SECOND REGULAR SESSION
93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE RUPP.
Read 1st time March 9, 2006 and copies ordered printed.
STEPHEN S. DAVIS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 105.473, 130.032, and 130.046, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof three new sections relating to ethics.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 105.473, 130.032, and 130.046, RSMo, are repealed and three new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 105.473, 130.032, and 130.046, to read as follows:
105.473. 1. Each lobbyist shall, not later than five days after beginning any activities as a lobbyist, file standardized registration forms, verified by a written declaration that it is made under the penalties of perjury, along with a filing fee of ten dollars, with the commission. The forms shall include the lobbyist's name and business address, the name and address of all persons such lobbyist employs for lobbying purposes, the name and address of each lobbyist principal by whom such lobbyist is employed or in whose interest such lobbyist appears or works. The commission shall maintain files on all lobbyists' filings, which shall be open to the public. Each lobbyist shall file an updating statement under oath within one week of any addition, deletion, or change in the lobbyist's employment or representation. The filing fee shall be deposited to the general revenue fund of the state. The lobbyist principal or a lobbyist employing another person for lobbying purposes may notify the commission that a judicial, executive or legislative lobbyist is no longer authorized to lobby for the principal or the lobbyist and should be removed from the commission's files.
2. Each person shall, before giving testimony before any committee of the general assembly, give to the secretary of such committee such person's name and address and the identity of any lobbyist or organization, if any, on whose behalf such person appears. A person who is not a lobbyist as defined in section 105.470 shall not be required to give such person's address if the committee determines that the giving of such address would endanger the person's physical health.
3. (1) During any period of time in which a lobbyist continues to act as an executive lobbyist, judicial lobbyist or a legislative lobbyist, the lobbyist shall file with the commission on standardized forms prescribed by the commission monthly reports which shall be due at the close of business on the tenth day of the following month;
(2) Each report filed pursuant to this subsection shall include a statement, verified by a written declaration that it is made under the penalties of perjury, setting forth the following:
(a) The total of all expenditures by the lobbyist or his or her lobbyist principals made on behalf of all public officials, their staffs and employees, and their spouses and dependent children, which expenditures shall be separated into at least the following categories by the executive branch, judicial branch and legislative branch of government: printing and publication expenses; media and other advertising expenses; [travel; entertainment;] honoraria; meals, food and beverages; and gifts;
(b) An itemized listing of the name of the recipient and the nature and amount of each expenditure by the lobbyist or his or her lobbyist principal, including a service or anything of value, for all expenditures made during any reporting period, paid or provided to or for a public official, such official's staff, employees, spouse or dependent children;
(c) The total of all expenditures made by a lobbyist or lobbyist principal for occasions and the identity of the group invited, the date and description of the occasion and the amount of the expenditure for each occasion when any of the following are invited in writing:
a. All members of the senate;
b. All members of the house of representatives;
c. All members of a joint committee of the general assembly or a standing committee of either the house of representatives or senate; or
d. All members of a caucus of the [general assembly if the caucus consists of at least ten members, a list of the members of the caucus has been previously filed with the ethics committee of the house or the senate, and such list has been approved by either of such ethics committees] majority party of the house of representatives, minority party of the house of representatives, majority party of the senate, minority party of the senate;
(d) Any expenditure made on behalf of a public official, or the public official's staff, employees, spouse or dependent children, if such expenditure is solicited by such public official, the public official's staff, employees, or spouse or dependent children, from the lobbyist or his or her lobbyist principals and the name of such person or persons, except any expenditures made to any not-for-profit corporation, charitable, fraternal or civic organization or other association formed to provide for good in the order of benevolence;
(e) A statement detailing any direct business relationship or association or partnership the lobbyist has with any public official.
The reports required by this subdivision shall cover the time periods since the filing of the last report or since the lobbyist's employment or representation began, whichever is most recent.
4. No expenditure [reported pursuant to this section shall include any amount expended by a lobbyist or lobbyist principal on himself or herself. All expenditures disclosed pursuant to this section shall be valued on the report at the actual amount of the payment made, or the charge, expense, cost, or obligation, debt or bill incurred by the lobbyist or the person the lobbyist represents. Whenever a lobbyist principal employs more than one lobbyist, expenditures of the lobbyist principal shall not be reported by each lobbyist, but shall be reported by one of such lobbyists] shall be made on behalf of a public official, or the public official's staff, employees, spouse, or dependent children for travel or lodging either inside or outside the state of Missouri or for any tickets for any type of entertainment unless such travel, lodging, or entertainment was approved prior to the date of the expenditure by the administration committee of the house or senate.
5. Any lobbyist principal shall provide in a timely fashion whatever information is reasonably requested by the lobbyist principal's lobbyist for use in filing the reports required by this section.
6. All information required to be filed pursuant to the provisions of this section with the commission shall be kept available by the executive director of the commission at all times open to the public for inspection and copying for a reasonable fee for a period of five years from the date when such information was filed.
7. No person shall knowingly employ any person who is required to register as a registered lobbyist but is not registered pursuant to this section. Any person who knowingly violates this subsection shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount of not more than ten thousand dollars for each violation. Such civil penalties shall be collected by action filed by the commission.
8. No lobbyist shall knowingly omit, conceal, or falsify in any manner information required pursuant to this section.
9. The prosecuting attorney of Cole County shall be reimbursed only out of funds specifically appropriated by the general assembly for investigations and prosecutions for violations of this section.
10. Any public official or other person whose name appears in any lobbyist report filed pursuant to this section who contests the accuracy of the portion of the report applicable to such person may petition the commission for an audit of such report and shall state in writing in such petition the specific disagreement with the contents of such report. The commission shall investigate such allegations in the manner described in section 105.959. If the commission determines that the contents of such report are incorrect, incomplete or erroneous, it shall enter an order requiring filing of an amended or corrected report.
11. The commission shall provide a report listing the total spent by a lobbyist for the month and year to any member or member-elect of the general assembly, judge or judicial officer, or any other person holding an elective office of state government on or before the twentieth day of each month. For the purpose of providing accurate information to the public, the commission shall not publish information in either written or electronic form for ten working days after providing the report pursuant to this subsection. The commission shall not release any portion of the lobbyist report if the accuracy of the report has been questioned pursuant to subsection 10 of this section unless it is conspicuously marked "Under Review".
12. Each lobbyist or lobbyist principal by whom the lobbyist was employed, or in whose behalf the lobbyist acted, shall provide a general description of the proposed legislation or action by the executive branch or judicial branch which the lobbyist or lobbyist principal supported or opposed.
This information shall be supplied to the commission on March fifteenth and May thirtieth of each year.
130.032. 1. In addition to the limitations imposed pursuant to section 130.031, the amount of contributions made by or accepted from any person other than the candidate in any one election shall not exceed the following:
(1) To elect an individual to the office of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state auditor or attorney general, one thousand dollars;
(2) To elect an individual to the office of state senator, five hundred dollars;
(3) To elect an individual to the office of state representative, two hundred fifty dollars;
(4) To elect an individual to any other office, including judicial office, if the population of the electoral district, ward, or other unit according to the latest decennial census is under one hundred thousand, two hundred fifty dollars;
(5) To elect an individual to any other office, including judicial office, if the population of the electoral district, ward, or other unit according to the latest decennial census is at least one hundred thousand but less than two hundred fifty thousand, five hundred dollars; and
(6) To elect an individual to any other office, including judicial office, if the population of the electoral district, ward, or other unit according to the latest decennial census is at least two hundred fifty thousand, one thousand dollars.
2. For purposes of this subsection "base year amount" shall be the contribution limits prescribed in this section on January 1, 1995. Such limits shall be increased on the first day of January in each even-numbered year by multiplying the base year amount by the cumulative consumer price index, as defined in section 104.010, RSMo, and rounded to the nearest twenty-five-dollar amount, for all years since January 1, 1995.
3. Candidate committees, exploratory committees, campaign committees and continuing committees, other than those continuing committees which are political party committees, shall be subject to the limits prescribed in subsection 1 of this section. The provisions of this subsection shall not limit the amount of contributions which may be accumulated by a candidate committee and used for expenditures to further the nomination or election of the candidate who controls such candidate committee[, except as provided in section 130.052].
4. Except as limited by this subsection, the amount of cash contributions, and a separate amount for the amount of in-kind contributions, made by or accepted from a political party committee, with the exception of legislative political party committees, in any one election shall not exceed the following:
(1) To elect an individual to the office of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state auditor or attorney general, ten thousand dollars;
(2) To elect an individual to the office of state senator, five thousand dollars;
(3) To elect an individual to the office of state representative, two thousand five hundred dollars; and
(4) To elect an individual to any other office of an electoral district, ward or unit, ten times the allowable contribution limit for the office sought.
The amount of contributions which may be made by or accepted from a political party committee in the primary election to elect any candidate who is unopposed in such primary shall be fifty percent of the amount of the allowable contributions as determined in this subsection.
5. No legislative political party committee shall make contributions to any candidate for the house of representatives, senate, or a statewide office.
6. Contributions from persons under fourteen years of age shall be considered made by the parents or guardians of such person and shall be attributed toward any contribution limits prescribed in this chapter. Where the contributor under fourteen years of age has two custodial parents or guardians, fifty percent of the contribution shall be attributed to each parent or guardian, and where such contributor has one custodial parent or guardian, all such contributions shall be attributed to the custodial parent or guardian.
[6.] 7. Contributions received and expenditures made prior to January 1, 1995, shall be reported as a separate account and pursuant to the laws in effect at the time such contributions are received or expenditures made. Contributions received and expenditures made after January 1, 1995, shall be reported as a separate account from the aforementioned account and pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. The account reported pursuant to the prior law shall be retained as a separate account and any remaining funds in such account may be used pursuant to this chapter and section 130.034.
[7.] 8. Any committee which accepts or gives contributions other than those allowed shall be subject to a surcharge of one thousand dollars plus an amount equal to the contribution per nonallowable contribution, to be paid to the ethics commission and which shall be transferred to the director of revenue, upon notification of such nonallowable contribution by the ethics commission, and after the candidate has had ten business days after receipt of notice to return the contribution to the contributor. The candidate and the candidate committee treasurer or deputy treasurer owing a surcharge shall be personally liable for the payment of the surcharge or may pay such surcharge only from campaign funds existing on the date of the receipt of notice. Such surcharge shall constitute a debt to the state enforceable under, but not limited to, the provisions of chapter 143, RSMo.
9. No candidate for the house of representatives, senate, or a statewide office shall accept any contributions from the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January through the thirtieth day of May of each year. Candidates for special election to the house of representatives, senate, or statewide office may accept contributions from the date of the candidates nomination by his or her respective political party until the date of the election.
130.046. 1. The disclosure reports required by section 130.041 for all committees shall be filed as follows: each candidate for state representative, state senate, or statewide office shall file the disclosure reports required by section 130.041 on the last day of each month for a period closing on the twenty-fifth day of the month until twenty-one days prior to the election, then the report shall be filed every twenty-four hours. All other committees and candidates shall file at the following times and for the following periods:
(1) Not later than the eighth day before an election for the period closing on the twelfth day before the election if the committee has made any contribution or expenditure either in support or opposition to any candidate or ballot measure;
(2) Not later than the thirtieth day after an election for a period closing on the twenty-fifth day after the election, if the committee has made any contribution or expenditure either in support of or opposition to any candidate or ballot measure; except that, a successful candidate who takes office prior to the twenty-fifth day after the election shall have complied with the report requirement of this subdivision if a disclosure report is filed by such candidate and any candidate committee under the candidate's control before such candidate takes office, and such report shall be for the period closing on the day before taking office; and
(3) Not later than the fifteenth day following the close of each calendar quarter.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, if any committee accepts contributions or makes expenditures in support of or in opposition to a ballot measure or a candidate, and the report required by this subsection for the most recent calendar quarter is filed prior to the fortieth day before the election on the measure or candidate, the committee shall file an additional disclosure report not later than the fortieth day before the election for the period closing on the forty-fifth day before the election.
2. In the case of a ballot measure to be qualified to be on the ballot by initiative petition or referendum petition, or a recall petition seeking to remove an incumbent from office, disclosure reports relating to the time for filing such petitions shall be made as follows:
(1) In addition to the disclosure reports required to be filed pursuant to subsection 1 of this section the treasurer of a committee, other than a continuing committee, supporting or opposing a petition effort to qualify a measure to appear on the ballot or to remove an incumbent from office shall file an initial disclosure report fifteen days after the committee begins the process of raising or spending money. After such initial report, the committee shall file quarterly disclosure reports as required by subdivision (3) of subsection 1 of this section until such time as the reports required by subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection 1 of this section are to be filed. In addition the committee shall file a second disclosure report no later than the fifteenth day after the deadline date for submitting such petition. The period covered in the initial report shall begin on the day the committee first accepted contributions or made expenditures to support or oppose the petition effort for qualification of the measure and shall close on the fifth day prior to the date of the report;
(2) If the measure has qualified to be on the ballot in an election and if a committee subject to the requirements of subdivision (1) of this subsection is also required to file a preelection disclosure report for such election any time within thirty days after the date on which disclosure reports are required to be filed in accordance with subdivision (1) of this subsection, the treasurer of such committee shall not be required to file the report required by subdivision (1) of this subsection, but shall include in the committee's preelection report all information which would otherwise have been required by subdivision (1) of this subsection.
3. The candidate, if applicable, treasurer or deputy treasurer of a committee shall file disclosure reports pursuant to this section, except for any calendar quarter in which the contributions received by the committee or the expenditures or contributions made by the committee do not exceed five hundred dollars. The reporting dates and periods covered for such quarterly reports shall not be later than the fifteenth day of January, April, July and October for periods closing on the thirty-first day of December, the thirty-first day of March, the thirtieth day of June and the thirtieth day of September. No candidate, treasurer or deputy treasurer shall be required to file the quarterly disclosure report required not later than the fifteenth day of any January immediately following a November election, provided that such candidate, treasurer or deputy treasurer shall file the information required on such quarterly report on the quarterly report to be filed not later than the fifteenth day of April immediately following such November election. Each report by such committee shall be cumulative from the date of the last report. In the case of the continuing committee's first report, the report shall be cumulative from the date of the continuing committee's organization. Every candidate, treasurer or deputy treasurer shall file, at a minimum, the campaign disclosure reports covering the quarter immediately preceding the date of the election and those required by subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection 1 of this section. A continuing committee shall submit additional reports if it makes aggregate expenditures, other than contributions to a committee, of five hundred dollars or more, within the reporting period at the following times for the following periods:
(1) Not later than the eighth day before an election for the period closing on the twelfth day before the election;
(2) Not later than forty-eight hours after aggregate expenditures of five hundred dollars or more are made after the twelfth day before the election; and
(3) Not later than the thirtieth day after an election for a period closing on the twenty-fifth day after the election.
4. The reports required to be filed no later than the thirtieth day after an election and any subsequently required report shall be cumulative so as to reflect the total receipts and disbursements of the reporting committee for the entire election campaign in question. The period covered by each disclosure report shall begin on the day after the closing date of the most recent disclosure report filed and end on the closing date for the period covered. If the committee has not previously filed a disclosure report, the period covered begins on the date the committee was formed; except that in the case of a candidate committee, the period covered begins on the date the candidate became a candidate according to the definition of the term candidate in section 130.011.
5. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary:
(1) Certain disclosure reports pertaining to any candidate who receives nomination in a primary election and thereby seeks election in the immediately succeeding general election shall not be required in the following cases:
(a) If there are less than fifty days between a primary election and the immediately succeeding general election, the disclosure report required to be filed quarterly; provided that, any other report required to be filed prior to the primary election and all other reports required to be filed not later than the eighth day before the general election are filed no later than the final dates for filing such reports;
(b) If there are less than eighty-five days between a primary election and the immediately succeeding general election, the disclosure report required to be filed not later than the thirtieth day after the primary election need not be filed; provided that any report required to be filed prior to the primary election and any other report required to be filed prior to the general election are filed no later than the final dates for filing such reports; and
(2) No disclosure report needs to be filed for any reporting period if during that reporting period the committee has neither received contributions aggregating more than five hundred dollars nor made expenditure aggregating more than five hundred dollars and has not received contributions aggregating more than three hundred dollars from any single contributor and if the committee's treasurer files a statement with the appropriate officer that the committee has not exceeded the identified thresholds in the reporting period. Any contributions received or expenditures made which are not reported because this statement is filed in lieu of a disclosure report shall be included in the next disclosure report filed by the committee. This statement shall not be filed in lieu of the report for two or more consecutive disclosure periods if either the contributions received or expenditures made in the aggregate during those reporting periods exceed five hundred dollars. This statement shall not be filed, in lieu of the report, later than the thirtieth day after an election if that report would show a deficit of more than one thousand dollars.
6. (1) If the disclosure report required to be filed by a committee not later than the thirtieth day after an election shows a deficit of unpaid loans and other outstanding obligations in excess of five thousand dollars, semiannual supplemental disclosure reports shall be filed with the appropriate officer for each succeeding semiannual period until the deficit is reported in a disclosure report as being reduced to five thousand dollars or less; except that, a supplemental semiannual report shall not be required for any semiannual period which includes the closing date for the reporting period covered in any regular disclosure report which the committee is required to file in connection with an election. The reporting dates and periods covered for semiannual reports shall be not later than the fifteenth day of January and July for periods closing on the thirty-first day of December and the thirtieth day of June;
(2) Committees required to file reports pursuant to subsection 2 or 3 of this section which are not otherwise required to file disclosure reports for an election shall file semiannual reports as required by this subsection if their last required disclosure report shows a total of unpaid loans and other outstanding obligations in excess of five thousand dollars.
7. In the case of a committee which disbands and is required to file a termination statement pursuant to the provisions of section 130.021 with the appropriate officer not later than the tenth day after the committee was dissolved, the candidate, committee treasurer or deputy treasurer shall attach to the termination statement a complete disclosure report for the period closing on the date of dissolution. A committee shall not utilize the provisions of subsection 8 of section 130.021 or the provisions of this subsection to circumvent or otherwise avoid the reporting requirements of subsection 6 or 7 of this section.
8. Disclosure reports shall be filed with the appropriate officer not later than 5:00 p.m. prevailing local time of the day designated for the filing of the report and a report postmarked not later than midnight of the day previous to the day designated for filing the report shall be deemed to have been filed in a timely manner. The appropriate officer may establish a policy whereby disclosure reports may be filed by facsimile transmission.
9. Each candidate for the office of state representative, state senator, and for statewide office shall file all disclosure reports described in section 130.041 electronically with the Missouri ethics commission. The Missouri ethics commission shall promulgate rules establishing the standard for use with electronic filings with the commission and shall propose such rules of all the importation of files to the reporting program.
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