Colorado Adopts 72-hour Disclosure Rules
for Professional Lobbyists

Joanna Kamvouris, J.D.
Manager, Research Services 

The Colorado Office of Secretary of State released amendments to the rules concerning lobbyist regulations, shedding light on disclosure requirements when a lobbyist has a new client or a new legislative position.

Rule changes concerning lobbyist regulation were required after Gov. Jared Polis signed the Lobbyist Transparency Act in May 2019. House Bill 1248, effective January 1, 2020, requires lobbyists to provide notice to the secretary of state within 72 hours of agreeing to lobby in connection with a new client, new legislation, or a new position on existing legislation.

To eliminate repetition of the Colorado Revised Statues, several rules were relocated during a rulemaking hearing in November. On December 13, the secretary of state issued a notice of adoption, indicating the rules are to be effective on a temporary basis January 1, 2020, and will become permanently effective 20 days after publication in the Colorado Register.

In accordance with the new Rule 2.8, a professional lobbyist agreeing to lobby for a new client while the General Assembly is in session must electronically disclose the identity of the new client within 24 hours and the legislation, standards, rules, or rates on which the lobbyist is lobbying within 72 hours. If a lobbyist agrees to lobby for an existing client in connection with new legislation, standards, rules, or rates while the General Assembly is in session, the lobbyist must electronically disclose the new legislation within 72 hours as well as whether the lobbyist’s client is supporting, opposing, amending, or monitoring the legislation. If a lobbyist takes a new position on legislation, standards, rules, or rates for an existing client while the General Assembly is in session, the lobbyist must electronically disclose the change of position.

Additionally, the Office of Secretary of State Lobbyist Program is developing a policy manual to help lobbyists understand and comply with legal requirements set out in the rules. The manual will be posted on the Lobbyist Program website as soon as it becomes available.

Note Recent Changes to Compliance Regulations 

Michael Beckett, Esq.,
Associate Director, Research Services

BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA: On May 4, 2020, several key changes of British Columbia’s lobbying law come into effect, including changing the name of the Lobbyist Registration Act to the Lobbyist Transparency Act. On November 25, 2019, the lieutenant governor issued the Lobbyist Transparency Regulation and proclaimed the May 4 date for the changes of Bill 54 to come into force. Bill 54 makes other changes including reducing the time threshold for requiring in-house lobbyists to register from 100 hours to 50 hours annually; adding a requirement for lobbyists to complete a monthly return containing details of actual lobbying activities in the previous month by the 15th of each subsequent month; and declarations in those returns of what code of conduct the lobbyists has undertaken and where it is available for public viewing. Additionally, there is a newly enacted prohibition on gifts from lobbyists, but does not apply if the gift is given under the protocol or social obligations normally accompanying the duties of a public office holder and the total value of the gift given is less $100 in a 12-month period. A new online Lobbyists Registry is in development to replace the current Lobbyists Registry.  

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: The city of Chicago announced a three-month delay for the effective date of an ordinance expanding the definition of lobbyist to include persons acting on behalf of a nonprofit if they undertake those efforts as a matter of professional engagement, regardless of pay or compensation. Ethics Ordinance 2019-5305, originally scheduled to be effective January 1, 2020, will provide exceptions to the registration requirements for persons who conduct nonpartisan analysis or research, provide technical advice, or examine broad social and economic problems.

ILLINOIS: The Office of the Secretary of State released a notice on December 17 that registration of lobbyists and lobbying entities will be delayed until January 6, 2020. The delay is due to the programming required to implement the registration changes required by Senate Bill 1639, which passed during the veto session in November. Senate Bill 1639 requires lobbying entities to report if they are registered or expect to be required to register to lobby a unit of local government.

NEW YORK: On December 19, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics launched the system-generated Client Semiannual Report (CSA) feature on the state’s online Lobbying Application system. Contractual clients who lobby on their own behalf and do not utilize the services of any retained lobbyists are not required to file CSA reports. Instead, system-generated CSA reports will be created with information directly imported from filed lobbyist bimonthly reports covering the applicable reporting period. The system will not create a system-generated CSA if an employed principal lobbyist has submitted a CSA report for the January to June reporting period. Also, contractual clients are still required to disclose sources of funding or indicate source of funding reporting is not required. No filing fee is required for system-generated CSA reports except to add retained lobbyist information. Adding retained lobbyists requires a $50 filing fee and filing CSA reports going forward.

OHIO: For the first time, the Ohio Lobbying Activity Center (OLAC) will accept electronic payment for registration renewals, meaning lobbyists who pay electronically will not have to print and mail anything to OLAC. A lobbyist may pay individually, by client, or simply by selecting the “add all pending items to cart” from the agent homepage and pay for renewals at one time. The renewal option closes on January 15, 2020. Registrations submitted after this date will require a signature page signed by both the lobbyist and the employer. For lobbyists who wish to still pay by check, the Office of the Legislative Inspector General must receive an invoice and filing fee no later than January 31 for each 2020 engagement.

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 regarding lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying.
 

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