Florida Senate - 2014                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for CS for CS for SB 846
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì623750ÈÎ623750                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
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    1         Senate Substitute for Amendment (309078) 
    2  
    3         Delete lines 170 - 283
    4  and insert:
    5         (h) “Local officer” means a state attorney, public
    6  defender, sheriff, tax collector, property appraiser, supervisor
    7  of elections, clerk of the circuit court, county commissioner,
    8  district school board member, superintendent of schools, or an
    9  elected municipal officer other than an elected municipal
   10  officer of a small city, as defined in s. 120.52.
   11         (i)(h) “Office” means the Office of Legislative Services.
   12         (j)(i) “Principal” means the person, firm, corporation, or
   13  other entity which has employed or retained a lobbyist.
   14         (2) A local officer may not register as a lobbyist for the
   15  purpose of lobbying the Legislature on behalf of a person or
   16  entity other than his or her political subdivision. This
   17  subsection does not prohibit a local officer from being employed
   18  by, or contracting with, a lobbying firm if he or she does not
   19  personally represent clients before the Legislature.
   20         (9)(8) Any person required to be registered or to provide
   21  information pursuant to this section or pursuant to rules
   22  established in conformity with this section who knowingly fails
   23  to disclose any material fact required by this section or by
   24  rules established in conformity with this section, or who
   25  knowingly provides false information on any report required by
   26  this section or by rules established in conformity with this
   27  section, commits a noncriminal infraction, punishable by a fine
   28  not to exceed $5,000. Such penalty shall be in addition to any
   29  other penalty assessed by a house of the Legislature pursuant to
   30  subsection (8) (7).
   31         (10)(9) There is hereby created the Legislative Lobbyist
   32  Registration Trust Fund, to be used for the purpose of funding
   33  any office established for the administration of the
   34  registration of lobbyists lobbying the Legislature, including
   35  the payment of salaries and other expenses, and for the purpose
   36  of paying the expenses incurred by the Legislature in providing
   37  services to lobbyists. The trust fund is not subject to the
   38  service charge to general revenue provisions of chapter 215.
   39  Fees collected pursuant to rules established in accordance with
   40  subsection (3) (2) shall be deposited into the Legislative
   41  Lobbyist Registration Trust Fund.
   42         Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 112.3215, Florida
   43  Statutes, is amended, present subsections (3) through (15) of
   44  that section are renumbered as subsections (4) through (16),
   45  respectively, a new subsection (3) is added to that section, and
   46  present subsection (11) of that section is amended, to read:
   47         112.3215 Lobbying before the executive branch or the
   48  Constitution Revision Commission; registration and reporting;
   49  investigation by commission.—
   50         (1) For the purposes of this section:
   51         (a) “Agency” means the Governor, the Governor and Cabinet,
   52  or any department, division, bureau, board, commission, or
   53  authority of the executive branch. In addition, “agency” shall
   54  mean the Constitution Revision Commission as provided by s. 2,
   55  Art. XI of the State Constitution.
   56         (b) “Agency official” or “employee” means any individual
   57  who is required by law to file full or limited public disclosure
   58  of his or her financial interests.
   59         (c) “Compensation” means a payment, distribution, loan,
   60  advance, reimbursement, deposit, salary, fee, retainer, or
   61  anything of value provided or owed to a lobbying firm, directly
   62  or indirectly, by a principal for any lobbying activity.
   63         (d) “Expenditure” means a payment, distribution, loan,
   64  advance, reimbursement, deposit, or anything of value made by a
   65  lobbyist or principal for the purpose of lobbying. The term
   66  “expenditure” does not include contributions or expenditures
   67  reported pursuant to chapter 106 or contributions or
   68  expenditures reported pursuant to federal election law,
   69  campaign-related personal services provided without compensation
   70  by individuals volunteering their time, any other contribution
   71  or expenditure made by or to a political party or an affiliated
   72  party committee, or any other contribution or expenditure made
   73  by an organization that is exempt from taxation under 26 U.S.C.
   74  s. 527 or s. 501(c)(4).
   75         (e) “Fund” means the Executive Branch Lobby Registration
   76  Trust Fund.
   77         (f) “Lobbies” means seeking, on behalf of another person,
   78  to influence an agency with respect to a decision of the agency
   79  in the area of policy or procurement or an attempt to obtain the
   80  goodwill of an agency official or employee. “Lobbies” also means
   81  influencing or attempting to influence, on behalf of another,
   82  the Constitution Revision Commission’s action or nonaction
   83  through oral or written communication or an attempt to obtain
   84  the goodwill of a member or employee of the Constitution
   85  Revision Commission.
   86         (g) “Lobbying firm” means a business entity, including an
   87  individual contract lobbyist, that receives or becomes entitled
   88  to receive any compensation for the purpose of lobbying, where
   89  any partner, owner, officer, or employee of the business entity
   90  is a lobbyist.
   91         (h) “Lobbyist” means a person who is employed and receives
   92  payment, or who contracts for economic consideration, for the
   93  purpose of lobbying, or a person who is principally employed for
   94  governmental affairs by another person or governmental entity to
   95  lobby on behalf of that other person or governmental entity.
   96  “Lobbyist” does not include a person who is:
   97         1. An attorney, or any person, who represents a client in a
   98  judicial proceeding or in a formal administrative proceeding
   99  conducted pursuant to chapter 120 or any other formal hearing
  100  before an agency, board, commission, or authority of this state.
  101         2. An employee of an agency or of a legislative or judicial
  102  branch entity acting in the normal course of his or her duties.
  103         3. A confidential informant who is providing, or wishes to
  104  provide, confidential information to be used for law enforcement
  105  purposes.
  106         4. A person who lobbies to procure a contract pursuant to
  107  chapter 287 which contract is less than the threshold for
  108  CATEGORY ONE as provided in s. 287.017.
  109         (i) “Local officer” means a state attorney, public
  110  defender, sheriff, tax collector, property appraiser, supervisor
  111  of elections, clerk of the circuit court, county commissioner,
  112  district school board member, superintendent of schools, or an
  113  elected municipal officer other than an elected municipal
  114  officer of a small city, as defined in s. 120.52.
  115         (j)(i) “Principal” means the person, firm, corporation, or
  116  other entity which has employed or retained a lobbyist.
  117         (3) A local officer may not register as a lobbyist for the
  118  purpose of lobbying an agency on behalf of a person or entity
  119  other than his or her political subdivision. This subsection
  120  does not prohibit a local officer from being employed by, or
  121  contracting with, a lobbying firm if he or she does not
  122  personally represent clients before an agency.