A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require reporting of all gifts given by lobbyists and lobbyist principals to legislators, legislative employees, and public servants.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 138A‑32 reads as rewritten:
"§ 138A‑32.  Gifts.
(a)	A covered person or a legislative employee shall not knowingly, directly or indirectly, ask, accept, demand, exact, solicit, seek, assign, receive, or agree to receive anything of value for the covered person or legislative employee, or for another person, in return for being influenced in the discharge of the covered person's or legislative employee's official responsibilities, other than that which is received by the covered person or the legislative employee from the State for acting in the covered person's or legislative employee's official capacity.
(b)	A covered person may not solicit for a charitable purpose any thing of monetary value from any subordinate State employee. This subsection shall not apply to generic written solicitations to all members of a class of subordinates. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit a covered person from serving as the honorary head of the State Employees Combined Campaign.
(c)	A public servant, legislator, or legislative employee may accept a gift from a lobbyist or lobbyist principal registered under Chapter 120C of the General Statutes. A legislator or legislative employee may accept a gift from liaison personnel designated under Chapter 120C of the General Statutes.		
				 			 																																			(h)	A covered person or legislative employee shall not accept an honorarium from a source other than the employing entity for conducting any activity where any of the following apply:
(1)	The employing entity reimburses the covered person or legislative employee for travel, subsistence, and registration expenses.
(2)	The employing entity's work time or resources are used.
(3)	The activity would be considered official duty or would bear a reasonably close relationship to the covered person's or legislative employee's official duties.
An outside source may reimburse the employing entity for actual expenses incurred by a covered person or legislative employee in conducting an activity within the duties of the covered person or legislative employee, or may pay a fee to the employing entity, in lieu of an honorarium, for the services of the covered person or legislative employee.
(i)	Acceptance or solicitation of a gift in compliance with this section without corrupt intent shall not constitute a violation of the statutes related to bribery under G.S. 14‑217, 14‑218, or 120‑86."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 120C‑303 reads as rewritten:
"§ 120C‑303.  Gifts by lobbyists and lobbyist principals prohibited.
				(c)	The offering or giving of a gift in compliance with this Chapter without corrupt intent shall not constitute a violation of the statutes related to bribery under G.S. 14‑217, 14‑218, or 120‑86, but shall be subject to civil fines under G.S. 120C‑602(b).
		"
SECTION 3.  G.S. 120C‑401(j) reads as rewritten:
"(j)	The Secretary of State shall make available a report form that may be filed by a designated individual or a member of the designated individual's immediate family who promptly declines, returns, pays fair market value for, or donates a reportable expenditure not retained by the designated individual or member of the designated individual's immediate family. The Secretary of State shall index the filing of this form together with the lobbyist or lobbyist principal who gave the reportable expenditure."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 120C‑402(b)(4) reads as rewritten:
"(4)	All reportable expenditures for gifts."
SECTION 5.  G.S. 120C‑403(b)(5) reads as rewritten:
"(5)	All reportable expenditures for gifts."
SECTION 6.  G.S. 126‑14(a1) reads as rewritten:
"(a1)	It is unlawful for an individual as defined in G.S. 138A‑3(30)a. to coerce any of the following persons to support or contribute to a political candidate, a political committee as defined in G.S. 163‑278.6, or a political party by threatening discipline or promising preferential treatment with regard to that person's business with the individual's State office or that person's activities regulated by the individual's State office:
(1)	A person that is doing or is seeking to do business of any kind with the public servant's employing entity.
(2)	A person that is engaged in activities that are regulated or controlled by the public servant's employing entity.
(3)	A person that has financial interests that may be substantially and materially affected, in a manner distinguishable from the public generally, by the performance or nonperformance of the public servant's official duties."
SECTION 7.  G.S. 120C‑602(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	In addition to the criminal penalties set forth in this section, the Secretary of State may levy civil fines for a violation of any provision of Articles 2, 4, or 8 of this Chapter up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) per violation. In addition to the criminal penalties set forth in this section, the Secretary of State may levy civil fines for a violation of failing to report a reportable expenditure under any provision of Article 4 of this Chapter up to three times the amount of the reportable expenditure. In addition to the criminal penalties set forth in this section, the Commission may levy civil fines for a violation of any provision of this Chapter except Article 2, 4, or 8 of this Chapter up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) per violation."
SECTION 8.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2013, and applies to actions on or after that date.