Kentucky Passes Expansion of Executive Branch Lobbying Requirements

Michael Beckett, Esq.
Research Manager 

Gov. Matt Bevin signed the bill lawmakers unanimously passed to expand definitions and increase disclosure requirements for executive branch lobbyists. Senate Bill 6 modifies the registration threshold, increases the types of covered activities, requires disclosure of lobbyist compensation, and expands the prohibition on contingency fees as a form of compensation for lobbying. The bill also doubles a revolving door provision from six months to one year and allows for electronic filing of lobbying disclosures. The bill becomes effective 90 days after the General Assembly adjourns sine die. 

Executive Branch Lobbying Expanded

Currently, executive branch lobbyists must register for attempting to influence an executive agency decision involving state funds of at least $5,000. Senate Bill 6 adds budget provisions, administrative regulations and rules, legislative matters, and other public policy matters that financially impact the lobbyist or lobbyist employer, regardless of whether any amount of state funds are involved. Registration will also be required for associations, coalitions, or public interest entities formed for the purpose of promoting or otherwise influencing executive agency decisions. Additional exceptions to registration are available for news distribution and public statements during public comment periods on proposed regulation and rule changes.  

Compensation Disclosures

Lobbying registrations will require the disclosure of compensation paid to each executive agency lobbyist by each employer. Lobbyists and lobbyist employers also must certify they have complied with the ban on contingency fees, which is expanded to include payment based on the awarding of a contract or payment of a percentage of a government contract awarded.  

An employer who pays an executive agency lobbyist based on the awarding of a contract or payment of a percentage of a government contract awarded will be barred from doing business with the Commonwealth for a period of five years from the date on which such a payment is revealed to the Executive Branch Ethics Commission.    

 [The details for this article will be updated on our website in the Registration
and Reports Required sections of the Lobbying and Procurement Lobbying
Compliance Laws for Kentucky.]

Summary of Changes UPDATE
Note Recent Changes to Compliance Regulations 

Michael Beckett, Esq.,
Research Manager

ARKANSAS: Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed multiple ethics bills into law. Senate Bill 249 increases the fines for violating ethics laws the Arkansas Ethics Commission may levy from $2,000 to $3,500. Senate Bill 256 prohibits an elected state official from registering as a lobbyist in any jurisdiction while serving as an elected state official, and House Bill 1178 amends various sections of law related to competitive sealed bids. The bills become effective 90 days after the legislative session adjourns sine die.

FEDERAL: On March 8, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a sweeping campaign finance, lobbying, ethics, and election gerrymandering reform bill. Introduced by Rep. John Sarbanes, House Bill 1, the For the People Act, requires any organization involved in political activity to disclose its largest donors, creates a multiple matching system for small donations for political campaigns, and amends rules governing super PACs. Additionally, the bill restructures the Federal Election Commission, amends the federal conflict of interest law, and expands the revolving door provision by prohibiting members of Congress from serving on corporate boards. If enacted, the bill also requires presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns, prohibits partisan gerrymandering, increases oversight over election vendors, creates an automatic voter registration across the country, and changes registration requirements for lobbyists and foreign agents.

NEW MEXICO: Lawmakers passed Senate Bill 668, the State Ethics Commission Act, on the final day of the session. The bill creates the new independent ethics commission approved by voters in the November 2018 election. The new commission will oversee state public officials and employees and give the commission investigative powers over ethics violations. If signed by Gov. Michelle Grisham, the bill will become effective July 1, but sections relating to the commission’s authority and enforcement powers will not take effect until January 1, 2020.

NEW YORK: The State Board of Elections has issued guidance on recently passed campaign finance laws affecting limited liability companies (LLCs). Assembly Bill 776 requires limited liability companies making expenditures for a political purpose to file with the board the identity of all direct and indirect owners of the membership interests and the proportion of ownership in the LLC. Additionally, LLCs are now limited to an aggregate $5,000 annual contribution limit to all candidates and committees, with the exception of housekeeping, independent expenditure, and ballot proposition committees. All contributions made to a campaign or political committee by an LLC must be attributed to each member of the LLC in proportion to the member's ownership interest in the company.

SOUTH DAKOTA: Gov. Kristi Noem signed a bill to restrict campaign contributions from minors. Senate Bill 114, which passed the state Senate unanimously, requires contributions from unemancipated minors to go towards the contribution limit of their parents. This loophole gained attention during Sioux Falls’s last mayoral election, when a local business owner and each of his five children, ages six to 15, gave the maximum $1,000 to Paul TenHaken’s campaign. The bill is effective July 1. 

Legislation We Are Tracking

At any given time, more than 1,000 legislative bills, which can affect how you do business as a government affairs professional, are being discussed in federal, state, and local jurisdictions. These bills are summarized in State and Federal Communications' digital encyclopedias for lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying and can be found in the client portion of our website.

Summaries of major bills are also included in monthly email updates sent to all clients. The chart below shows the number of bills we are tracking in regard to lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying.

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[Above - l to r:  Renae Bomba, Esq.; Adrienne Borgstahl, Esq.; Elizabeth Z. Bartz, President and CEO; and Kayleigh Crumb, Intern.]