Lax Lobbying Enforcement

The City Attorney’s 2006 report on the lobbying law is out. In fact, it is dated January 24th, well before the filing deadline for the lobbyist reports on January 31st. Which is odd, because that means that they didn’t even both looking for the most basic problems with reporting and didn’t bother to make the most basic suggestions for improvement. The ordinance requires:

2.40(12)(d) No later than April 1 of each year, the City Attorney shall file a report with the Mayor and the Common Council concerning actions s/he has taken under this section and the disposition of those actions, including a summary of its determinations.

I haven’t reviewed all the reports, but based on some of the past reports, some of the most basic issues that could quickly be found and fixed include:

1. If people send in an expense report but haven’t registered, have them register so we get additional information. Registration is required under 2.40

Every lobbyist shall, within five (5) working days after the first lobbying communication made by the lobbyist, file with the City Clerk a registration statement specifying the lobbyist’s name, business address, the general areas of legislative and administrative action which the lobbyist is attempting to influence, the names of any City agencies in which the l lobbyist seeks to influence administrative action, and information sufficient to identify the principal who has hired the lobbyist and the nature and interest of the principal. The statement shall be signed by the lobbyist. The statement shall include:

1. If the principal is an individual, the name and address of the individual’s employer, if any, or the individual’s principal place of business if self employed, and a description of the business activity in which the individual or the individual’s employer is engaged.
2. If the principal is a business entity, a description of the business activity in which the principal is engaged and, in the case of a corporation, the name of its chief executive officer, in the case of a limited partnership, the name of its general partner, in the case of a manager-managed limited liability company, the name of its manager, in the case of a general partnership, limited liability partnership, or member-managed limited liability company, the names of the partners or members.
3. If the principal is an industry, trade or professional association, a description of the industry, trade or profession which it represents, including a specific description of any segment or portion of the industry, trade or profession which the association exclusively or primarily represents and the name of the chief executive officer and the approximate number of its members.
4. If the principal is not an individual, business entity or industry, trade or professional association, a statement of the principal’s nature and purposes, including a description of any industry, trade, profession or other group with a common interest which the principal primarily represents or from which its membership or financial support is primarily derived and the approximate number of its members.
5. Each proposed legislative or administrative action in connection with which the lobbyist has made or intends to make a lobbying communication during the period to which the registration applies. The proposed legislative or administrative action is sufficiently identified if it is sufficient to permit a person to ascertain without extraordinary diligence:

• a. the specific item of legislative or administrative action or private sector business or other activity which the effort is intended to affect and how it is intended to be affected;
• b. the industries, trades, or professions, or segments or portions thereof, that would be principally affected by the effort;
• c. in the case of an appropriation, the City program or person for which the appropriation is proposed and the approximate amount, if known; and
• d. such additional information as the Clerk deems necessary for compliance with this Subsection.

Without the registration statement, the lobbyists are not allow to lobby:

(8) Restrictions on Lobbying. Except as authorized under Subsection (3), no person may engage in lobbying as a lobbyist unless the person has complied with the registration requirements under Subsection (6)(a) and the authorization under Subsection (7) has been filed. (Am. by ORD-05-00150, 10-12-05)

2. Some people haven’t disclosed how much was spent. They disclosed the contacts, but not the amount of money.

(10)(a) The statement shall contain the following information:
1. The aggregate total amount of lobbying expenditures made and obligations incurred for lobbying activities by the principal and all lobbyists for the principal, excluding lobbying expenditures and obligations for the principal’s clerical employees and lobbying expenditures and obligations specified in Paragraphs 2. and 4. below.

3. Some people wrote how many contacts they had, but not the dates of contact.

(10)(a)3. The principal’s expense report shall include a record disclosing each lobbying communication. The record shall be supplied on a form provided by the City Clerk and shall include identification of each covered City official contacted, the number of times each official received a lobbying communication, the subject of each communication, and the identity of the lobbyist who made the communication.

4. Some people over-reported the number of contacts they had. i.e. reported contacts with people who are not required to be reported.

5. There are some lobbyists, the kind hired by third parties, that have registered, but never reported on several projects.

6. People who filed during the second 6 months, spent over $1,000 and didn’t report in the first half of the year as required in 2.40 (10)(a)

Every principal who makes expenditures or incurs obligations in an aggregate amount exceeding $1,000 in any reporting period for the purpose of engaging in lobbying which is not exempt under Subsection (3) shall, for the remainder of that calendar year, file with the City Clerk an expense statement covering each preceding reporting period.

There are some other basic things the City Attorney could check for. Isn’t it funny that at a time when ethics reform and lobbying reform at the state and national level is of utmost concern to so many, here at the local level, we’ve relaxed the laws and taken such a casual attitude towards the monied interests seeking to influence local government. And the City Attorney’s office has chosen to not even look into the reporting requirements.