Bill Text: FL S7178 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Office of Legislative Services
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (N/A - Dead) 2012-01-24 - Submit as committee bill by Rules (SB 2058) [S7178 Detail]
Download: Florida-2012-S7178-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2012 (PROPOSED COMMITTEE BILL) SPB 7178
FOR CONSIDERATION By the Committee on Rules
595-01950A-12 20127178__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Office of Legislative Services;
3 amending ss. 11.045 and 11.0455, and 112.3148, F.S.;
4 providing for duties related to the registration and
5 reporting of legislative lobbyists to be conducted by
6 the office rather than the Division of Legislative
7 Information Services within the office; amending s.
8 11.242, F.S.; providing that the certain content
9 relating to the published edition of the Florida
10 Statutes be determined by the office rather than the
11 Division of Legislative Information Services within
12 the office; amending s. 112.3148, F.S.; conforming
13 provisions to changes made by the act; amending s.
14 119.15, F.S.; requiring that the office, rather than
15 the Division of Statutory Revision, certify to the
16 Legislature public records and public meetings
17 exemptions that are scheduled for repeal; providing an
18 effective date.
19
20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
21
22 Section 1. Paragraphs (c) through (h) of subsection (1),
23 paragraph (c) of subsection (2), and paragraphs (a), (b), and
24 (d) of subsection (3) of section 11.045, Florida Statutes, are
25 reordered and amended to read:
26 11.045 Lobbying before the Legislature; registration and
27 reporting; exemptions; penalties.—
28 (1) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise
29 requires:
30 (h)(c) “Office Division” means the Division of Legislative
31 Information Services within the Office of Legislative Services.
32 (c)(d) “Expenditure” means a payment, distribution, loan,
33 advance, reimbursement, deposit, or anything of value made by a
34 lobbyist or principal for the purpose of lobbying. The term
35 “expenditure” does not include contributions or expenditures
36 reported pursuant to chapter 106 or federal election law,
37 campaign-related personal services provided without compensation
38 by individuals volunteering their time, any other contribution
39 or expenditure made by or to a political party or affiliated
40 party committee, or any other contribution or expenditure made
41 by an organization that is exempt from taxation under 26 U.S.C.
42 s. 527 or s. 501(c)(4).
43 (d)(e) “Legislative action” means introduction,
44 sponsorship, testimony, debate, voting, or any other official
45 action on any measure, resolution, amendment, nomination,
46 appointment, or report of, or any matter that which may be the
47 subject of action by, either house of the Legislature or any
48 committee thereof.
49 (e)(f) “Lobbying” means influencing or attempting to
50 influence legislative action or nonaction through oral or
51 written communication or an attempt to obtain the goodwill of a
52 member or employee of the Legislature.
53 (f)(g) “Lobbying firm” means any business entity, including
54 an individual contract lobbyist, which that receives or becomes
55 entitled to receive any compensation for the purpose of
56 lobbying, where any partner, owner, officer, or employee of the
57 business entity is a lobbyist.
58 (g)(h) “Lobbyist” means a person who is employed and
59 receives payment, or who contracts for economic consideration,
60 for the purpose of lobbying, or a person who is principally
61 employed for governmental affairs by another person or
62 governmental entity to lobby on behalf of that other person or
63 governmental entity.
64 (2) Each house of the Legislature shall provide by rule, or
65 may provide by a joint rule adopted by both houses, for the
66 registration of lobbyists who lobby the Legislature. The rule
67 may provide for the payment of a registration fee. The rule may
68 provide for exemptions from registration or registration fees.
69 The rule shall provide that:
70 (c) A registrant shall promptly send a written statement to
71 the office division canceling the registration for a principal
72 upon termination of the lobbyist’s representation of that
73 principal. However Notwithstanding this requirement, the office
74 division may remove the name of a registrant from the list of
75 registered lobbyists if the principal notifies the office that a
76 person is no longer authorized to represent that principal.
77 (3) Each house of the Legislature shall provide by rule the
78 following reporting requirements by rule:
79 (a)1. Each lobbying firm shall file a compensation report
80 with the office division for each calendar quarter during any
81 portion of which one or more of the firm’s lobbyists were
82 registered to represent a principal. The report must shall
83 include the:
84 a. Full name, business address, and telephone number of the
85 lobbying firm;
86 b. Name of each of the firm’s lobbyists; and
87 c. Total compensation provided or owed to the lobbying firm
88 from all principals for the reporting period, reported in one of
89 the following categories: $0; $1 to $49,999; $50,000 to $99,999;
90 $100,000 to $249,999; $250,000 to $499,999; $500,000 to
91 $999,999; $1 million or more.
92 2. For each principal represented by one or more of the
93 firm’s lobbyists, the lobbying firm’s compensation report must
94 shall also include the:
95 a. Full name, business address, and telephone number of the
96 principal; and
97 b. Total compensation provided or owed to the lobbying firm
98 for the reporting period, reported in one of the following
99 categories: $0; $1 to $9,999; $10,000 to $19,999; $20,000 to
100 $29,999; $30,000 to $39,999; $40,000 to $49,999; or $50,000 or
101 more. If the category “$50,000 or more” is selected, the
102 specific dollar amount of compensation must be reported, rounded
103 up or down to the nearest $1,000.
104 3. If the lobbying firm subcontracts work from another
105 lobbying firm and not from the original principal:
106 a. The lobbying firm providing the work to be subcontracted
107 shall be treated as the reporting lobbying firm’s principal for
108 reporting purposes under this paragraph; and
109 b. The reporting lobbying firm shall, for each lobbying
110 firm identified under subparagraph 2., identify the name and
111 address of the principal originating the lobbying work.
112 4. The senior partner, officer, or owner of the lobbying
113 firm shall certify to the veracity and completeness of the
114 information submitted pursuant to this paragraph.
115 (b) For each principal represented by more than one
116 lobbying firm, the office division shall aggregate the
117 reporting-period and calendar-year compensation reported as
118 provided or owed by the principal.
119 (d) Each house of the Legislature shall provide by rule, or
120 both houses may provide by joint rule, a procedure by which a
121 lobbying firm that fails to timely file a report shall be
122 notified and assessed fines. The rule must shall provide for the
123 following:
124 1. Upon determining that the report is late, the person
125 designated to review the timeliness of reports shall immediately
126 notify the lobbying firm as to the failure to timely file the
127 report and that a fine is being assessed for each late day. The
128 fine shall be $50 per day per report for each late day, not to
129 exceed $5,000 per report.
130 2. Upon receipt of the report, the person designated to
131 review the timeliness of reports shall determine the amount of
132 the fine due based upon the earliest of the following:
133 a. When a report is actually received by the lobbyist
134 registration and reporting office.
135 b. When the electronic receipt issued pursuant to s.
136 11.0455 is dated.
137 3. Such fine must shall be paid within 30 days after the
138 notice of payment due is transmitted by the Lobbyist
139 Registration Office, unless appeal is made to the office
140 division. The moneys shall be deposited into the Legislative
141 Lobbyist Registration Trust Fund.
142 4. A fine may shall not be assessed against a lobbying firm
143 the first time any reports for which the lobbying firm is
144 responsible are not timely filed. However, to receive the one
145 time fine waiver, all reports for which the lobbying firm is
146 responsible must be filed within 30 days after notice that any
147 reports have not been timely filed is transmitted by the
148 Lobbyist Registration Office. A fine shall be assessed for any
149 subsequent late-filed reports.
150 5. Any lobbying firm may appeal or dispute a fine, based
151 upon unusual circumstances surrounding the failure to file on
152 the designated due date, and may request and is shall be
153 entitled to a hearing before the General Counsel of the Office
154 of Legislative Services, who shall recommend to the President of
155 the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, or
156 their respective designees, that the fine be waived in whole or
157 in part for good cause shown. The President of the Senate and
158 the Speaker of the House of Representatives, or their respective
159 designees, may concur in the recommendation and waive the fine
160 in whole or in part. Any such request must shall be made within
161 30 days after the notice of payment due is transmitted by the
162 Lobbyist Registration Office. In such case, the lobbying firm
163 shall, within the 30-day period, notify the person designated to
164 review the timeliness of reports in writing of his or her
165 intention to request a hearing.
166 6. A lobbying firm may request that the filing of a report
167 be waived upon good cause shown, based on unusual circumstances.
168 The request must be filed with the General Counsel of the Office
169 of Legislative Services, who shall make a recommendation
170 concerning the waiver request to the President of the Senate and
171 the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The President of
172 the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives may
173 grant or deny the request.
174 7. All lobbyist registrations for lobbyists who are
175 partners, owners, officers, or employees of a lobbying firm that
176 fails to timely pay a fine are automatically suspended until the
177 fine is paid or waived, and the office division shall promptly
178 notify all affected principals of any suspension or
179 reinstatement.
180 8. The person designated to review the timeliness of
181 reports shall notify the coordinator director of the office
182 division of the failure of a lobbying firm to file a report
183 after notice or of the failure of a lobbying firm to pay the
184 fine imposed.
185 Section 2. Subsections (2), (4), and (5), paragraph (a) of
186 subsection (6), and subsection (7) of section 11.0455, Florida
187 Statutes, are amended to read:
188 11.0455 Electronic filing of compensation reports and other
189 information.—
190 (2) Each lobbying firm that is required to file reports
191 with the Office Division of Legislative Information Services
192 pursuant to s. 11.045 must file such reports with the office
193 division by means of the office’s division’s electronic filing
194 system.
195 (4) Each report filed pursuant to this section is deemed
196 considered to meet the certification requirements of s.
197 11.045(3)(a)4., and as such subjects the person responsible for
198 filing and the lobbying firm to the provisions of s. 11.045(7)
199 and (8). Persons given a secure sign-on to the electronic filing
200 system are responsible for protecting it from disclosure and are
201 responsible for all filings using such credentials, unless they
202 have notified the office division that their credentials have
203 been compromised.
204 (5) The electronic filing system developed by the office
205 division must:
206 (a) Be based on access by means of the Internet.
207 (b) Be accessible by anyone with Internet access using
208 standard web-browsing software.
209 (c) Provide for direct entry of compensation report
210 information as well as upload of such information from software
211 authorized by the office division.
212 (d) Provide a method that prevents unauthorized access to
213 electronic filing system functions.
214 (6) Each house of the Legislature shall provide by rule, or
215 may provide by a joint rule adopted by both houses, procedures
216 to implement and administer this section, including, but not
217 limited to:
218 (a) Alternate filing procedures in case the office’s
219 division’s electronic filing system is not operable.
220 (7) Each house of the Legislature shall provide by rule
221 that the office division make all the data filed available on
222 the Internet in an easily understood and accessible format. The
223 Internet website must shall also include, but not be limited to,
224 the names and business addresses of lobbyists, lobbying firms,
225 and principals, the affiliations between lobbyists and
226 principals, and the classification system designated and
227 identified by each principal pursuant to s. 11.045(2).
228 Section 3. Paragraph (d) of subsection (4) of section
229 11.242, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
230 11.242 Powers, duties, and functions as to statutory
231 revision.—The powers, duties, and functions of the Office of
232 Legislative Services in the operation and maintenance of a
233 statutory revision program shall be as follows:
234 (4) The published edition of the Florida Statutes shall
235 contain the following:
236 (d) Such other matters, notes, data, and other material as
237 may be deemed necessary or admissible by the Division of
238 Statutory Revision of the Office of Legislative Services for
239 reference, convenience, or interpretation.
240 Section 4. Paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of section
241 112.3148, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
242 112.3148 Reporting and prohibited receipt of gifts by
243 individuals filing full or limited public disclosure of
244 financial interests and by procurement employees.—
245 (5)
246 (b) However, a person who is regulated by this subsection,
247 who is not regulated by subsection (6), and who makes, or
248 directs another to make, an individual gift having a value in
249 excess of $25, but not in excess of $100, other than a gift that
250 which the donor knows will be accepted on behalf of a
251 governmental entity or charitable organization, must file a
252 report on the last day of each calendar quarter, for the
253 previous calendar quarter in which a reportable gift is made.
254 The report shall be filed with the Commission on Ethics, except
255 with respect to gifts to reporting individuals of the
256 legislative branch, in which case the report shall be filed with
257 the Division of Legislative Information Services in the Office
258 of Legislative Services. The report must contain a description
259 of each gift, the monetary value thereof, the name and address
260 of the person making such gift, the name and address of the
261 recipient of the gift, and the date such gift is given. In
262 addition, if when a gift is made which requires the filing of a
263 report under this subsection, the donor must notify the intended
264 recipient at the time the gift is made that the donor, or
265 another on his or her behalf, will report the gift under this
266 subsection. Under this paragraph, a gift need not be reported by
267 more than one person or entity.
268 Section 5. Subsection (5) of section 119.15, Florida
269 Statutes, is amended to read:
270 119.15 Legislative review of exemptions from public meeting
271 and public records requirements.—
272 (5)(a) By June 1 in the year before the repeal of an
273 exemption under this section, the Division of Statutory Revision
274 of the Office of Legislative Services shall certify to the
275 President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
276 Representatives the language and statutory citation of each
277 exemption scheduled for repeal the following year.
278 (b) An Any exemption that is not identified and certified
279 to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
280 Representatives is not subject to legislative review and repeal
281 under this section. If the office division fails to certify an
282 exemption that it subsequently determines should have been
283 certified, it shall include the exemption in the following
284 year’s certification after that determination.
285 Section 6. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
