SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 509
89TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR EHLMANN.
Pre-filed December 1, 1997, and 1,000 copies ordered printed.
TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.
S2367.02I
AN ACT
To repeal section 105.456, RSMo 1994, and section 105.473, RSMo Supp. 1997, relating to public officers and employees, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to the same subject.
Section A. Section 105.456, RSMo 1994, and section 105.473, RSMo Supp. 1997, are repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 105.456 and 105.473, to read as follows:
105.456. 1. No member of the general assembly or the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state treasurer or state auditor shall:
(1) Perform any service for the state or any political subdivision of the state or any agency of the state or any political subdivision thereof or act in his official capacity or perform duties associated with his position for any person for any consideration other than the compensation provided for the performance of his official duties; or
(2) Sell, rent or lease any property to the state or political subdivision thereof or any agency of the state or any political subdivision thereof for consideration in excess of five hundred dollars per annum unless the transaction is made pursuant to an award on a contract let or sale made after public notice and in the case of property other than real property, competitive bidding, provided that the bid or offer accepted is the lowest received; or
(3) Attempt, for compensation other than the compensation provided for the performance of his official duties, to influence the decision of any agency of the state on any matter, except that this provision shall not be construed to prohibit such person from participating for compensation in any adversary proceeding or in the preparation or filing of any public document or conference thereon. The exception for a conference upon a public document shall not permit any member of the general assembly or the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state treasurer or state auditor to receive any consideration for the purpose of attempting to influence the decision of any agency of the state on behalf of any person with regard to any application, bid or request for a state grant, loan, appropriation, contract, award, permit other than matters involving a driver's license, or job before any state agency, commission, or elected official. Notwithstanding Missouri supreme court rule 1.10 of rule 4 or any other court rule or law to the contrary, other members of a firm, professional corporation or partnership shall not be prohibited pursuant to this subdivision from representing a person or other entity solely because a member of the firm, professional corporation or partnership serves in the general assembly, provided that such official does not share directly in the compensation earned, so far as the same may reasonably be accounted, for such activity by the firm or by any other member of the firm. This subdivision shall not be construed to prohibit any inquiry for information or the representation of a person without consideration before a state agency or in a matter involving the state if no consideration is given, charged or promised in consequence thereof; or
(4) During the first year in which he or she no longer holds such office, accept any state employment with compensation which is an appointed position within the executive or legislative branches of the state.
2. No sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, or corporation in which a member of the general assembly, governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state treasurer, state auditor or spouse of such official, is the sole proprietor, a partner having more than a ten percent partnership interest, or a coparticipant or owner of in excess of ten percent of the outstanding shares of any class of stock, shall:
(1) Perform any service for the state or any political subdivision thereof or any agency of the state or political subdivision for any consideration in excess of five hundred dollars per annum unless the transaction is made pursuant to an award on a contract let or sale made after public notice and competitive bidding, provided that the bid or offer accepted is the lowest received; or
(2) Sell, rent, or lease any property to the state or any political subdivision thereof or any agency of the state or political subdivision thereof for consideration in excess of five hundred dollars per annum unless the transaction is made pursuant to an award on a contract let or a sale made after public notice and in the case of property other than real property, competitive bidding, provided that the bid or offer accepted is the lowest and best received.
105.473. 1. Each lobbyist shall, not later than five days after beginning any activities as a lobbyist, file standardized registration forms, verified by a written declaration that it is made under the penalties of perjury, along with a filing fee of ten dollars, with the commission. The forms shall include the lobbyist's name and business address, the name and address of all persons such lobbyist employs for lobbying purposes, the name and address of each lobbyist principal by whom such lobbyist is employed or in whose interest such lobbyist appears or works. The commission shall maintain files on all lobbyists' filings, which shall be open to the public. Each lobbyist shall file an updating statement under oath within one week of any addition, deletion, or change in the lobbyist's employment or representation. The filing fee shall be deposited to the general revenue fund of the state.
2. Each person shall, before giving testimony before any committee of the general assembly, give to the secretary of such committee such person's name and address and the identity of any lobbyist or organization, if any, on whose behalf such person appears.
3. (1) During any period of time in which a lobbyist continues to act as an executive lobbyist, judicial lobbyist or a legislative lobbyist, the lobbyist shall file with the commission on standardized forms prescribed by the commission monthly reports which shall be due at the close of business on the tenth day of the following month;
(2) Each report filed pursuant to this subsection shall include a statement, verified by a written declaration that it is made under the penalties of perjury, setting forth the following:
(a) The total of all expenditures by the lobbyist or his lobbyist principals made on behalf of all public officials, their staffs and employees, and their spouses and dependent children, which expenditures shall be separated into at least the following categories by the executive branch, judicial branch and legislative branch of government: printing and publication expenses; media and other advertising expenses; travel; entertainment; honoraria; meals, food and beverages; and gifts;
(b) An itemized listing of the name of the recipient and the nature and amount of each expenditure by the lobbyist or his lobbyist principal, including a service or anything of value, for all expenditures made during any reporting period, paid or provided to or for a public official, such official's staff, employees, spouse or dependent children;
(c) The total of all expenditures made by a lobbyist or lobbyist principal for occasions and the identity of the group invited, the date and description of the occasion and the amount of the expenditure for each occasion when any of the following are invited in writing:
a. All members of the senate;
b. All members of the house of representatives;
c. All members of a joint committee of the general assembly or a standing committee of either the house of representatives or senate; or
d. All members of a caucus of the general assembly if the caucus consists of at least ten members, a list of the members of the caucus has been previously filed with the ethics committee of the house or the senate, and such list has been approved by either of such ethics committees;
(d) Any expenditure made on behalf of a public official, or the public official's staff, employees, spouse or dependent children, if such expenditure is solicited by such public official, the public official's staff, employees, or spouse or dependent children, from the lobbyist or his lobbyist principals and the name of such person or persons;
(e) A statement detailing any direct business relationship or association or partnership the lobbyist has with any public official. The reports required by this paragraph shall cover the time periods since the filing of the last report or since the lobbyist's employment or representation began, whichever is most recent.
4. No expenditure reported pursuant to this section shall include any amount expended by a lobbyist or lobbyist principal on himself. All expenditures disclosed pursuant to this section shall be valued on the report at the actual amount of the payment made, or the charge, expense, cost, or obligation, debt or bill incurred by the lobbyist or the person the lobbyist represents. Whenever a lobbyist principal employs more than one lobbyist, expenditures of the lobbyist principal shall not be reported by each lobbyist, but shall be reported by one of such lobbyists.
5. Any lobbyist principal shall provide in a timely fashion whatever information is reasonably requested by the lobbyist principal's lobbyist for use in filing the reports required by this section.
6. All information required to be filed under the provisions of this section with the commission shall be kept available by the executive director of the commission at all times open to the public for inspection and copying for a reasonable fee for a period of five years from the date when such information was filed.
7. No person shall knowingly employ any person who is required to register as a registered lobbyist but is not registered pursuant to this section. Any person who knowingly violates this subsection shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount of not more than ten thousand dollars for each violation. Such civil penalties shall be collected by action filed by the commission.
8. No lobbyist shall knowingly omit, conceal, or falsify in any manner information required pursuant to this section.
9. The prosecuting attorney of Cole County shall be reimbursed only out of funds specifically appropriated by the general assembly for investigations and prosecutions for violations of this section.
10. Any public official or other person whose name appears in any lobbyist report filed pursuant to this section who contests the accuracy of the portion of the report applicable to such person may petition the commission for an audit of such report and shall state in writing in such petition the specific disagreement with the contents of such report. The commission shall investigate such allegations in the manner described in section 105.959. If the commission determines that the contents of such report are incorrect, incomplete or erroneous, it shall enter an order requiring filing of an amended or corrected report.
11. The commission shall provide a report listing the total spent by a lobbyist for the month and year to any member or member-elect of the general assembly, judge or judicial officer, or any other person holding an elective office of state government on or before the twentieth day of each month. For the purpose of providing accurate information to the public, the commission shall not publish information in either written or electronic form for ten working days after providing the report pursuant to this subsection. The commission shall not release any portion of the lobbyist report if the accuracy of the report has been questioned pursuant to subsection 10 of this section unless it is conspicuously marked "Under Review".
12. Each lobbyist principal by whom the lobbyist was employed, or in whose behalf the lobbyist acted, shall provide a general description of the proposed legislation or action by the executive branch or judicial branch which the lobbyist supported or opposed. This information shall be supplied to the commission on March fifteenth and May thirtieth of each year.
13. Each lobbyist or lobbyist principal shall disclose the amount of compensation received in the preceding calendar year for his or her lobbying activities. Such disclosure shall be filed with the Missouri ethics commission no later than March fifteenth of each year and shall include disclosure of compensation for all lobbying activities in the previous calendar year.