The Metropolitan Board of Ethical Conduct voted Friday to ask the Metropolitan Clerk's Office to send a hard-copy and email summary to Metropolitan Council members identifying registered lobbyists from 2024 who failed to file required annual reports and are therefore ineligible to register or serve as lobbyists for calendar year 2025 without appearing before the board.

The board also voted to forward a supplemental analysis prepared by the Metropolitan Clerk's Office on lobbyist reporting and clients to the vice mayor on an information-only basis.

Chair Yanni, chair of the Metropolitan Board of Ethical Conduct, opened discussion on item 6 by noting the supplemental report had been prepared at the board’s request to address concerns about “clients of registered lobbyists with repeated violations on the annual reporting requirements.” The report examined whether clients were avoiding reporting obligations by switching lobbyists year to year; board members and staff agreed the analysis showed that practice was not currently widespread.

Niels, a board member, told the meeting he was “pleased to see that it's not an issue where lobbyists are repeatedly violating the reporting requirements and then companies switching to new lobbyists.” The clerk's office confirmed the report covers 2024 registration and compliance data and that those named on the noncompliance list had not completed the required filings for 2024.

Board members discussed how the clerk’s office and Metropolitan Council receive and distribute the annual compliance report. The clerk stated the full report is transmitted to the vice mayor and the council director and is posted online and outside the clerk’s office; board members expressed concern that the multi-page report may be overlooked and proposed a one-page summary for each council member’s desk. The clerk offered to provide the summary by email and hard copy if the board requests it.

Several members raised broader questions about whether lobbyists should display credentials or identification, similar to practices at the state level, to help council members and the public identify registered lobbyists. Metro legal counsel said proposals to require physical credentials or to expand identification requirements would be legislative matters for the Metropolitan Council to consider, and might carry budget implications for credential production or administration.

Legal counsel also reminded the board of the board’s enforcement triggers under local law: the board’s jurisdiction is invoked when a complaint is filed alleging unregistered lobbying or when a person who attempts to re-register after failing to comply with reporting is referred to the board; in such cases the code requires the board to call a hearing to decide whether the person may be permitted to register. The clerk and counsel cited Metro Code section 2.1960.110 when explaining that individuals who failed to file the 2024 reports are not eligible to register for 2025 without board authorization following a hearing.

At the end of the discussion the board approved two motions by voice vote. First, the board requested the clerk send the summarized list of 2024 registrants who failed to file the required reports to all Metropolitan Council members by email and hard copy, with language explaining that those individuals “are not permitted to serve as registered lobbyists for the calendar year 2025 without appearing before the board.” Second, the board asked the clerk to forward the supplemental analysis on lobbyist clients to the vice mayor for information only. Both motions passed by voice vote; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the minutes.

The board also approved routine meeting minutes earlier in the session and adjourned after scheduling notes for next year’s annual meeting.