Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the H686 topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances H686, adopts amendment to make lobby-ad reporting effective on passage
Summary
The Senate Committee on Government Operations advanced H686, which expands reporting for certain lobbying advertisements, and adopted amendment 3.1 to make the bill effective on passage; committee members also discussed how campaign-finance filings interact with the new lobby reporting requirement.
The Senate Committee on Government Operations on May 20 advanced H686, an act to expand identification and reporting for certain lobbying advertisements, and adopted amendment 3.1 to make the bill effective on passage.
The change centers on section two to amend BSA 26 4C. Tim, legislative counsel, told the committee the proposed language requires a report "whenever there's an advertisement costing $1,000 or more or there's an advertising campaign costing $1,000 or more," and spelled out what details must be included under subdivision two of the bill.
Tim also explained an exception meant to avoid duplicate filings: if an advertisement is effectively an electioneering communication and already has been reported under the campaign-finance provisions (described in the transcript as Title 17/17 PSA, chapter 64 subchapter 4), the lobbyist, lobbying firm or lobbying employer "need not file" a separate lobby-law report, although they may file both disclosures if they choose.
Committee members discussed whether the bill should take effect on passage to close a potential enforcement gap between passage and the statute's usual effective date. A member moved to adopt version 3.1 of the amendment, changing the effective date to "on passage," and the motion was reported as "favorable with amendment." The committee recorded affirmative votes from Senator Clarkson; Senator Morley; Senator Deoski; Senator Rebecca White; and Senator Color. The motion carried and the committee advanced the bill.
The Chair said the bill contains no fiscal items and was expected to reach the full chamber's floor calendar on Friday, subject to scheduling. The committee also noted that the draft before members was labeled 2.1 and that the committee uses incremental front-numbering for public versions of a draft.
The committee's action changes when the new reporting requirements will take legal effect and clarifies that existing campaign-finance disclosures can satisfy the new lobby-ad reporting obligations. The bill will proceed to the next step in the legislative process for floor consideration.
