BILL REQ. #:  H-2678.1 

Read first time 03/20/09.   Referred to Committee on State Government & Tribal Affairs.

     AN ACT Relating to lobbying restrictions; and amending RCW 42.17.230.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 42.17.230 and 1987 c 201 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     A person required to register as a lobbyist under this chapter shall also have the following obligations, the violation of which shall constitute cause for revocation of his registration, and may subject such person, and such person's employer, if such employer aids, abets, ratifies, or confirms any such act, to other civil liabilities, as provided by this chapter:
     (1) Such persons shall obtain and preserve all accounts, bills, receipts, books, papers, and documents necessary to substantiate the financial reports required to be made under this chapter for a period of at least five years from the date of the filing of the statement containing such items, which accounts, bills, receipts, books, papers, and documents shall be made available for inspection by the commission at any time: PROVIDED, That if a lobbyist is required under the terms of his employment contract to turn any records over to his employer, responsibility for the preservation of such records under this subsection shall rest with such employer.
     (2) In addition, a person required to register as a lobbyist shall not:
     (a) Engage in any activity as a lobbyist before registering as such;
     (b) Knowingly deceive or attempt to deceive any legislator as to any fact pertaining to any pending or proposed legislation;
     (c) Cause or influence the introduction of any bill or amendment thereto for the purpose of thereafter being employed to secure its defeat;
     (d) Knowingly represent an interest adverse to any of his employers without first obtaining such employer's written consent thereto after full disclosure to such employer of such adverse interest;
     (e) Exercise any undue influence, extortion, or unlawful retaliation upon any legislator by reason of such legislator's position with respect to, or his vote upon, any pending or proposed legislation;
     (f) Enter into any agreement, arrangement, or understanding according to which his or her compensation, or any portion thereof, is or will be contingent upon the success of any attempt to influence legislation;
     (g) Threaten any legislator, or any government official, with the relocation of manufacturing jobs including, but not limited to, jobs involving commercial airplane manufacturing, based upon the outcome of any pending or proposed legislation.