AN ACT 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; eliminating the requirement that lobbyists file duplicate copies of the lobbyist's registration statement; eliminating the requirement that lobbyist registration statements and reports 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 misdemeanor; and providing penalties therefor.

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. The registration statement shall contain information and be in a form prescribed by the ethics commission 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 of the registrant's compensation, 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; and
(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) 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 the lobbyist may file a single statement, in which he or she shall detail the name, business address and occupation of each person paying or contributing to the fee.
(c) Whenever a change, modification or termination of the lobbyist's employment occurs, the lobbyist shall, within one week of the change, modification or termination, furnish full information regarding the change, modification or termination by filing with the commission an amended registration statement.
(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 terminates his or her registration. Until the 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. The 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 is in the discretion of the commission, which is not required to compile and maintain a distribution list of all persons who may be entitled to receive the booklet.
§6B-3-3a. Registration fees.
(a) Each lobbyist shall, at the time he or she registers, pay the commission a registration fee of sixty dollars to 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 day of January during an even-numbered year, he or she shall only be required to pay a reduced registration fee of thirty dollars for the balance of that year.
(b) The commission shall collect the registration fees authorized by this section and pay them into the state treasury to the credit of the state general fund.
§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 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 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 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 an application, statement or report and who willfully and knowingly makes a false statement, conceals a material fact or otherwise commits a fraud in the application, statement or report is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or confined in a county or regional jail not more than one year, or both.
(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.