BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to reporting by lobbyists; and amending RCW 42.17.170.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 42.17.170 and 1991 sp.s. c 18 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Any lobbyist registered under RCW 42.17.150 and any person who lobbies shall file with the commission periodic reports of his or her activities signed by the lobbyist. The reports shall be made in the form and manner prescribed by the commission. They shall be due monthly and shall be filed within fifteen days after the last day of the calendar month covered by the report.

(2) Each such monthly periodic report shall contain:

(a) The totals of all expenditures for lobbying activities made or incurred by such lobbyist or on behalf of such lobbyist by the lobbyist's employer during the period covered by the report. Such totals for lobbying activities shall be segregated according to financial category, including compensation; food and refreshments; living accommodations; advertising; travel; contributions; and other expenses or services. Each individual expenditure of more than twenty-five dollars for entertainment shall be identified by date, place, amount, and the names of all persons in the group partaking in or of such entertainment including any portion thereof attributable to the lobbyist's participation therein, ((~~without~~)) and allocating any portion of such expenditure ((~~to individual participants~~)) attributable to any member of the legislature and that member's immediate family. However, if the expenditure for a single hosted reception is more than one hundred dollars per person partaking therein, the report shall specify the per person amount, which shall be determined by dividing the total amount of the expenditure by the total number of persons partaking in the reception.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, lobbyists are not required to report the following:

(i) Unreimbursed personal living and travel expenses not incurred directly for lobbying;

(ii) Any expenses incurred for his or her own living accommodations;

(iii) Any expenses incurred for his or her own travel to and from hearings of the legislature;

(iv) Any expenses incurred for telephone, and any office expenses, including rent and salaries and wages paid for staff and secretarial assistance.

(b) In the case of a lobbyist employed by more than one employer, the proportionate amount of such expenditures in each category incurred on behalf of each of his or her employers.

(c) An itemized listing of each such expenditure in the nature of a contribution of money or of tangible or intangible personal property to any candidate, elected official, or officer or employee of any agency, or any political committee supporting or opposing any ballot proposition, or for or on behalf of any candidate, elected official, or officer or employee of any agency, or any political committee supporting or opposing any ballot proposition. All contributions made to, or for the benefit of, any candidate, elected official, or officer or employee of any agency, or any political committee supporting or opposing any ballot proposition shall be identified by date, amount, and the name of the candidate, elected official, or officer or employee of any agency, or any political committee supporting or opposing any ballot proposition receiving, or to be benefited by each such contribution.

(d) The subject matter of proposed legislation or other legislative activity or rule-making under chapter 34.05 RCW, the state Administrative Procedure Act, and the state agency considering the same, which the lobbyist has been engaged in supporting or opposing during the reporting period.

(e) Such other information relevant to lobbying activities as the commission shall by rule prescribe. Information supporting such activities as are required to be reported is subject to audit by the commission.

(f) A listing of each gift, as defined in RCW 42.17.020, made to a state elected official or executive state officer or to a member of the immediate family of such an official or officer. Such a gift shall be separately identified by the date it was given, the approximate value of the gift, and the name of the recipient. However, for a hosted reception where the average per person amount is reported under (a) of this subsection, the approximate value for the gift of partaking in the event is such average per person amount. The commission shall adopt forms to be used for reporting the giving of gifts under this subsection (2)(f). The forms shall be designed to permit a lobbyist to report on a separate form for each recipient the reportable gifts given to that recipient during the reporting period or, alternatively, to report on one form all reportable gifts given by the lobbyist during the reporting period.

(3) If a state elected official or a member of such an official's immediate family is identified by a lobbyist in such a report as having received from the lobbyist a gift, as defined in RCW 42.17.020, the lobbyist shall transmit to the official a copy of the completed form used to identify the gift in the report at the same time the report is filed with the commission.