SPONSOR:   

Rep. Baumbach & Sen. Townsend & Sen. Sokola

 Reps. Keeley Kowalko Lynn K. Williams ;  Sens. Blevins Marshall Peterson

 

 

 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

148th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

 

HOUSE BILL NO. 385

 

 

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LOBBYISTS.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

 

Section 1. Amend § 5832, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§ 5832. Registration of lobbyists with the State Public Integrity Commission.

(b) The information recorded in the Commission’s lobbyist docket shall include for each separate employer:

(6) Whether the employer pays or promises to pay compensation, as defined in § 5831(a) of this title, to the lobbyist.  The amount or value of compensation is not required.

(e) Upon registration, and between January 1st and January 15th of each subsequent year, each lobbyist shall pay an annual registration fee per employer paying or promising compensation to the lobbyist.  The fee is not prorated for compensated lobbyists or their employers who are registered for only a portion of the year.  At the beginning of each calendar year, the Commission shall establish an annual registration fee which shall approximate and reasonably reflect all costs necessary to defray the expenses of administering § 5832, § 5833, § 5834, § 5835, § 5836, § 5837, § 5838 of this title.  The Commission may not impose a fee on lobbyists who are not paid, or who are not promised, compensation from the employer of the lobbyist.  The fee is payable through the Public Integrity Reporting System database maintained by the Commission.  All revenue generated by registration fees shall be deposited in an appropriated special fund account for the Commission.  These funds shall be used to fund all costs necessary to defray the expenses of administration of § 5832, § 5833, § 5834, § 5835, § 5836, § 5837, § 5838 of this title. Nothing in this section shall relieve a lobbyist from the registration requirement in subsection (a) of this title, whether required to pay the annual fee or not.

Section 2. Amend § 5838, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by making insertions as shown by underline as follows and by redesignating accordingly:

§ 5838. Violations and penalties.

(d) Any person who fails to pay a registration fee required by this subchapter shall be deemed to have voluntarily cancelled registration as a lobbyist and shall be prohibited from reregistering or acting as a lobbyist until all delinquent registration fees are paid.

Section 3. This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2017.

SYNOPSIS

Section 1 of this bill requires lobbyists to disclose if they receive any compensation for their services.  Additionally, Section 1 further requires that lobbyists who are compensated to pay a registration fee, which shall be determined by the Public Integrity Commission to defray the Commission’s costs related to administering and maintaining lobbyist’s registration and reporting requirements.

 

Section 2 of this bill provides for the cancellation of a lobbyist’s registration for failure to pay the registration fee and sets forth the penalty for failure to pay the registration fee.

 

Section 3 of this bill stipulates that this Act shall become effective on January 1, 2017.