Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

HOUSE BILL NO. 5331
     November 14, 2023, Introduced by Reps. Paquette, Bezotte, DeSana and Fox and referred to the
       Committee on Government Operations.
          A bill to amend 1978 PA 472, entitled
    "An act to regulate political activity; to regulate lobbyists,
    lobbyist agents, and lobbying activities; to require registration
    of lobbyists and lobbyist agents; to require the filing of reports;
    to prescribe the powers and duties of the department of state; to
    prescribe penalties; and to repeal certain acts and parts of acts,"
    by amending sections 3, 5, 8, 9, and 11 (MCL 4.413, 4.415, 4.418,
419, and 4.421), section 5 as amended by 1986 PA 83 and section 8
    as amended by 1994 PA 412.
                     THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
       Sec. 3. (1) "Department" means the department of state.
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       (2) "Expenditure" means an advance, compensation for labor,
 honorarium, conveyance, deposit, distribution, transfer of funds,
 loan, payment, pledge, or subscription of money or anything of
 value including a contract, agreement, promise, or other
 obligation, whether or not legally enforceable, to make an
 expenditure. Expenditure does not include the payment of a
 membership fee otherwise reported pursuant to under section 8(1)(d)
 (8)(1)(f)(iv) or the cost of travel to visit and return from
 visiting a public official for the purpose of communicating with
 the public official.
       (3) "Financial transaction" means a loan, purchase, sale, or
 other type of transfer or exchange of money, goods, other property,
 or services for value.
       Sec. 5. (1) "Governmental body" means a state legislative or
 governing body, including a board, commission, committee,
 subcommittee, authority, or council, that may, under a state
 constitution, statute, or rule, exercise governmental or
 proprietary authority or perform a governmental or proprietary
 function, or a lessee of the body that performs an essential public
 purpose and function under the lease agreement.
       (2) "Influencing" means promoting, supporting, affecting,
 modifying, opposing, or delaying by any means, including the
 providing of or use of information, statistics, studies, or
 analysis.
       (3) (1) "Legislative action" means introduction, sponsorship,
 support, opposition, consideration, debate, vote, passage, defeat,
 approval, veto, delay, or an official action by an official in the
 executive branch or an official in the legislative branch on a
 bill, resolution, amendment, nomination, appointment, report, or
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 any matter pending or proposed in a legislative committee or either
 house of the legislature. Legislative action does not include the
 representation of a person who has been subpoenaed to appear before
 the legislature or an agency of the legislature.
       (4) (2) "Lobbying" means communicating directly with an
 official in the executive branch of state government or an official
 in the legislative branch of state government for the purpose of
 influencing legislative or administrative action. Lobbying does not
 include the providing of technical information by a person other
 than a person as defined in subsection (5) lobbyist agent or an
 employee of a person as defined in subsection (5) lobbyist agent
 when appearing before an officially convened legislative committee
 or executive department hearing panel. As used in this subsection,
 "technical information" means empirically verifiable data provided
 by a person recognized as an expert in the subject area to which
 the information provided is related.
       (3) "Influencing" means promoting, supporting, affecting,
 modifying, opposing or delaying by any means, including the
 providing of or use of information, statistics, studies, or
 analysis.
       (5) (4) "Lobbyist" means any of the following:
       (a) A person whose expenditures for lobbying are more than
 $1,000.00 in value in any 12-month period.
       (b) A person whose expenditures for lobbying are more than
 $250.00 in value in any 12-month period, if the amount is expended
 on lobbying a single public official.
       (c) For the purpose of subdivisions (a) and (b), groups of 25
 or more people shall not have their personal expenditures for food,
 travel, and beverage included , providing if those expenditures are
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 not reimbursed by a lobbyist or lobbyist agent.
       (d) The state or a political subdivision which that contracts
 for a lobbyist agent.
       (6) (5) "Lobbyist agent" means a person who that receives
 compensation or reimbursement of actual expenses, or both, in a
 combined amount in excess of $250.00 in any 12-month period for
 lobbying.
       (6) "Representative of the lobbyist" means any of the
 following:
       (a) An employee of the lobbyist or lobbyist agent.
       (b) For purposes of section 8(1)(b)(i) and 9(1)(b), a member
 of the lobbyist or employee of a member of the lobbyist, when the
 lobbyist is a membership organization or association, and when the
 lobbyist agent or an employee of the lobbyist or lobbyist agent is
 present during any part of the period during which the purchased
 food or beverage is consumed.
       (c) A person who is reimbursed by the lobbyist or lobbyist
 agent for an expenditure, other than an expenditure for food or
 beverage, which was incurred for the purpose of lobbying.
       (7) Lobbyist or lobbyist agent does not include any of the
 following:
       (a) A publisher, owner, or working member of the press, radio,
 or television while disseminating news or editorial comment to the
 general public in the ordinary course of business.
       (b) All elected or appointed public officials of state or
 local government who are acting in the course or scope of the
 office for no compensation, other than that provided by law for the
 office, .not including any of the following:
       (c) For the purposes of this act, subdivision (b) shall not
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 include:
       (i) Employees of public or private colleges, community
 colleges, junior colleges, or universities.
       (ii) Employees of townships, villages, cities, counties, or
 school boards.
       (iii) Employees of state executive departments.
       (iv) Employees of the judicial branch of government.
       (c) (d) A member of a lobbyist , if the lobbyist is a
 membership organization or association , and if the member of a the
 lobbyist does not separately qualify as a lobbyist under subsection
 (4).(5).
       (8) "Mass mailing" means not less than 1,000 pieces of
 substantially similar material mailed within a 7-day period.
       (9) "Official in the executive branch" means the governor,
 lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general; or an
 individual who is in the executive branch of state government and
 not under civil service; a classified director, chief deputy
 director, or deputy director of a state department. This Official
 in the executive branch includes an individual who is elected or
 appointed and has not yet taken, or an individual who is nominated
 for appointment to, any of the offices or agencies enumerated in
 this subsection. An official Official in the executive branch does
 not include a person an individual serving in a clerical,
 nonpolicy-making, non-policy-making or nonadministrative capacity.
 In addition to all of the foregoing, an official Official in the
 executive branch includes, but is not limited to, all of the
 following:
       (a) In the executive office of the governor, the chief and
 deputy chief of staff, press secretary, director of job training,
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 and director of personnel.
       (b) In the department of agriculture and rural development,
 the racing commissioner and a member of the commission on
 agriculture commission.and rural development.
       (c) In the department of civil rights, a A member of the civil
 rights commission.
       (d) In the department of civil service, a A member of the
 civil service commission.
       (e) In the department of commerce, the commissioner of
 financial institutions, labor and economic opportunity, the
 executive director of the housing development authority, the
 director of the unemployment insurance agency, and a member of the
 liquor control commission, strategic fund board, employment
 security board of review, employment security commission, state
 housing development authority, or travel commission. , or public
 service commission.
       (f) In the department of education, a member of the state
 board of education , higher education facilities commission, higher
 education facilities authority, higher education assistance
 authority, higher education student loan authority, or state tenure
 commission.
       (g) In the department of labor, licensing and regulatory
 affairs, the director of the bureau of workers' disability
 compensation, the director of the employment security commission,
 and a member of the construction code commission, employment
 relations commission, employment security board of review,
 employment security commission, public service commission, liquor
 control commission, or wage deviation board.
       (h) In The director of the department of licensing and
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 regulation, the state insurance commissioner.and financial
 services.
       (i) In the department of technology, management, and budget,
 the lottery commissioner, the director of the office of services to
 the aging, the director of the office of state employer, the
 chairperson of the crime victims compensation board, and a member
 of the council for the arts, state administrative board, state
 building authority, toxic substance control commission, or utility
 consumer participation board.
       (j) In the department of natural resources, the supervisor of
 wells environment, Great Lakes, and energy, the director of the
 department and a member of the air pollution control commission,
 natural resources commission. , or water resources commission.
       (k) In the department of public health, a member of the
 occupational health standards commission.
       (k) (l) In the department of transportation, a member of the
 aeronautics commission and a state transportation commissioner.
       (l) (m) In the department of treasury, a member of the hospital
 finance authority, investment advisory committee, or state tax
 commission, higher education facilities commission, higher
 education facilities authority, higher education assistance
 authority, or higher education student loan authority.
       (10) "Official in the legislative branch" means a member of
 the legislature, the auditor general, the deputy auditor general,
 an employee of the consumer's council, the director of the
 legislative retirement system, or any other employee of the
 legislature other than an individual employed by the this state in
 a clerical or nonpolicy-making non-policy-making capacity.
       (11) "Governmental body" means any state legislative or
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 governing body, including a board, commission, committee,
 subcommittee, authority, or council, which is empowered by state
 constitution, statute, or rule to exercise governmental or
 proprietary authority or perform a governmental or proprietary
 function, or a lessee thereof performing an essential public
 purpose and function under the lease agreement.
       (11) "Representative of the lobbyist" means any of the
 following:
       (a) An employee of the lobbyist or lobbyist agent.
       (b) For purposes of sections 8(1)(f)(ii)(A) and 9(1)(b), a
 member of the lobbyist or employee of a member of the lobbyist,
 when the lobbyist is a membership organization or association, and
 when the lobbyist agent or an employee of the lobbyist or lobbyist
 agent is present during any part of the period during which the
 purchased food or beverage is consumed.
       (c) A person that is reimbursed by the lobbyist or lobbyist
 agent for an expenditure, other than an expenditure for food or
 beverage, which was incurred for the purpose of lobbying.
       Sec. 8. (1) A Each lobbyist or a lobbyist agent shall file a
 signed report in a form prescribed by the secretary of state under
 this section. A report shall be filed All of the following apply to
 a report required under this subsection:
       (a) The lobbyist or lobbyist agent shall submit the report in
 writing, in a form prescribed by the secretary of state, and signed
 by the lobbyist or lobbyist agent.
       (b) The lobbyist or lobbyist agent shall file the report on
 January 31 covering the calendar year ending on the immediately
 preceding December 31, and on August 31 covering the immediately
 preceding December 31 to July 31.
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       (c) A report shall for the lobbyist must be filed by a the
 lobbyist or for the lobbyist by the lobbyist agent who acts on
 behalf of the lobbyist. , and the A report for a lobbyist agent who
 acts on his or her the lobbyist agent's own behalf must be filed by
 that lobbyist agent.
       (d) A lobbyist or a lobbyist agent may request from the
 secretary of state an extension of the deadline for filing the
 report for a period not to exceed of not more than 60 days. The
 secretary of state shall respond in writing to the request, either
 approving or disapproving the request. , and if approval is
 granted, If the secretary of state approves the request, the period
 of the extension , not later than must be within 9 days after
 receipt of the secretary of state receives the request.
       (e) A lobbyist or lobbyist agent may file an amended report
 within 1 year after the date the report is required to be filed,
 including an extension period granted under subdivision (d). The
       (f) Each report shall be on a prescribed form and shall must
 include the following information:
       (i) (a) A statement updating to the end of the reporting period
 the information required to be filed for registration under section
 7.
       (ii) (b) An account of expenditures made by a lobbyist,
 lobbyist agent, or representative of a lobbyist. The account must
 report the expenditures shall be reported by category, with the
 report showing in the following categories, show the total amount
 expended in each category during the preceding reporting period,
 and show the cumulative amount expended in each category for the
 current year from January 1 through the month covered by the
 report. Expenditures shall be reported in the following categories:
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 end of the reporting period:
       (A) (i) Expenditures Subject to subsection (2), expenditures
 for food and beverage provided for a public officials as specified
 in subsection (2).official who is not a legislator.
       (B) (ii) Advertising and mass mailing expenses directly related
 to lobbying.
       (C) (iii) Other expenditures for lobbying made or incurred by a
 lobbyist, a lobbyist agent, or an employee of a lobbyist or
 lobbyist agent, other than expenditures for lobbying made or
 incurred by a lobbyist, a lobbyist agent, or an employee of a
 lobbyist or a lobbyist agent of less than $5.00 made for goods or
 services for which a receipt or proof of purchase is not normally
 available.
       (iii) (c) An account of every financial transaction during the
 immediately preceding reporting period between the lobbyist or
 lobbyist agent, or a person acting on behalf of the lobbyist or
 lobbyist agent, and a public official or a member of the public
 official's immediate family, or a business with which the
 individual is associated, in which goods and services having value
 of at least $775.00, or travel and lodging expenses paid for or
 reimbursed to a public official in connection with public business
 by that public official in excess of $500.00, are involved. The
 account shall must include the date and nature of the transaction,
 the parties to the transaction, and the amount involved in the
 transaction. This subdivision subparagraph does not apply to the
 following:
       (A) (i) A financial transaction in the ordinary course of the
 business of the lobbyist, if the primary business of the lobbyist