H. B. 3051
(By Delegates Staton and Beane)
[Introduced
February 18, 2003
; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections seven and ten, article two,
chapter six-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact
section four, article three of said chapter, all relating to
altering the certain reportable threshold dollar amounts on
legislative member financial disclosure statements and
lobbyist reports.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections seven and ten, article two, chapter six-b of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section four, article
three of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2. West Virginia ethics commission; powers and duties;
disclosure of financial interest by public
officials and employees; appearances before
public agencies.
§6B-2-7. Financial disclosure statement; contents.
The financial disclosure statement required under this article
shall contain the following information:
(1) The name, residential and business addresses of the person
filing the statement and all names under which the person does
business.
(2) The name and address of each employer of the person.
(3) The identification, by category, of every source of income
over five thousand dollars received during the preceding calendar
year, in his or her own name or by any other person for his or her
use or benefit, by the person filing the statement, and a brief
description of the nature of the services for which the income was
received. This subdivision does not require a person filing the
statement who derives income from a business, profession or
occupation to disclose the individual sources and items of income
that constitute the gross income of that business, profession or
occupation, nor does this subdivision require a person filing the
statement to report the source or amount of income derived by his
or her spouse.
(4) If the person profited or benefited in the year prior to
the date of filing from a contract for the sale of goods or
services to a state, county, municipal or other local governmental
agency either directly or through a partnership, corporation or
association in which such person owned or controlled more than ten
percent, the person shall describe the nature of the goods or services and identify the governmental agencies which purchased the
goods or services.
(5) Each interest group or category listed below doing
business in this state with which the person filing the statement
did business or furnished services and from which the person
received more than twenty percent of the person's gross income
during the preceding calendar year. The groups or categories are
electric utilities, gas utilities, telephone utilities, water
utilities, cable television companies, interstate transportation
companies, intrastate transportation companies, oil or gas retail
companies, banks, savings and loan associations, loan or finance
companies, manufacturing companies, surface mining companies, deep
mining companies, mining equipment companies, chemical companies,
insurance companies, retail companies, beer, wine or liquor
companies or distributors, recreation related companies, timbering
companies, hospitals or other health care providers, trade
associations, professional associations, associations of public
employees or public officials, counties, cities or towns, labor
organizations, waste disposal companies, wholesale companies,
groups or associations seeking to legalize gambling, advertising
companies, media companies, race tracks and promotional companies.
(6) The names of all persons, excluding that person's
immediate family, parents, or grandparents residing or transacting
business in the state to whom the person filing the statement owes,
on the date of execution of this statement in the aggregate in his or her own name or in the name of any other person more than twelve
thousand five hundred dollars: Provided, That nothing herein shall
require the disclosure of a mortgage on the person's primary and
secondary residences or of automobile loans on automobiles
maintained for the use of the person's immediate family, or of a
student loan, nor shall this section require the disclosure of
debts which result from the ordinary conduct of such person's
business, profession, or occupation or of debts of the person
filing the statement to any financial institution, credit card
company, or business, in which the person has an ownership
interest: Provided, however, That the previous proviso shall not
exclude from disclosure loans obtained pursuant to the linked
deposit program provided for in article one-a, chapter twelve of
this code or any other loan or debt incurred which requires
approval of the state or any of its political subdivisions.
(7) The names of all persons except immediate family members,
parents and grandparents residing or transacting business in the
state (other than a demand or savings account in a bank, savings
and loan association, credit union or building and loan association
or other similar depository) who owes on the date of execution of
this statement, more, in the aggregate, than twelve thousand five
hundred dollars to the person filing the statement, either in his
or her own name or to any other person for his or her use or
benefit. This subdivision does not require the disclosure of debts
owed to the person filing the statement which debts result from the ordinary conduct of such person's business, profession or
occupation or of loans made by the person filing the statement to
any business in which the person has an ownership interest.
(8) The source of each gift having a value of over one hundred
fifty dollars, received from a person having a direct and immediate
interest in a governmental activity over which the person filing
the statement has control, shall be reported by the person filing
the statement when such gift is given to said person in his or her
name or for his or her use or benefit during the preceding calendar
year: Provided, That gifts received by will or by virtue of the
laws of descent and distribution, or received from one's spouse,
child, grandchild, parents or grandparents, or received by way of
distribution from an inter vivos or testamentary trust established
by the spouse or child, grandchild, or by an ancestor of the person
filing the statement are not required to be reported. As used in
this subdivision any series or plurality of gifts which exceeds in
the aggregate the sum of one hundred fifty dollars from the same
source or donor, either directly or indirectly, and in the same
calendar year, shall be regarded as a single gift in excess of that
aggregate amount.
§6B-2-10. Violations and penalties.
(a) If any person violates the provisions of subsection (e),
(f) or (g), section five of this article, or violates the
provisions of subdivision (1), subsection (e), section four of this
article, such person, upon conviction thereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by confinement in the county
jail for a period not to exceed six months or shall be fined not
more than one thousand dollars, or both such confinement and fine.
If any person violating the provisions of subdivision (1),
subsection (e), section four of this article shall be a member of
the commission or an employee thereof, he or she shall, upon
conviction, be subject to immediate removal or discharge.
(b) If any person violates the provisions of subsection (f),
section six of this article by willfully and knowingly filing a
false financial statement, such person shall, upon conviction
thereof, be deemed guilty of false swearing and shall be punished
as provided in section three, article five, chapter sixty-one of
this code.
(c) If any person knowingly fails or refuses to file a
financial statement required by section six of this article, such
person, upon conviction thereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor,
and shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than
one thousand dollars.
(d) If any complainant violates the provisions of subdivision
(2), subsection (f) (e), section four, article two of this chapter
by knowingly and willfully disclosing any information made
confidential by an order of the commission, he or she shall be
subject to administrative sanction by the commission as provided
for in subsection (r) (q), section four of this article.
ARTICLE 3. LOBBYISTS.
§6B-3-4. Reporting by lobbyists.
(a) A lobbyist shall file with the commission reports of his
or her lobbying activities, signed by the lobbyist. The 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 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 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 the lobbyist, or on
behalf of the 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 a public official or employee; 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 the expenditures in
each category incurred on behalf of each of his or her 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 reporting
category total more than twenty-five fifty 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, 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 fifty dollars for a
particular public official or employee who attends the 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 the
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 reporting category total more
than twenty-five fifty 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 alter the reporting
threshold for legislative members to report a gift from $100 to
$50, to alter the reporting threshold amount when lobbyists must
report expenditures on behalf of a legislative member from $25 to
$50, and to correct code section references that were not changed
when this article was amended in 1990.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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