed only by the lobby-
9 ist and which shall be filed within ten (10) days of the first day of the
10 month for the activities of the month just past.
11 (b) Each such annual and monthly periodic report shall contain:
12 (1) The totals of all expenditures made or incurred by such lobbyist or
13 on behalf of such lobbyist by the lobbyist's employer (not including pay-
14 ments made directly to the lobbyist), during the period covered by the
15 report, which totals shall be segregated according to financial category,
16 including, for example, entertainment, food and refreshments; advertising;
17 providing, however, that reimbursed personal living and travel expenses of
18 a lobbyist incurred directly or indirectly for any lobbying purpose need
19 not be reported. The totals of each expenditure of more than fifty dollars
20 ($50.00) for a legislator or other holder of public office shall be iden-
21 tified by date, place, amount, and the names of all members of the state
22 legislature or holders of public office in the group partaking in or of
23 such financial category excluding any portion thereof attributable to the
24 lobbyist's participation therein. Reported expenditures for entertainment,
25 food and refreshments for legislators or other holders of public office
26 shall be the actual cost of the entertainment, food and refreshments.
27 (2) In the case of a lobbyist employed by more than one (1) employer, the
28 proportionate amount of such expenditures in each category incurred on
29 behalf of each of his employers.
30 (3) An itemized listing of each such expenditure made by the lobbyist or
31 by the lobbyist's employer in the nature of a contribution of money or of
32 tangible or intangible personal property to any legislator holder of pub-
33 lic office, or for or on behalf of any legislator holder of public office.
34 All contributions made to, or for the benefit of, any legislator holder of
35 public office, exempting only those contributions that are required to be
36 reported under other provisions of law, shall be identified by date,
37 amount, and the name of the legislator holder of public office receiving,
38 or to be benefited by each such contribution.
39 (c) Each such annual and monthly periodic report shall contain the sub-
40 ject matter of proposed legislation and the number of each senate or house
41 bill, resolution, or other legislative activity which the lobbyist has been
42 engaged in supporting or opposing during the reporting period; provided, that
43 in the case of appropriations bills the lobbyists shall enumerate the specific
44 section or sections which he supported or opposed.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 15700C2
The purpose of this legislation is to expand the disclosure
requirements for lobbyists to include expenditures for lobbying
other state officials in addition to legislators.
FISCAL NOTE
None.
Contact
Name: Senator Kate Kelly
Senator David Langhorst
Senator Bart Davis
Senator Joe Stegner
Senator Brad Little
Senator Shawn Keough
Phone: 332-1351
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1365