Senate amends ethics rules to distinguish tours from entertainment and requires lobbyist disclosure in midterm vacancy contests

Senator Weiler presented a second substitute to Senate Bill 97, combining two related ethics matters: clearer definitions of "event" and "tour" under current rules, and a new disclosure requirement for registered lobbyists who donate time to candidates in midterm‑vacancy appointment contests.

Weiler used a recent Jeep tour in Moab as an example that produced conflicting guidance between the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel and the Lieutenant Governor’s office. The bill clarifies that tours intended to inform public duties (for example viewing disaster sites, wildlife habitat or infrastructure conditions) are permissible when they serve an educational purpose, while entertainment‑focused activities remain disallowed. Weiler said he would accept a friendly amendment inserting the word "primarily" to make the line between education and entertainment clearer.

The second component requires registered lobbyists (and principals) who donate campaign time to midterm vacancy contests to disclose the number of hours donated. "This would only apply to registered lobbyists and their principals ... to midterm vacancies," Weiler said. He said the Lieutenant Governor’s office requested technical language linking these disclosures to existing lobbyist reporting to ensure the donated hours would appear on candidate filings.

The Senate adopted technical amendments and the inserted wording; the sponsor then moved the bill to third reading. Floor questioners probed how a reduced rate for donated time would be determined; Weiler said that would be left to lobbyists to state on their disclosures (for example, identifying a reduced hourly rate).