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S1446......................................................by STATE AFFAIRS
LOBBYISTS - Amends, repeals and adds to existing law to revise the
definition of lobbying and lobbyists; to revise procedures, timelines and
contents required for reports by lobbyists to the Secretary of State; to
provide application to executive officials; and to provide an exception for
benefits received as a result of certain lobbying activities.
02/28 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/29 Rpt prt - to St Aff
03/05 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/06 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/07 3rd rdg - PASSED - 31-1-3
AYES -- Andreason, Bair, Bastian, Bilyeu, Cameron, Coiner, Corder,
Darrington, Davis, Fulcher, Geddes, Goedde, Hammond, Heinrich, Hill,
Jorgenson, Kelly, Keough, Langhorst, Little, Lodge,
Malepeai(Sagness), McGee, McKague, McKenzie, Pearce, Richardson,
Schroeder, Stegner, Stennett, Werk
NAYS -- Burkett
Absent and excused -- Broadsword, Gannon, Siddoway
Floor Sponsor - Little
Title apvd - to House
03/10 House intro - 1st rdg - to St Aff
03/17 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/18 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/19 3rd rdg - PASSED - 69-0-1
AYES -- Anderson, Andrus, Barrett, Bayer, Bedke, Bell, Bilbao, Black,
Block, Bock, Boe, Bolz, Bowers, Brackett, Bradford, Chadderdon,
Chavez, Chew, Clark, Collins, Crane, Durst, Eskridge, Hagedorn, Hart,
Harwood, Henbest, Henderson, Jaquet, Killen, King, Kren, Labrador,
Lake, LeFavour, Loertscher, Luker, Marriott, Mathews, McGeachin,
Mortimer, Moyle, Nielsen, Nonini, Pasley-Stuart, Patrick, Pence,
Raybould, Ringo, Ruchti, Rusche, Sayler, Schaefer, Shepherd(02),
Shepherd(08), Shirley, Shively, Smith(30), Smith(24), Snodgrass,
Stevenson, Thayn, Thomas, Trail, Vander Woude, Wills, Wood(27),
Wood(35), Mr. Speaker
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- Roberts
Floor Sponsor - Labrador
Title apvd - to Senate
03/20 To enrol - Rpt enrol - Pres signed
03/21 Sp signed
03/24 To Governor
03/28 Governor signed
Session Law Chapter 306
Effective: 07/01/08
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]] Fifty-ninth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2008IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1446 BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO REPORTING BY LOBBYISTS; AMENDING SECTION 67-6602, IDAHO CODE, TO 3 REVISE DEFINITIONS; REPEALING SECTION 67-6619, IDAHO CODE, RELATING TO 4 REPORTING BY LOBBYISTS; AMENDING CHAPTER 66, TITLE 67, IDAHO CODE, BY THE 5 ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 67-6619, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE PROCEDURES, 6 TIMELINES AND CONTENTS REQUIRED FOR REPORTS BY LOBBYISTS TO THE SECRETARY 7 OF STATE; AND AMENDING SECTION 18-1356, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE APPLICATION 8 TO EXECUTIVE OFFICIALS, TO PROVIDE AN EXCEPTION FOR BENEFITS RECEIVED AS A 9 RESULT OF LOBBYING ACTIVITIES THAT ARE DISCLOSED IN REPORTS TO THE SECRE- 10 TARY OF STATE AND TO PROVIDE NONAPPLICATION. 11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 12 SECTION 1. That Section 67-6602, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 13 amended to read as follows: 14 67-6602. DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter, the following terms have 15 the following meanings: 16 (a) "Candidate" means an individual who has taken affirmative action to 17 seek nomination or election to public office. An individual shall be deemed to 18 have taken affirmative action to seek such nomination or election to public 19 office when he first: 20 (1) Receives contributions or makes expenditures or reserves space or 21 facilities with intent to promote his candidacy for office; or 22 (2) Announces publicly or files for office. 23 (3) For purposes of this chapter, an incumbent shall be presumed to be a 24 candidate in the subsequent election for his or her office. Contributions 25 received by an incumbent candidate shall not be in excess of the pre- 26 scribed contribution limits for the subsequent election by which the 27 incumbent candidate's name would first appear on the ballot. An incumbent 28 shall no longer be a candidate for his or her office after the deadline 29 for the filing of a declaration of candidacy to first appear on the ballot 30 for that office has expired. 31 (b) "Compensation" includes any advance, conveyance, forgiveness of 32 indebtedness, deposit, distribution, loan, payment, gift, pledge or transfer 33 of money or anything of value, and any contract, agreement, promise or other 34 obligation, whether or not legally enforceable, to do any of the foregoing, 35 for services rendered or to be rendered, but does not include reimbursement of 36 expenses if such reimbursement does not exceed the amount actually expended 37 for such expenses and is substantiated by an itemization of such expenses. 38 (c) "Contribution" includes any advance, conveyance, forgiveness of 39 indebtedness, deposit, distribution, loan, payment, gift, pledge, subscription 40 or transfer of money or anything of value, and any contract, agreement, prom- 41 ise or other obligation, whether or not legally enforceable, to make a contri- 42 bution, in support of or in opposition to any candidate, political committee 43 or measure. Such term also includes personal funds or other property of a can- 2 1 didate or members of his household expended or transferred to cover expendi- 2 tures incurred in support of such candidate but does not include personal 3 funds used to pay the candidate filing fee. Such term also includes the ren- 4 dering of personal and professional services for less than full consideration, 5 but does not include ordinary home hospitality or the rendering of "part-time" 6 personal services of the sort commonly performed by volunteer campaign workers 7 or advisors or incidental expenses not in excess of twenty-five dollars 8 ($25.00) personally paid for by any volunteer campaign worker. "Part-time" 9 services for the purposes of this definition, means services in addition to 10 regular full-time employment, or, in the case of an unemployed person or per- 11 sons engaged in part-time employment, services rendered without compensation 12 or reimbursement of expenses from any source other than the candidate or 13 political committee for whom such services are rendered. For the purposes of 14 this act, contributions, other than money or its equivalents shall be deemed 15 to have a money value equivalent to the fair market value of the contribution. 16 (d) "Election" means any general, special or primary election. 17 (e) "Election campaign" means any campaign in support of or in opposition 18 to a candidate for election to public office and any campaign in support of, 19 or in opposition to, a measure. 20 (f) (1) "Electioneering communication" means any communication broadcast 21 by television or radio, printed in a newspaper or on a billboard, directly 22 mailed or delivered by hand to personal residences, or telephone calls 23 made to personal residences, or otherwise distributed that: 24 (i) Unambiguously refers to any candidate; and 25 (ii) Is broadcasted, printed, mailed, delivered, made or distributed 26 within thirty (30) days before a primary election or sixty (60) days 27 before a general election; and 28 (iii) Is broadcasted to, printed in a newspaper, distributed to, 29 mailed to or delivered by hand to, telephone calls made to, or other- 30 wise distributed to an audience that includes members of the elector- 31 ate for such public office. 32 (2) "Electioneering communication" does not include: 33 (i) Any news articles, editorial endorsements, opinion or commen- 34 tary, writings, or letter to the editor printed in a newspaper, maga- 35 zine, or other periodical not owned or controlled by a candidate or 36 political party; 37 (ii) Any editorial endorsements or opinions aired by a broadcast 38 facility not owned or controlled by a candidate or political party; 39 (iii) Any communication by persons made in the regular course and 40 scope of their business or any communication made by a membership 41 organization solely to members of such organization and their fami- 42 lies; 43 (iv) Any communication which refers to any candidate only as part of 44 the popular name of a bill or statute; 45 (v) A communication which constitutes an expenditure or an indepen- 46 dent expenditure under this chapter. 47 (g) "Executive official" means: 48 (1) The governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state control- 49 ler, state treasurer, attorney general,andsuperintendent of public 50 instruction and any deputy or staff member of one (1) of those individuals 51 who, within the course and scope of his or her employment, is directly 52 involved in major policy influencing decisions for the office; 53 (2) A state department or agency director, deputy director, division 54 administrator or bureau chief as established and enumerated in sections 55 67-2402 and 67-2406, Idaho Code; 3 1 (3) The membership and the executive or chief administrative officer of 2 any board or commission that is authorized to make rules or conduct rule- 3 making activities pursuant to section 67-5201, Idaho Code; 4 (4) The membership and the executive or chief administrative officer of 5 any board or commission that governs any of the state departments enumer- 6 ated in section 67-2402, Idaho Code, not including public school dis- 7 tricts; 8 (5) The membership and the executive or chief administrative officer of 9 the Idaho public utilities commission, the Idaho industrial commission, 10 and the Idaho state tax commission; and 11 (6) The members of the governing board of the state insurance fund, and 12 the members of the governing board and the executive or chief administra- 13 tive officer of the Idaho housing and finance association, the Idaho 14 energy resources authority, and the Idaho state building authority. 15 (h) "Expenditure" includes any payment, contribution, subscription, dis- 16 tribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift of money or anything of value, and 17 includes a contract, promise, or agreement, whether or not legally enforce- 18 able, to make an expenditure. The term "expenditure" also includes a promise 19 to pay, a payment or a transfer of anything of value in exchange for goods, 20 services, property, facilities or anything of value for the purpose of assist- 21 ing, benefiting or honoring any public official or candidate, or assisting in 22 furthering or opposing any election campaign. 23 (i) "Independent expenditure" means any expenditure by a person for a 24 communication expressly advocating the election, passage or defeat of a 25 clearly identified candidate or measure that is not made with the cooperation 26 or with the prior consent of, or in consultation with, or at the consent of, 27 or in consultation with, or at the request of a suggestion of, a candidate or 28 any agent or authorized committee of the candidate or political committee sup- 29 porting or opposing a measure. As used in this subsection, "expressly advocat- 30 ing" means any communication containing a message advocating election, passage 31 or defeat including, but not limited to, the name of the candidate or measure, 32 or expression such as "vote for," "elect," "support," "cast your ballot for," 33 "vote against," "defeat" or "reject." 34 (j) "Lobby" and "lobbying" each means attempting through contacts with, 35 or causing others to make contact with, members of the legislature or legisla- 36 tive committees or an executive official, to influence the approval, modifica- 37 tion or rejection of any legislation by the legislature of the state of Idaho 38 or any committee thereof or by the governor, andor to develop or maintain 39 relationships with, promote goodwill with, or entertain members of the legis- 40 lature or executive officials. "Lobby" and "lobbying" shall also mean communi- 41 cating with an executive official for the purpose of influencing the consider- 42 ation, amendment, adoption or rejection of any rule or rulemaking as defined 43 in section 67-5201, Idaho Code, or any ratemaking decision, procurement, con- 44 tract, bid or bid process, financial services agreement, or bond issue. Nei- 45 ther "lobby" nor "lobbying" includes an association's or other organization's 46 act of communicating with the members of that association or organization; and 47 provided that neither "lobby" nor "lobbying" includes communicating with an 48 executive official for the purpose of carrying out ongoing negotiations fol- 49 lowing the award of a bid or a contract, communications involving ongoing 50 legal work and negotiations conducted by and with attorneys for executive 51 agencies, interactions between parties in litigation or other contested mat- 52 ters, or communications among and between members of the legislature and exec- 53 utive officials and their employees, or by state employees while acting in 54 their official capacity or within the course and scope of their employment. 55 (k) "Lobbyist" includes any person who lobbies. 4 1 (l) "Lobbyist's employer" means the person or persons by whom a lobbyist 2 is employed, directly or indirectly, and all persons by whom he is compensated 3 for acting as a lobbyist. 4 (m) "Measure" means any proposal, to be voted statewide, submitted to the 5 people for their approval or rejection at an election, including any initia- 6 tive, referendum or revision of or amendment to the state constitution. An 7 initiative or referendum proposal shall be deemed a measure when the attorney 8 general reviews it and gives it a ballot title. 9 (n) "Nonbusiness entity" means any group (of two (2) or more individu- 10 als), corporation, association, firm, partnership, committee, club or other 11 organization which: 12 (1) Does not have as its principal purpose the conduct of business activ- 13 ities for profit; and 14 (2) Received during the preceding calendar year contributions, gifts or 15 membership fees, which in the aggregate exceeded ten percent (10%) of its 16 total receipts for such year. 17 (o) "Person" means an individual, corporation, association, firm, part- 18 nership, committee, political party, club or other organization or group of 19 persons. 20 (p) "Political committee" means: 21 (1) Any person specifically designated to support or oppose any candidate 22 or measure; or 23 (2) Any person who receives contributions and makes expenditures in an 24 amount exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) in any calendar year for the 25 purpose of supporting or opposing one (1) or more candidates or measures. 26 Any entity registered with the federal election commission shall not be 27 considered a political committee for purposes of this chapter. 28 (3) A county, district or regional committee of a recognized political 29 party shall not be considered a political committee for the purposes of 30 this chapter unless such party committee has expenditures exceeding five 31 thousand dollars ($5,000) in a calendar year. 32 (q) "Political treasurer" means an individual appointed by a candidate or 33 political committee as provided in section 67-6603, Idaho Code. 34 (r) "Public office" means any state office or position, state senator, 35 state representative, and judge of the district court that is filled by elec- 36 tion. 37 SECTION 2. That Section 67-6619, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 38 repealed. 39 SECTION 3. That Chapter 66, Title 67, Idaho Code, be, and the same is 40 hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and des- 41 ignated as Section 67-6619, Idaho Code, and to read as follows: 42 67-6619. REPORTING BY LOBBYISTS. (1) Any lobbyist registered under sec- 43 tion 67-6617, Idaho Code, shall file with the secretary of state an annual 44 report of his lobbying activities signed by both the lobbyist and the 45 lobbyist's employer or employers. The reports shall be made in the form and 46 manner prescribed by the secretary of state and shall be filed on January 31 47 of each year. In addition to the annual report, while the legislature is in 48 session, every registered lobbyist shall file interim monthly periodic reports 49 for each month or portion thereof that the legislature is in session, which 50 reports need to be signed only by the lobbyist and which shall be filed within 51 fifteen (15) days of the first day of the month for the activities of the 52 month just past, provided however, that any lobbyist covered under this chap- 5 1 ter whose lobbying activities are confined only to executive officials shall 2 be required to file interim periodic reports semiannually on January 31 and 3 July 31, which reports need to be signed by the lobbyist and the lobbyist's 4 employer or employers. 5 (2) Each annual, semiannual and monthly periodic report shall contain: 6 (a) The total of all expenditures made or incurred on behalf of such lob- 7 byist by the lobbyist's employer or employers, not including payments made 8 directly to the lobbyist, during the period covered by the report. The 9 totals shall be segregated according to financial category including, but 10 not limited to: entertainment, food and refreshment, honoraria, travel, 11 lodging, advertising and other like expenditures. Reimbursed personal liv- 12 ing and travel expenses of a lobbyist made or incurred directly or indi- 13 rectly for any lobbying purpose need not be reported. 14 (b) The name of any legislator or executive official to whom or for whose 15 benefit on any one (1) occasion, an expenditure in excess of: (i) seventy- 16 five dollars ($75.00) per person from 2008 through December 31, 2010, and 17 (ii) in excess of one hundred dollars ($100) per person on and after Janu- 18 ary 1, 2011, for the purpose of lobbying, is made or incurred and the 19 date, name of payee, purpose and amount of such expenditure. Expenditures 20 for the benefit of the members of the household of a legislator or execu- 21 tive official shall also be itemized if such expenditure exceeds the 22 amount listed in this subsection. 23 (c) In the case of a lobbyist employed by more than one (1) employer, the 24 proportionate amount of such expenditures in each category made or incur- 25 red on behalf of each of his employers. 26 (d) The subject matter of proposed legislation and the number of each 27 senate or house bill, resolution, memorial or other legislative activity 28 or any rule, ratemaking decision, procurement, contract, bid or bid proc- 29 ess, financial services agreement or bond in which the lobbyist has been 30 engaged in supporting or opposing during the reporting period; provided 31 that in the case of appropriations bills, the lobbyist shall enumerate the 32 specific section or sections which he supported or opposed. 33 (e) The itemization threshold in subsection (2)(b) of this section shall 34 be adjusted biennially by directive of the secretary of state, using con- 35 sumer price index data compiled by the United States department of labor. 36 SECTION 4. That Section 18-1356, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 37 amended to read as follows: 38 18-1356. GIFTS TO PUBLIC SERVANTS BY PERSONS SUBJECT TO THEIR JURISDIC- 39 TION. (1) Regulatory and law enforcement officials. No public servant in any 40 department or agency exercising regulatory functions, or conducting inspec- 41 tions or investigations, or carrying on civil or criminal litigation on behalf 42 of the government, or having custody of prisoners, shall solicit, accept or 43 agree to accept any pecuniary benefit from a person known to be subject to 44 such regulation, inspection, investigation or custody, or against whom such 45 litigation is known to be pending or contemplated. 46 (2) Officials concerned with government contracts and pecuniary transac- 47 tions. No public servant having any discretionary function to perform in con- 48 nection with contracts, purchases, payments, claims or other pecuniary trans- 49 actions of the government shall solicit, accept or agree to accept any pecuni- 50 ary benefit from any person known to be interested in or likely to become 51 interested in any such contract, purchase, payment, claim or transaction. 52 (3) Judicial and administrative officials. No public servant having judi- 53 cial or administrative authority and no public servant employed by or in a 6 1 court or other tribunal having such authority, or participating in the 2 enforcement of its decisions, shall solicit, accept or agree to accept any 3 pecuniary benefit from a person known to be interested in or likely to become 4 interested in any matter before such public servant or a tribunal with which 5 he is associated. 6 (4) Legislative and executive officials. No legislator or public servant 7employed by the legislature or by any committee or agency thereofshall 8 solicit, accept or agree to accept any pecuniary benefit in return for action 9 on a bill, legislation, proceeding or official transaction from any person 10 known to be interested in a bill, legislation, official transaction or pro- 11 ceeding, pending or contemplated before the legislature or any committee or12agency thereof. 13 (5) Exceptions. This section shall not apply to: 14 (a) fees prescribed by law to be received by a public servant, or any 15 other benefit for which the recipient gives legitimate consideration or to 16 which he is otherwise legally entitled; or 17 (b) gifts or other benefits conferred on account of kinship or other per- 18 sonal, professional or business relationship independent of the official 19 status of the receiver; or 20 (c) trivial benefits not to exceed a value of fifty dollars ($50.00) 21 incidental to personal, professional or business contacts and involving no 22 substantial risk of undermining official impartiality; or 23 (d) benefits received as a result of lobbying activities that are dis- 24 closed in reports required by chapter 66, title 67, Idaho Code. This 25 exception shall not apply to any activities prohibited by subsections (1) 26 through (4) of this section. 27 (6) Offering benefits prohibited. No person shall knowingly confer, or 28 offer or agree to confer, any benefit prohibited by the foregoing subsections. 29 (7) Grade of offense. An offense under this section is a misdemeanor and 30 shall be punished as provided in this chapter.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS17769C6
This legislation is intended to clarify the Sunshine Laws of
the State of Idaho with regard to lobbyist reporting. It expands
the definition of "executive official" to include persons with
major policy making roles within the constitutional offices and
clearly defines "lobbying" to include building relationships and
promoting goodwill with legislators and executive officials. The
bill also clarifies what is to be reported by lobbyists and clearly
spells out that expenditures for members of the household of a
legislator or executive official are to be reported if the
expenditure exceeds the itemization threshold.
FISCAL IMPACT
This legislation would have no impact on the state general
fund.
Contacts: Ben Ysursa, Secretary of State (334-2852)
Robert Geddes, President Pro Tem (332-1300)
Lawrence Denney, Speaker of the House (332-1111)
S 1446