Committee advances lobbyist-reform bill after lengthy floor debate and amendments

The committee advanced the committee substitute for Senate Bill 745, a comprehensive lobbyist transparency and conduct measure, and voted to report the substitute as amended to the full Senate.

Committee members and counsel described a number of substantive changes made in subcommittee and on the floor. Counsel said the substitute would require searchable public disclosures by the Ethics Commission and apply eligibility and disclosure rules to persons who "walk like a lobbyist"—expanding definitions to capture consultants and contractors who perform lobbying functions. Counsel described reporting of compensation using five income "buckets" (ranges such as under $10,000; $10,000–$25,000; $25,000–$50,000; etc.) rather than requiring exact dollar figures, and said a lobbyist would not be required to report exact compensation amounts. Counsel also told the committee the citizen-expenditure reporting threshold had been raised from $150 to $1,000, and that an earlier 20-visit limit for uncompensated citizen lobbying had been removed.

The subcommittee report, delivered by the senator from Fayette, said the changes aimed to increase transparency while responding to lobbyists' concerns about competitive harm from disclosing precise contract amounts. The senator from Fayette also described a proposed prohibition preventing lobbyists (but not their employers) from contributing to individual candidates during covered periods; counsel cited Fourth Circuit precedent and South Carolina's statutory model as supportive authorities for restricting lobbyist contributions during the legislative session.

A substantial portion of the meeting focused on whether the bill should bar lobbyists from "solicit[ing] or facilitat[ing] campaign contributions" in addition to banning direct contributions. The senior senator from the fourth proposed deleting the words "solicit and facilitate" from the prohibition language. After debate that included concerns that restricting solicitation would further empower outside political action committees and reduce an individual candidate's ability to raise funds, the committee held a division vote on the amendment. The clerk reported the division as 8 in favor, 7 opposed, and the amendment to remove "solicit and facilitate" was adopted.

Other floor changes the committee noted: an added prohibition on lobbyist contributions by lobbyists or their spouses was discussed and subsequently narrowed after counsel warned of constitutional concerns about restricting spouses; the committee also restored bucketed income reporting and softened some disclosure requirements compared with earlier drafts. After further debate and several members speaking for and against, the committee agreed to the committee substitute as amended and the vice chair moved that it be reported to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass. The chair declared the motion adopted by voice vote.

Counsel and senators repeatedly emphasized that lobbyists and stakeholder groups had been engaged in subcommittee and committee work on the bill. Multiple senators characterized the bill as an attempt to restore public trust through greater transparency, while some members warned the restrictions could disadvantage individual candidates against better-funded outside groups.