Bill Text: VA HB911 | 2024 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Va. Conflict of Interest & Ethics Advisory Council; annual audit of certain disclosure forms.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-13 - Left in Rules [HB911 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-HB911-Prefiled.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§2.2-422, 2.2-426, 30-126, 30-356, and 30-357 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§2.2-422. Registration requirements.
A. A lobbyist shall register with the Secretary of the
Commonwealth prior to engaging in lobbying. A lobbyist who engages in lobbying
entirely outside the capital city shall comply with this section by registering
with the Secretary within fifteen 15 days after first engaging
in lobbying. Registration shall be required annually and expire May 1 January
1 of each year.
B. The chief administrative officer of each local government shall register with the Secretary of the Commonwealth and file a statement pursuant to §2.2-423 if any local government employees will act as lobbyists on its behalf. No registration fee shall be required. Each local government shall file a consolidated report in accordance with the reporting requirements of §2.2-426 and shall maintain locally a copy of the report that is available for inspection and copying during regular business hours.
C. All registrations required by this section shall be filed electronically in accordance with the standards approved by the Council.
§2.2-426. Lobbyist reporting; penalty.
A. Each lobbyist shall file with the Council a separate annual
report of expenditures, including gifts, for each principal for whom he lobbies
by July 1
February 1 for the preceding
12-month period calendar year
complete through the last day of April December 31.
B. Each principal who expends more than $500 to employ or compensate multiple lobbyists shall be responsible for filing a consolidated lobbyist report pursuant to this section in any case in which the lobbyists are each exempt under the provisions of subdivision 7 or 8 of §2.2-420 from the reporting requirements of this section.
C. The report shall be on a form prescribed by the Council and shall be accompanied by instructions provided by the Council. All reports shall be submitted electronically and in accordance with the standards approved by the Council pursuant to the provisions of §30-356.
D. A person who knowingly and intentionally makes a false statement of a material fact on the disclosure statement is guilty of a Class 5 felony.
E. The name of a legislative or executive official, or a member of his immediate family, attending any reportable entertainment event shall not be required to be disclosed by the principal if that legislative or executive official reimburses the principal for, or otherwise pays for, his attendance, or the attendance of a member of his immediate family, at the entertainment event. Reimbursement shall be calculated using the average value for each person attending the event.
F. Each lobbyist shall send to
each legislative and executive official who is required to be identified by
name on Schedule A or B of the Lobbyist's Disclosure Form a copy of Schedule A
or B or a summary of the information pertaining to that official. Copies or
summaries shall be provided to the official by January 10 for the preceding
12-month period complete through December 31. In addition, each
lobbyist shall send to each legislator and executive official who is required
to file a report of gifts accepted or received during a regular session of the
General Assembly pursuant to §2.2-3114.2 or 30-110.1 a summary of all gifts
made by such lobbyist to each legislator or executive official or a member of
his immediate family during the period beginning on January 1 complete through
adjournment sine die of the regular session of the General Assembly. Summaries
shall be provided to the legislator or executive official no later than three
weeks after adjournment sine die. For purposes of this section,
"adjournment sine die" means adjournment on the last legislative day
of the regular session and does not include the reconvened session.
§30-126. Civil penalty from violation of this chapter.
A. In addition to any other fine or penalty provided by law, any money or other thing of value derived by a legislator from a violation of §§30-103 through 30-108 shall be forfeited and, in the event of a knowing violation, there may also be imposed a civil penalty in an amount equal to the amount of money or thing of value forfeited to the Commonwealth. If the thing of value received by the legislator in violation of this chapter should enhance in value between the time of the violation and the time of discovery of the violation, the greater value shall determine the amount of the civil penalty.
B. A legislator who fails to file the disclosure form required
by §30-111, fails to file such disclosure form
within the time period prescribed, fails to file a
completed disclosure form, or fails to file a
materially accurate disclosure form shall be assessed a
civil penalty in an amount equal to $250 not to exceed $500. In the case of any second or
subsequent violation within a 12-month period, the legislator shall be assessed
a civil penalty of $1,000 for each such violation.
The Council shall notify the Attorney General of any legislator's failure to file the required form, failure to file the required form by the prescribed deadline, failure to file a completed disclosure form, or failure to file a materially accurate form, within 30 days of the deadline for filing, and the Attorney General shall assess and collect the civil penalty. All civil penalties collected pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited into the general fund and used exclusively to fund the Council.
C. Any civil penalty assessed pursuant to this section shall not be paid using funds contributed to or received by a candidate or his campaign committee or any political committee, as those terms are defined in § 24.2-945.1.
§30-356. Powers and duties of the Council.
The Council shall:
1. Prescribe the forms required for complying with the disclosure requirements of Article 3 and the Acts. These forms shall be the only forms used to comply with the provisions of Article 3 or the Acts. The Council shall make available the disclosure forms and shall provide guidance and other instructions to assist in the completion of the forms;
2. Review all disclosure forms filed by lobbyists pursuant to Article 3 and by state government officers and employees and legislators pursuant to the Acts. The Council may review disclosure forms for material accuracy, timeliness, and completeness, including reviewing the information contained on the face of the form to determine if the disclosure form has been fully completed and comparing the disclosures contained in any disclosure form filed by a lobbyist pursuant to §2.2-426 with other disclosure forms filed with the Council, and requesting any amendments to ensure the completeness of and correction of errors in the forms, if necessary. If a disclosure form is found to have not been filed or to have been incomplete as filed, the Council shall notify the filer in writing and direct the filer to file a completed disclosure form within a prescribed period of time, and such notification shall be confidential and is excluded from the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§2.2-3700 et seq.);
3. Audit disclosure forms filed by legislators pursuant to the General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act on or before June 1 each year to ensure the information contained within is accurate and complete. In carrying out this duty, the Council shall have the authority to require filers to respond to questions regarding potential conflicts of interest and to gather any supplemental information necessary to determine whether filings are materially accurate and complete. Any discrepancies or possible violations of the law identified during an audit shall be presented to the Council for referral to the Attorney General. No individual legislator shall be subject to an audit pursuant to this subdivision more than once during his term of office;
4. Require all disclosure forms and lobbyist registration statements that are required to be filed with the Council to be filed electronically in accordance with the standards approved by the Council. The Council shall provide software or electronic access for filing the required disclosure forms and registration statements without charge to all individuals required to file with the Council. The Council shall prescribe the method of execution and certification of electronically filed forms, including the use of an electronic signature as authorized by the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (§59.1-479 et seq.). The Council may grant extensions as provided in §30-356.2 and may authorize a designee to grant such extensions;
4. 5. Accept and review any
statement received from a filer disputing the receipt by such filer of a gift
that has been disclosed on the form filed by a lobbyist pursuant to Article 3;
5. 6. Beginning July 1, 2016,
establish and maintain a searchable electronic database comprising those
disclosure forms that are filed with the Council pursuant to §§2.2-426,
2.2-3117, 2.2-3118, and 30-111. Such database shall be available to the public
through the Council's official website;
6. 7. Furnish, upon request,
formal advisory opinions or guidelines and other appropriate information,
including informal advice, regarding ethics, conflicts issues arising under
Article 3 or the Acts, or a person's duties under Article 3 or the Acts to any
person covered by Article 3 or the Acts or to any agency of state or local
government, in an expeditious manner. The Council may authorize a designee to
furnish formal opinions or informal advice. Formal advisory opinions are public
record and shall be published on the Council's website; however, no formal
advisory opinion furnished by a designee of the Council shall be available to
the public or published until such opinion has been approved by the Council.
Published formal advisory opinions may have such deletions and changes as may
be necessary to protect the identity of the person involved or other persons
supplying information. Informal advice given by the Council or the Council's
designee is confidential and is excluded from the mandatory disclosure provisions
of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§2.2-3700 et seq.); however, if
the recipient invokes the immunity provisions of §2.2-3121 or 30-124, the
record of the request and the informal advice given shall be deemed to be a
public record and shall be released upon request. Other records relating to
formal advisory opinions or informal advice, including records of requests,
notes, correspondence, and draft versions of such opinions or advice, shall
also be confidential and excluded from the mandatory disclosure provisions of
the Virginia Freedom of Information Act;
7. 8. Conduct training seminars
and educational programs for lobbyists, state and local government officers and
employees, legislators, and other interested persons on the requirements of
Article 3 and the Acts and provide training sessions for local elected
officials in compliance with Article 9 (§2.2-3132) of Chapter 31 of Title 2.2
and ethics orientation sessions for legislators in compliance with Article 6 (§
30-129.1 et seq.) of Chapter 13;
8. 9. Approve orientation courses
conducted pursuant to §2.2-3128 and, upon request, review the educational
materials and approve any training or course on the requirements of Article 3
and the Acts conducted for state and local government officers and employees;
9. 10. Publish such educational
materials as it deems appropriate on the provisions of Article 3 and the Acts;
10. 11. Review actions taken in the
General Assembly with respect to the discipline of its members for the purpose
of offering nonbinding advice;
11. 12. Request from any agency of
state or local government such assistance, services, and information as will
enable the Council to effectively carry out its responsibilities. Information
provided to the Council by an agency of state or local government shall not be
released to any other party unless authorized by such agency;
12. 13. Redact from any document or
form that is to be made available to the public any residential address,
personal telephone number, email address, or signature contained on that
document or form; and
13. 14. Report on or before
December 1 of each year on its activities and findings regarding Article 3 and
the Acts, including recommendations for changes in the laws, to the General
Assembly and the Governor. The annual report shall be submitted by the chairman
as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems
for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be published
as a state document.
§30-357. Executive director; counsel and other staff.
Staff assistance to the
Council shall be provided by the Division of Legislative Services. Staff shall
perform those duties assigned to it by the Council, including those duties
enumerated in §30-356. The Division
of Legislative Services Council
shall appoint and
employ, and at its pleasure remove,
an executive director, who
shall be subject to the confirmation of the Joint Committee on Rules. The Council shall determine
the duties of the executive director and other staff to the Council
and shall employ and fix the salaries
or compensation of the executive director and other persons, within the amounts
appropriated for such purposes. At a
minimum, the Council shall employ (i) at
least one experienced lawyer and (ii) at
least one experienced auditor or investigator.
