Senate Bill No. 318
(By Senator Grubb)
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[Introduced March 9, 1993;
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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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:
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.