Chapter 751 Oregon Laws 2001

AN ACT

SB 960

Relating to lobby regulation; creating new provisions; amending ORS 171.725, 171.730, 171.735, 171.740, 171.745, 171.750 and 171.756; and repealing ORS 171.743.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. ORS 171.725 is amended to read:

171.725. As used in ORS 171.725 to 171.785, unless the context requires otherwise:

(1) “Compensation” has the meaning given that term in ORS 292.951.

[(1)] (2) “Consideration” includes a gift, payment, distribution, loan, advance or deposit of money or anything of value, and includes a contract, promise or agreement, whether or not legally enforceable.

[(2)] (3) “Executive agency” means a commission, board, agency or other body in the executive branch of state government that is not part of the legislative or judicial branch.

[(3)] (4) “Executive official” means any member or member-elect of an executive agency and any member of the staff or an employee [thereof] of an executive agency. A member of a state board or commission, other than a member who is employed in full-time public service, [shall] is not [be considered] an executive official for purposes of ORS 171.725 to 171.785.

[(4)] (5) “Judge” means an active judge serving on the Oregon Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Oregon Tax Court, or an Oregon circuit court.

[(5)] (6) “Legislative action” means introduction, sponsorship, testimony, debate, voting or any other official action on any measure, resolution, amendment, nomination, appointment, or report, or any matter [which] that may be the subject of action by either house of the Legislative Assembly, or any committee [thereof] of the Legislative Assembly, or the approval or veto thereof by the Governor.

[(6)] (7) “Legislative official” means any member or member-elect of the Legislative Assembly, any member of an agency, board or committee that is part of the legislative branch, and any staff person, assistant or employee thereof.

[(7)] (8) “Lobbying” means influencing, or attempting to influence, legislative action through oral or written communication with legislative officials, solicitation of others to influence or attempt to influence legislative action or attempting to obtain the good will of legislative officials.

[(8)] (9) “Lobbyist” means:

(a) Any individual who agrees to provide personal services for money or any other consideration for the purpose of lobbying.

(b) Any person not otherwise subject to paragraph (a) of this subsection who provides personal services as a representative of a corporation, association, organization or other group, for the purpose of lobbying.

[(9)] (10) “Public agency” means a commission, board, agency or other governmental body.

[(10)] (11) “Public official” means any member or member-elect of any public agency and any member of the staff or an employee [thereof] of the public agency.

SECTION 2. ORS 171.730 is amended to read:

171.730. The Legislative Assembly finds that, to preserve and maintain the integrity of the legislative process, [it is necessary that the identity, expenditures and activities of certain] persons who engage in efforts to persuade members of the Legislative Assembly or the executive branch to take specific actions, either by direct communication [to such officials] with members or employees of the Legislative Assembly or the executive branch or by solicitation of others to engage in [such] those efforts, [be publicly and] should regularly [disclosed] report their efforts to the public.

SECTION 3. ORS 171.735 is amended to read:

171.735. [Provided such persons are not registered with the Oregon Government Standards and Practices Commission,] ORS 171.740 and 171.745 do not apply to the following persons:

(1) News media, or their employees or agents, [who] that in the ordinary course of business [publish or broadcast news items, editorials or other comments or paid advertisements which] directly or indirectly urge legislative action [if such persons] but that engage in no other activities in connection with [such] the legislative action.

(2) Any legislative official acting in an official capacity.

(3) Any individual who receives no [additional consideration] compensation or reimbursement of expenses for lobbying, [and] who limits lobbying activities solely to formal appearances to give testimony before public sessions of committees of the Legislative Assembly, or public hearings of state agencies, and who, [if the individual testifies] when testifying, registers an appearance in the records of [such] the committees or agencies.

(4) A person who spends not more than 24 hours during any calendar quarter lobbying[, excluding travel time,] and who does not spend an amount in excess of $100 lobbying during any calendar quarter [excluding the cost of personal travel, meals and lodging. Once either the $100 or 24-hour amount is exceeded by an individual or by a corporation, association, organization or other group, the individual, corporation, association, organization or other group must comply with the requirements of ORS 171.740 to 171.756 and must register with the Oregon Government Standards and Practices Commission under ORS 171.740 within three working days after exceeding either the expenditure or the time limit, or both].

(5) The Governor, Executive Assistant to the Governor, Legal Counsel to the Governor, Secretary of State, Deputy Secretary of State appointed pursuant to ORS 177.040, State Treasurer, Chief Deputy State Treasurer appointed pursuant to ORS 178.060, Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General appointed pursuant to ORS 180.130, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries and any judge.

SECTION 4. ORS 171.740 is amended to read:

171.740. (1) Within three working days after exceeding the limit of time or expenditure specified in ORS 171.735 (4), [each] a lobbyist [or public agency] shall register with the Oregon Government Standards and Practices Commission by filing with the commission a statement containing the following information:

(a) The name, [and] address and telephone number of the lobbyist.

(b) The name, [and] address and telephone number of each person [or agency by whom] that employs the lobbyist [is employed] or in whose interest the lobbyist appears or works. [,]

(c) A general description of the trade, business, profession or area of endeavor of [that] any person [or agency] designated under paragraph (b) of this subsection, and a [designation] statement by [each such] the person [or agency] that the lobbyist is officially authorized to lobby for [that] the person [or agency].

[(c)] (d) The name of any member of the Legislative Assembly [who is in any way employed by the lobbyist employer designated in paragraph (b) of this subsection or who is employed by the lobbyist or whether the lobbyist and member are associated with the same business, as defined in ORS 244.020. However, ownership of stock in a publicly traded corporation in which a member of the Legislative Assembly also owns stock is not a relationship which need be stated] employed, retained or otherwise compensated by:

(A) The lobbyist designated under paragraph (a) of this subsection; or

(B) A person designated under paragraph (b) of this subsection.

[(d)] (e) The general subject or subjects of the legislative action of interest [of] to the person for whom the lobbyist is registered.

(2) The designation of official authorization to lobby shall be signed by an [officer] official of each [such public agency, corporation, association, organization or other group or by each individual by whom] person that employs the lobbyist [is employed] or in whose interest the lobbyist appears or works.

(3) If a lobbyist appears for a person for whom the lobbyist has not registered, the lobbyist shall register with the commission within three working days of the lobbyist’s appearance.

[A lobbyist shall notify the Oregon Government Standards and Practices Commission of a change of address of the lobbyist or the person or agency by whom the lobbyist is employed within 30 days of the change.]

[(4) A lobbyist must revise the statements required by subsection (1) of this section, if any of the information contained therein changes. Revised statements shall be filed within 30 days of the change.]

[(5) A lobbyist registration expires two years after the date of filing or refiling and must be renewed by application accompanied by the fees described in ORS 171.743.]

(4) If any of the information submitted by a lobbyist in the statement required under subsection (1) of this section changes, the lobbyist shall revise the statement within 30 days of the change.

(5) A lobbyist registration expires December 31 of an odd-numbered year. If a lobbyist renews the registration before March 31 of the following even-numbered year, the commission shall consider the registration to have been effective as of December 31 of the odd-numbered year on which the registration expired.

(6) For the statement required by this section, an entity comprised of more than one lobbyist may file one statement for the lobbyists that comprise the entity. The statement the entity files must include the names of the individuals authorized to lobby on behalf of the client listed in the statement.

SECTION 5. ORS 171.745 is amended to read:

171.745. (1) [Any] A lobbyist [who engages in any lobbying activities shall file] registered with the Oregon Government Standards and Practices Commission or required to register with the commission shall, on January 31 and July 31, of each even-numbered year, and on January 31, April 30 and July 31 of each odd-numbered year, file with the commission a statement showing:

(a) The total amount of all moneys expended by the lobbyist for the purpose of lobbying in the preceding reporting period[, by general category, including but not limited to] for:

(A) Food, refreshments and entertainment;

(B) Printing, postage and telephone;

(D) Miscellaneous; and

(b) The name of any legislative or executive official to whom or for whose benefit, on any one occasion, an expenditure in excess of $25 is made for the purposes of lobbying, and the date, name of payee, purpose and amount of that expenditure.

(2) Beginning on July 1, 1979, the dollar amount specified in subsection (1)(b) of this section shall be adjusted annually by the commission based upon the change in the Portland Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for All Items as prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor or its successor during the preceding 12-month period. The amount determined under this subsection shall be rounded to the nearest dollar.

(3) Statements required by this section need not include amounts expended by the lobbyist for personal living and travel expenses and office overhead, including salaries and wages paid for staff and secretarial assistance, and maintenance expenses. If the amount of any expenditure required to be included in a statement is not accurately known at the time the statement is required to be filed, an estimate [thereof] of the expenditure shall be submitted in the statement and designated as [such] an estimate. The exact amount expended for which a previous estimate was made shall be submitted in a subsequent report when the information is available.

(4) Notwithstanding ORS 171.735, 171.740 and subsections (1) to (3) of this section, [no] a registered lobbyist, who engages in lobbying activities without compensation on behalf of an organization[, shall be] is not required to register as a lobbyist for [such] the organization [so] as long as the lobbying activity does not exceed the financial or time limits set in ORS 171.735 (4).

(5) A statement required by this section shall include a copy of any notice provided to a public official under ORS 244.100 (3).

(6) For each statement required by this section, an entity comprised of more than one lobbyist may file one statement that reports expenditures by the entity and not by individual lobbyists.

SECTION 6. ORS 171.750 is amended to read:

171.750. (1) Any person [or public agency which employs] on whose behalf a lobbyist [who] was registered, or [who] was required to register with the Oregon Government Standards and Practices Commission at any time during the preceding calendar year, shall file with the [Oregon Government Standards and Practices] commission, by January 31st of each year, a statement showing, for the preceding calendar year:

(a) The total amount of all moneys expended for lobbying activities [in] on the [employer’s] person’s behalf, excluding living and travel expenses incurred [during a session of the Legislative Assembly] for a lobbyist performing lobbying services.

(b) The name of any legislative or executive official to whom or for whose benefit, on any one occasion, an expenditure in excess of $25 for the purpose of lobbying is made by the [employer] person, but not including information previously reported in compliance with ORS 171.745, and the date, name of payee, purpose and amount of that expenditure.

(2) Using July 1, 1979, as the base, the dollar amount specified in subsection (1)(b) of this section shall be adjusted annually by the commission based upon the change in the Portland Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for All Items as prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, or its successor, during the preceding 12-month period. The amount determined under this subsection shall be rounded to the nearest dollar.

(3) A statement required under subsection (1) of this section shall include a copy of any notice provided to a public official under ORS 244.100 (3).

SECTION 7. ORS 171.756 is amended to read:

171.756. (1) [No] A lobbyist [shall] may not instigate the introduction of any legislative action for the purpose of obtaining employment to lobby in opposition [thereto] to the legislative action.

(2) [No] A lobbyist [shall] may not attempt to influence the vote of any member of the Legislative Assembly by the promise of financial support of the candidacy of the member, or by threat of financing opposition to the candidacy of the member, at any future election.

(3) [No] A person [shall] may not lobby or offer to lobby for consideration any part of which is contingent upon the success of any lobbying activity.

(4) [No] A legislative or executive official [shall] may not receive consideration other than from the State of Oregon for acting as a lobbyist in Oregon.

SECTION 8. The amendments to ORS 171.725, 171.730, 171.735, 171.740, 171.745, 171.750 and 171.756 by sections 1 to 7 of this 2001 Act apply to conduct occurring on or after the effective date of this 2001 Act.

SECTION 9. ORS 171.743 is repealed.

Approved by the Governor July 6, 2001

Filed in the office of Secretary of State July 6, 2001

Effective date January 1, 2002

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