S.B. 149

1

LIMIT ON GIFTS TO LEGISLATORS
2 2007 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Chief Sponsor: Gregory S. Bell
5 House Sponsor: ____________
6
7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This bill modifies the Lobbyist Disclosure and Regulation Act by amending the expense
10 threshold for requiring that lobbyists, principals, and government officers file detailed
11 expenditure reports when they make gifts having a certain dollar value.
12 Highlighted Provisions:
13 This bill:
14 . requires that lobbyists, principals, and government officers report more detailed
15 information about expenses made to benefit a public official when the expense is
16 more than $10, instead of $50;
17 . specifies that financial reports should be filed when expenditures have been made in
18 an amount that exceeds the new threshold; and
19 . makes technical changes.
20 Monies Appropriated in this Bill:
21 None
22 Other Special Clauses:
23 None
24 Utah Code Sections Affected:
25 AMENDS:
26 36-11-201, as last amended by Chapter 27, Laws of Utah 2003
27

28 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
29 Section 1. Section 36-11-201 is amended to read:
30 36-11-201. Lobbyist, principal, and government officer financial reporting
31 requirements -- Prohibition for related person to make expenditures.
32 (1) As used in this section, "public official type" means a notation to identify whether
33 the public official is:
34 (a) a member of the Legislature;
35 (b) an individual elected to a position in the executive branch;
36 (c) an individual appointed to or employed in a position in the legislative branch who
37 meets the definition of public official in Section 36-11-102 ; or
38 (d) an individual appointed to or employed in a position in the executive branch who
39 meets the definition of public official in Section 36-11-102 .
40 (2) (a) (i) Each lobbyist, principal, and government officer shall file an annual financial
41 report with the lieutenant governor on January 10 of each year or on the next succeeding
42 business day if January 10 falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. The report shall be
43 considered timely filed if postmarked on its due date.
44 (ii) The report shall disclose expenditures made to benefit public officials or members
45 of their immediate families as provided in this section.
46 (iii) If the lobbyist made no expenditures since the last expenditure reported on the last
47 report filed, the lobbyist shall file a financial report listing the amount of expenditures as
48 "none."
49 (b) The January 10 report shall contain:
50 (i) (A) the total amount of expenditures made to benefit public officials during the last
51 calendar year; and
52 (B) the total amount of expenditures made to benefit public officials by public official
53 type during the last calendar year;
54 (ii) (A) the total travel expenditures that the lobbyist, principal, or government officer
55 made to benefit public officials and their immediate families during the last calendar year;
56 [and]
57 (B) the total travel expenditures that the lobbyist, principal, or government officer
58 made to benefit public officials and their immediate families by public official type during the

59 last calendar year; and
60 (C) a travel expenditure statement that:
61 (I) describes the destination of each trip and its purpose;
62 (II) identifies the total amount of expenditures made to benefit each public official and
63 members of the public official's immediate family for each trip;
64 (III) names all individuals that took each trip;
65 (IV) identifies the public official type to which each public official belongs;
66 (V) provides the name and address of the organization that sponsored each trip; and
67 (VI) identifies specific expenditures for food, lodging, gifts, and sidetrips;
68 (iii) for aggregate daily expenditures made to benefit public officials or members of
69 their immediate families that are not reportable under Subsection (2)(b)(ii):
70 (A) when the amount does not exceed [$50 ] $10 per person:
71 (I) the date of the expenditure;
72 (II) the purpose of the expenditure;
73 (III) the public official type to which each public official belongs; and
74 (IV) the total monetary worth of the benefit conferred on the public officials or
75 members of their immediate families;
76 (B) when the amount exceeds [$50] $10 per person:
77 (I) the date, location, and purpose of the event, activity, or expenditure;
78 (II) the name of the public official or member of the public official's immediate family
79 who attended the event or activity or received the benefit of the expenditure;
80 (III) the public official type to which each public official belongs; and
81 (IV) the total monetary worth of the benefit conferred on the public official or member
82 of the public official's immediate family;
83 (iv) a list of each public official who was employed by the lobbyist, principal, or
84 government officer or who performed work as an independent contractor for the lobbyist,
85 principal, or government officer during the last year that details the nature of the employment
86 or contract;
87 (v) each bill or resolution by number and short title on behalf of which the lobbyist,
88 principal, or government officer made an expenditure to a public official for which a report is
89 required by this section, if any;

90 (vi) a description of each executive action on behalf of which the lobbyist, principal, or
91 government officer made an expenditure to a public official for which a report is required by
92 this section, if any; and
93 (vii) the general purposes, interests, and nature of the organization or organizations that
94 the lobbyist, principal, or government officer filing the report represents.
95 (c) In reporting expenditures under this section for events to which all legislators are
96 invited, each lobbyist, principal, and government officer:
97 (i) may not divide the cost of the event by the number of legislators who actually attend
98 the event and report that cost as an expenditure made to those legislators;
99 (ii) shall divide the total cost by the total number of Utah legislators and others invited
100 to the event and report that quotient as the amount expended for each legislator who actually
101 attended the event; and
102 (iii) may not report any expenditure as made to a legislator who did not attend the
103 event.
104 (3) (a) As used in this Subsection (3):
105 (i) "Lobbyist group" means two or more lobbyists, principals, government officers, and
106 any combination of lobbyists, principals, and officers who each contribute a portion of an
107 expenditure made to benefit a public official or member of his immediate family.
108 (ii) "Multiclient lobbyist" means a single lobbyist, principal, or government officer
109 who represents two or more clients and divides the aggregate daily expenditure made to benefit
110 a public official or member of his immediate family between two or more of those clients.
111 (b) When a lobbyist group combines to make aggregate daily expenditures to benefit
112 public officials or members of their immediate families, and the total aggregate daily
113 expenditure of the lobbyist group exceeds [$50] $10 per person, each member of the lobbyist
114 group shall disclose on the reports required by this section:
115 (i) the date, location, and purpose of the event, activity, or expenditure;
116 (ii) the name of the public official or member of the public official's immediate family
117 who attended the event or activity or received the benefit of the expenditure;
118 (iii) the public official type to which each public official belongs;
119 (iv) the total monetary worth of the benefit conferred on the public official or member
120 of the public official's immediate family by the lobbyist group and the total monetary worth of

121 the benefit conferred upon the public official or member of the public official's immediate
122 family by the lobbyist, principal, or government officer filing the report;
123 (v) each bill or resolution by number and short title on behalf of which the lobbyist,
124 principal, or government officer made an expenditure to a public official for which a report is
125 required by this section, if any;
126 (vi) a description of each executive action on behalf of which the lobbyist, principal, or
127 government officer made an expenditure to a public official for which a report is required by
128 this section, if any; and
129 (vii) the general purposes, interests, and nature of the organization or organizations that
130 the lobbyist, principal, or government officer filing the report represents.
131 (c) When a multiclient lobbyist makes aggregate daily expenditures to benefit public
132 officials or members of their immediate families, and the sum of the total aggregate daily
133 expenditure for all of the lobbyist's clients exceeds [$50] $10 for a public official or family
134 member, the multiclient lobbyist shall, for each client, disclose on the reports required by this
135 section:
136 (i) the date, location, and purpose of the event, activity, or expenditure;
137 (ii) the name of the public official or member of the public official's immediate family
138 who attended the event or activity or received the benefit of the expenditure;
139 (iii) the public official type to which each public official belongs;
140 (iv) the total monetary worth of the benefit conferred on the public official or member
141 of the public official's immediate family by all clients and the total monetary worth of the
142 benefit conferred on the public official or member of the public official's immediate family by
143 the client upon whose behalf the report is filed;
144 (v) each bill or resolution by number and short title on behalf of which the lobbyist,
145 principal, or government officer made an expenditure to a public official for which a report is
146 required by this section, if any;
147 (vi) a description of each executive action on behalf of which the lobbyist, principal, or
148 government officer made an expenditure to a public official for which a report is required by
149 this section, if any; and
150 (vii) the general purposes, interests, and nature of the organization or organizations that
151 the lobbyist, principal, or government officer filing the report represents.

152 (4) A related person may not, while assisting a lobbyist, principal, or government
153 officer in lobbying, make an expenditure that benefits a public official or member of the public
154 official's immediate family under circumstances which would otherwise fall within the
155 disclosure requirements of this chapter if the expenditure was made by the lobbyist, principal,
156 or government officer.
157 (5) (a) Each lobbyist, principal, and government officer who makes expenditures
158 totaling [$50] $10 or more to benefit public officials or members of their immediate families
159 since the date of the last financial report filed shall file a financial report with the lieutenant
160 governor on:
161 (i) the date ten days after the last day of each annual general session;
162 (ii) the date seven days before a regular general election; and
163 (iii) the date seven days after the end of a special session or veto override session.
164 (b) (i) If any date specified in this Subsection (5) falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal
165 holiday, the report is due on the next business day or on the next succeeding business day, if
166 the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.
167 (ii) The report shall be considered timely filed if it is postmarked on its due date.
168 (c) Each report shall contain a listing of all expenditures made since the last
169 expenditure reported on the last report filed in the form specified in Subsection (2)(b) and,
170 when applicable, Subsection (3).
171 (d) In preparing each financial report, all expenditures shall be reported as of five days
172 before the required filing date of the report.
173 (6) Each financial report filed by a lobbyist shall contain a certification that the
174 information provided in the report is true, accurate, and complete to the lobbyist's best
175 knowledge and belief.
176 (7) The lieutenant governor shall:
177 (a) develop preprinted suggested forms for all statements required by this section; and
178 (b) make copies of the forms available to each person who requests them.
179 (8) Each lobbyist and principal shall continue to file the financial reports required by
180 this section until the lobbyist or principal has filed the report due on the first January 10 that is
181 more than 12 months after the date that the lobbyist surrenders, fails to renew, or otherwise
182 ceases to be licensed.

Legislative Review Note
as of 1-18-07 8:30 AM

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel