Shall the City regulate expenditure lobbyists by requiring them to register
with the Ethics Commission, pay a $500 registration fee, and file monthly
disclosures regarding their lobbying activities?
The Way It Is Now: Individuals who are paid to directly
contact City officers to influence their legislative or
administrative actions are called lobbyists. Their activities
are regulated by the City's Lobbyist Ordinance. The
Ordinance does not address indirect lobbying, also
known as "expenditure lobbying," where persons
solicit or urge others to directly contact City officers.
The Proposal: Proposition C would define an expenditure
lobbyist as any person or business who pays
$2,500 or more in a calendar month to solicit, request,
or urge others to directly lobby City officers. The types
of activities that would apply to the $2,500 threshold
include:
- public relations, media relations, and advertising,
- public outreach,
- research, investigation, reports, analyses, and studies.
The following types of payments would not count
toward the $2,500 threshold:
- payments made to a registered lobbyist who
directly contacts City officers;
- payments made to an organization for membership
dues;
- payments made by an organization to distribute
communications to its members;
- payments made by a news media organization to
develop and distribute its publications; and
- payments made by a client to a representative to
appear on the client's behalf in a legal proceeding
before a City agency or department.
Proposition C would require expenditure lobbyists to
register with the Ethics Commission, pay a $500 registration
fee, and file monthly disclosures regarding
their lobbying activities. Employees of nonprofit organizations
would not be subject to the $500 registration
fee.
Proposition C would also allow the City to change
these requirements without further voter approval if
the change would further the purposes of the ordinance.
The Ethics Commission would be required to
approve the changes by a four-fifths vote, and the
Board of Supervisors would be required to approve
them by a two-thirds vote. Voters would retain the
right to amend the ordinance.
- A YES vote on this measure means:
- A "YES" Vote Means: If you vote "yes," you want the
City to regulate expenditure lobbyists by requiring
them to register with the Ethics Commission, pay a
$500 registration fee, and file monthly disclosures
regarding their lobbying activities.
- A NO vote on this measure means:
- A "NO" Vote Means: If you vote "no," you do not want
to make these changes.
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