GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1997

S	1 

SENATE BILL 1595

Short Title:  Lobbyist Gifts Restricted.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Senator Lee.

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Referred to:  Rules and Operations of the Senate.

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June 1, 1998

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR THE STUDY OF GIFTS BY LOBBYISTS TO LEGISLATORS AND TO RESTRICT GIFTS BY LOBBYISTS TO MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  There is appropriated to the Legislative Research Commission the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for the 1998-99 fiscal year for a study on the laws governing gifts to legislators and the effects of this act on the relationship between legislators and lobbyists, and the public's access to members of the General Assembly.  The Legislative Research Commission may report the findings of this study to the 1999 General Assembly, at either its 1999 Session or its 2000 Session.
Section 2.  Part 1 of Article 14 of Chapter 120 of the General Statutes is amended by adding new sections to read:
"§ 120-87.2.  Gifts.
(a)	A legislator shall not solicit any gift unless the solicitation is for a charitable purpose with no resulting direct pecuniary benefit conferred upon the legislator, a member of the legislator's immediate household, or a business with which the legislator or a member of the legislator's immediate household is associated.
(b)	No legislator subject to this Chapter may knowingly accept any gift as set forth in Article 9A of this Chapter, directly or indirectly, from a lobbyist as defined in G.S. 120-47.1.
(c)	This section shall not apply to any of the following gifts:
(1)	Political contributions properly received and reported as required under Article 22A of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes.
(2)	Gifts from relatives by blood or marriage, or a member of the same household.
(3)	Honoraria or other compensation subject to G.S. 120-87.3.
(4)	Printed informational or promotional material, not to exceed ten dollars ($10.00) in monetary value.
(5)	Items of nominal value, not to exceed ten dollars ($10.00), containing or displaying promotional material.
(6)	A personalized plaque or trophy with a value that does not exceed one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00).
(7)	Educational material of a nominal value directly related to the legislator's official duties.
(8)	An honorary degree bestowed upon a legislator from a public or private university or college.
(9)	Promotional or marketing items offered to the general public or State employees on the same terms and conditions without regard to status as a legislator.
"§ 120-87.3.  Honoraria and other compensation.
A legislator shall not accept an honorarium or other compensation from a source other than the State for conducting or participating in any activity where:
(1)	The State reimburses the legislator for travel, subsistence, and registration expenses;
(2)	The activity would be considered official duty or would bear a reasonably close relationship to the legislator's official duties.
An outside source may reimburse the State for actual expenses incurred by a legislator in conducting an activity within the duties of the legislator; or may pay a fee to the State, in lieu of an honorarium, for the services of the legislator."
Section 3.  G.S. 120-47.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 120-47.1.  Definitions.
(a)	For the purposes of this Article, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
(1)	The terms 'contribution,' 'compensation' and 'expenditure' mean any advance, conveyance, deposit, payment, gift, retainer, fee, salary, honorarium, reimbursement, loan, pledge or anything of value and any contract, agreement, promise or other obligation whether or not legally enforceable, but those terms do not include prizes, awards, or compensation not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100.00) in a calendar year.
(1a)	The term 'gift' means any thing of value received for which less than the fair market consideration was given in exchange.
(2),	(3) Repealed by Session Laws 1991, c. 740, s. 1.1.
(4)	The term 'legislative action' means the preparation, research, drafting, introduction, consideration, modification, amendment, approval, passage, enactment, tabling, postponement, defeat, or rejection of a bill, resolution, amendment, motion, report, nomination, appointment, or other matter by the legislature or by a member or employee of the legislature acting or purporting to act in an official capacity.
(5)	The term 'lobbying' means:
a.	Influencing or attempting to influence legislative action through direct oral or written communication with a member of the General Assembly; or
b.	Solicitation of others by lobbyists to influence legislative action.
(6)	The term 'lobbyist' means an individual who:
a.	Is employed and receives compensation, or who contracts for economic consideration, for the purpose of lobbying; or
b.	Represents another person and receives compensation for the purpose of lobbying.
		The term 'lobbyist' shall not include those individuals who are specifically exempted from this Article by G.S. 120-47.8.  For the purpose of determining whether an individual is a lobbyist under this subdivision, reimbursement of actual travel and subsistence expenses shall not be considered compensation; provided, however, that reimbursement in the ordinary course of business of these expenses shall be considered compensation if a significant part of the individual's duties involve lobbying before the General Assembly.
(7)	The terms 'lobbyist's principal' and 'principal' mean the entity in whose behalf the lobbyist influences or attempts to influence legislative action.
(8)	The term 'person' means any individual, firm, partnership, committee, association, corporation, or any other organization or group of persons.
(9)	The General Assembly is in 'regular session' from the date set by law or resolution that the General Assembly convenes until the General Assembly either:
a.	Adjourns sine die; or
b.	Recesses or adjourns for more than 10 days.
(10)	The term 'thing of value' means any property, tangible or intangible, worth more than ten dollars ($10.00).
(b)	The definitions of terms set forth in G.S. 120-85 apply when those terms are used in this Article, unless the context clearly requires otherwise."
Section 4.  Article 9A of Chapter 120 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
"§ 120-47.5A.  Acts prohibited of lobbyists and legislators; exceptions.
(a)	A lobbyist or a person acting on behalf of a lobbyist shall not offer, solicit, facilitate, or provide to or on behalf of any legislator, a member of the legislator's immediate household, or a business with which the legislator or a member of the legislator's immediate household is associated any of the following:
(1)	Lodging;
(2)	Transportation;
(3)	Entertainment; or
(4)	Food, meals, beverages, money, or any other thing of value, except as permitted under G.S. 120-87.2.
(b)	A legislator shall not solicit or receive from a lobbyist or a person acting on behalf of a lobbyist any of the following:
(1)	Lodging;
(2)	Transportation;
(3)	Entertainment; or
(4)	Food, meals, beverages, money, or any other thing of value, except as permitted under G.S. 120-87.2.
(c)	Subdivisions (1) through (4) of subsection (a) of this section and subdivisions (1) through (4) of subsection (b) of this section do not apply to the furnishing of lodging, transportation, entertainment, food, meals, beverages, or any other thing of value which also is furnished on the same terms or at the same expense to a member of the general public or a State employee without regard to status as a legislator.
(d)	Subdivisions (1), (2), and (4) of subsection (a) of this section and subdivisions (1), (2), and (4) of subsection (b) of this section do not apply to the rendering of emergency assistance given gratuitously and in good faith by a lobbyist, a lobbyist's principal, or any person acting on behalf of a lobbyist or a lobbyist's principal to any legislator.
(e)	Subsections (a) and (b) of this section do not apply to any thing of value given to a relative by blood or marriage, or a member of the same household, for love and affection."
Section 5.  Article 9A of Chapter 120 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
"§ 120-47.5B.  Acts prohibited of lobbyists' principals and legislators; exceptions.
(a)	Except as otherwise provided under G.S. 120-47.5C, no lobbyist's principal may offer, solicit, facilitate, or provide to a legislator, a member of the legislator's immediate household, or a business with which associated, and no legislator may accept lodging, transportation, entertainment, food, meals, beverages, or an invitation to a function paid for by a lobbyist's principal.
(b)	A lobbyist's principal extending an invitation under subsection (a) of this section must report all expenses as required by G.S. 120-47.7.
(c)	The provisions of this section do not apply to a legislator who pays for the legislator's lodging, transportation, entertainment, meals, food, or beverages at a function to which the legislator has been invited by a lobbyist's principal or to a legislator who pays the face value of a ticket to attend a ticketed event sponsored by a lobbyist's principal when the ticketed event is open to the general public.
(d)	Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a legislator may accept lodging, transportation, entertainment, meals, food, beverages, or an invitation to a function paid for by a lobbyist's principal if it is provided to the legislator solely on the basis that the spouse of the legislator is an official or employee of the providing lobbyist's principal, and the spouse's receipt of the lodging, transportation, entertainment, meals, food, beverages, or invitation is purely incidental to the spouse's office or employment with the lobbyist's principal, and the legislator is receiving it only as the spouse of an official or employee of the providing lobbyist's principal."
Section 6.  Article 9A of Chapter 120 is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 120-47.5C.  Legislators not to receive compensation for speaking before audiences; exception and rules for payment of expenses.
A legislator may not receive any thing of value from a lobbyist's principal for speaking before a public or private group.  A legislator is not prohibited by this section from accepting a meal provided in conjunction with a speaking engagement or receipt of an award given to the legislator, where all participants are entitled to the same meal, and the meal is incidental to the speaking engagement, and the engagement is in conjunction with an official function sponsored by the principal to which the general membership of the principal is invited.   Notwithstanding G.S. 120-47.5B, a legislator may receive payment or reimbursement for actual expenses incurred for a speaking engagement.  The expenses must be reasonable and must be incurred in a reasonable time and manner in which to accomplish the purpose of the engagement.  The payment or reimbursement must be disclosed by the lobbyist's principal as required by G.S. 120-47.7."
Section 7.  Article 9A of Chapter 120 is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 120-47.5D.  Additional acts prohibited by lobbyists and lobbyists' principals.
(a)	A lobbyist may not serve as a treasurer for a candidate, as defined in G.S. 163-278.6.
(b)	A lobbyist, a lobbyist's principal, or a person acting on behalf of a lobbyist or a lobbyist's principal may not employ on retainer a legislator, a member of the legislator's immediate household, or a business with which associated.  A retainer, for purposes of this section, is a payment for availability to perform services rather than for actual services rendered.
(c)	A lobbyist, a lobbyist's principal, or a person acting on behalf of a lobbyist or a lobbyist's principal shall not pay an honorarium to a legislator.  This subsection does not prohibit the reimbursement of or expenditure for actual expenses by a lobbyist's principal as allowed in G.S. 120-47.5C.
(d)	A lobbyist, or a person acting on behalf of a lobbyist, may not offer, facilitate, or provide a loan to or on behalf of a legislator or a member of the legislator's immediate household.  A lobbyist's principal, or a person acting on behalf of a lobbyist's principal, may not offer, facilitate, or provide a loan to or on behalf of a legislator or a member of the legislator's immediate household unless the lobbyist's principal is a financial institution authorized to transact business in the State, makes the loan in the ordinary course of business, and makes the loan on the same terms and conditions as would be applied to a similarly qualified borrower."
Section 8.  Section 1 of this act becomes effective July 1, 1998.  The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law and expires January 1, 2001.