HOUSE BILL No. 4212
January 30, 1997, Introduced by Reps. Kaza, Raczkowski, Fitzgerald, Mans and Lowe and referred to the Committee on House Oversight and Ethics.
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 4, 8, and 19a (MCL 4.414, 4.418, and
4.429a), section 8 as amended by 1994 PA 412 and section 19a as
added by 1986 PA 83.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
1 Sec. 4. (1) "Gift" means a payment, advance, forbearance,
2 or the rendering or deposit of money, services, or anything of
3 value , the value of which exceeds $25.00 in any 1-month
4 period, unless consideration of equal or greater value is
5 received therefor. Gift does not include ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
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1 (a) A campaign contribution otherwise reported as required
2 by Act No. 388 of the Public Acts of 1976, as amended, being
3 sections 169.201 to 169.282 of the Michigan Compiled Laws THE
4 MICHIGAN CAMPAIGN FINANCE ACT, 1976 PA 388, MCL 169.201 TO
5 169.282.
6 (b) A loan made in the normal course of business by an
7 institution as defined in section 5 of Act No. 319 of the Public
8 Acts of 1969, as amended, being section 487.305 of the Michigan
9 Compiled Laws THE BANKING CODE OF 1969, 1969 PA 319,
10 MCL 487.305, a national bank, a branch bank, an insurance company
11 issuing a loan or receiving a mortgage in the normal course of
12 business, a premium finance company, a mortgage company, a small
13 loan company, a state or federal credit union, a savings and loan
14 association chartered by this state or the federal government, or
15 a licensee as defined by Act No. 27 of the Public Acts of the
16 Extra Session of 1950, as amended, being sections 492.101 to
17 492.141 of the Michigan Compiled Laws THE MOTOR VEHICLE SALES
18 FINANCE ACT, 1950 (EX SESS) PA 27, MCL 492.101 TO 492.141.
19 (c) A gift received from a member of the person's immediate
20 family, a relative of a spouse, a relative within the seventh
21 degree of consanguinity as computed by the civil law method, or
22 from the spouse of the relative.
23 (d) A breakfast, luncheon, dinner, or other refreshment con-
24 sisting of food and beverage provided for immediate consumption.
25 (e) A donation to an officeholder expense fund otherwise
26 reported as required by Act No. 388 of the Public Acts of 1976,
27 as amended, being sections 169201 to 169.282 of the Michigan
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1 Compiled Laws THE MICHIGAN CAMPAIGN FINANCE ACT, 1976 PA 388,
2 MCL 169.201 TO 169.282.
3 (2) "Immediate family" means a child residing in an
4 individual's household, a spouse of an individual, or an individ-
5 ual claimed by that individual or that individual's spouse as a
6 dependent for federal income tax purposes.
7 (3) "Loan" means a transfer of money, property, or anything
8 of ascertainable value in exchange for an obligation, conditional
9 or not, to repay in whole or in part.
10 Sec. 8. (1) A lobbyist or a lobbyist agent shall file a
11 signed report in a form prescribed UNDER THIS SECTION by the sec-
12 retary of state. under this section. A report shall be filed on
13 January 31 covering the calendar year ending on the immediately
14 preceding December 31, and on August 31 covering the immediately
15 preceding December 31 to July 31. A report shall be filed by a
16 lobbyist or for the lobbyist by the lobbyist agent who acts on
17 behalf of the lobbyist, and the lobbyist agent who acts on his or
18 her own behalf. A lobbyist or a lobbyist agent may request from
19 the secretary of state an extension of the deadline for filing
20 the report for a period not to exceed 60 days. The secretary of
21 state shall respond NOT LATER THAN 9 DAYS AFTER RECEIPT OF THE
22 REQUEST in writing to the request FOR EXTENSION, either approving
23 or disapproving the request. , and if IF THE approval is grant-
24 ed, the SECRETARY OF STATE SHALL INDICATE THE period of the
25 extension. , not later than 9 days after receipt of the
26 request. A lobbyist or lobbyist agent may file an amended report
27 within 1 year after the date the report is required to be filed,
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1 including an extension period. The report shall be on a
2 prescribed form PRESCRIBED BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE and shall
3 include the following information:
4 (a) A statement updating to the end of the reporting period
5 the information required to be filed under section 7.
6 (b) An account of expenditures made by a lobbyist, lobbyist
7 agent, or representative of a lobbyist. The expenditures shall
8 be reported by category, with the report showing the total amount
9 expended in each category during the preceding reporting period
10 and the cumulative amount expended in each category for the cur-
11 rent year from January 1 through the month covered by the
12 report. Expenditures shall be reported in the following
13 categories:
14 (i) Expenditures for food and beverage provided for public
15 officials as specified in subsection (2).
16 (ii) Advertising and mass mailing expenses directly related
17 to lobbying.
18 (iii) Other expenditures for lobbying made or incurred by a
19 lobbyist, a lobbyist agent, or an employee of a lobbyist or lob-
20 byist agent. , other than expenditures for lobbying made or
21 incurred by a lobbyist, a lobbyist agent, or an employee of a
22 lobbyist or a lobbyist agent of less than $5.00 made for goods or
23 services for which a receipt or proof of purchase is not normally
24 available.
25 (c) An account of every financial transaction during the
26 immediately preceding reporting period between the lobbyist or
27 lobbyist agent, or a person acting on behalf of the lobbyist or
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1 lobbyist agent, and a public official or a member of the public
2 official's immediate family, or a business with which the indi-
3 vidual is associated, in which goods and services having value
4 of at least $775.00, or travel and lodging expenses paid for or
5 reimbursed to a public official in connection with public busi-
6 ness by that public official in excess of $500.00, are
7 involved. The account shall include the date and nature of the
8 transaction, the parties to the transaction, and the amount
9 involved in the transaction. This subdivision does not apply to
10 EITHER OF the following:
11 (i) A financial transaction in the ordinary course of the
12 business of the lobbyist, if the primary business of the lobbyist
13 is other than lobbying, and if consideration of equal or greater
14 value is received by the lobbyist.
15 (ii) A financial transaction undertaken in the ordinary
16 course of the lobbyist's business, in which fair market value is
17 given or received for a benefit conferred.
18 (d) A brief description of the lobbying activities engaged
19 in during the previous reporting period.
20 (e) In the case of travel and lodging expenses described in
21 subdivision (c), the lobbyist or lobbyist agent shall prepare a
22 separate document detailing the expenditure required to be
23 reported. The lobbyist or lobbyist agent shall send, simulta-
24 neously with the filing of the report to the secretary of state,
25 a copy of the document to the affected legislator.
26 (2) Expenditures for food and beverage provided a public
27 official shall be reported. if the expenditures for that public
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1 official exceed $25.00 in any month covered by the report or
2 $150.00 during that calendar year from January 1 through the
3 month covered by the report. The report shall include the name
4 and title or office of the public official and the expenditures
5 MADE on that public official for the months covered by the report
6 and for the year. If more than 1 public official is provided
7 food and beverage and a single check is rendered, the report may
8 reflect the average amount of the check for each public
9 official. If the expenditures are a result of an event at which
10 more than 25 public officials were in attendance, are a result of
11 an event to which an entire standing committee of the legislature
12 was invited in writing to be informed concerning a bill that was
13 assigned to that standing committee, or are a result of an event
14 to which an entire caucus of either house of the legislature was
15 invited in writing, a lobbyist or a lobbyist agent shall report
16 the total amount expended on the public officials in attendance
17 for food and beverage and is not required to report the amount
18 expended on the public officials individually. In reporting
19 those amounts, the lobbyist or lobbyist agent shall file a state-
20 ment providing a description by category of the persons in
21 attendance and the nature of each event or function held during
22 the preceding reporting period.
23 (3) A person who, without good cause, fails to report under
24 subsection (1) shall pay a late filing fee of $10.00 for each day
25 the report remains not filed in violation of subsection (1), not
26 to exceed $300.00. A person who, without good cause, is in
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1 violation of subsection (1) more than 30 days is guilty of a
2 misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000.00.
3 (4) If a lobbyist agent employs another lobbyist agent to
4 engage in lobbying, the activities of the employee lobbyist agent
5 shall be reported by the employer lobbyist agent under this
6 section.
7 (5) Within a reasonable time after receipt of a request from
8 an elected public official in regard to a report of a lobbyist or
9 a lobbyist agent, the secretary of state shall report to the
10 elected public official on any reported activity by the lobbyist
11 or lobbyist agent in that report, and shall notify the elected
12 public official of the specific occurrence and the specific
13 nature of the reported activity.
14 (6) The secretary of state shall preserve statements and
15 reports filed under this act for 5 years after filing. The
16 statements and reports may be reproduced pursuant to the records
17 media act, 1992 PA 116, MCL 24.401 TO 24.403. After the required
18 preservation period, THE SECRETARY OF STATE SHALL DESTROY the
19 statements and reports, or the reproductions of the statements
20 and reports, other than those necessary to complete an investiga-
21 tion by the attorney general or pertinent to a matter being adju-
22 dicated in a court of law. , shall be destroyed.
23 Sec. 19a. (1) Effective January 1, 1986, the monetary
24 amounts established in this act for registration and reporting
25 thresholds and for penalties shall be adjusted as of January 1
26 pursuant to the percentage increase or decrease in the Detroit
27 consumer price index--all items. The adjustment for 1986 shall
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1 be made by comparing the Detroit consumer price index for June,
2 1981 to the corresponding Detroit consumer price index for
3 August, 1985. The resultant percentage change shall then be
4 multiplied by the monetary amounts established in this act on the
5 effective date of this section. These results shall be rounded
6 up to the nearest dollar and added to the amounts established by
7 this act which are $100.00 or less, and rounded up to the nearest
8 $25.00 and added to the amounts established by this act which are
9 more than $100.00, which shall then be the new amounts for 1986.
10 (2) Effective January 1, 1987 and each year thereafter, the THE
11 monetary amounts established in this act for registration and
12 reporting thresholds and for penalties shall be adjusted each
13 January 1 pursuant to the annual average percentage increase or
14 decrease in the Detroit consumer price index--all items. The
15 adjustment for each year shall be made by comparing the percen-
16 tage increase or decrease in the Detroit consumer price index for
17 the preceding August by the corresponding Detroit consumer price
18 index--all items 1 year earlier. The resultant percentage change
19 shall then be multiplied by the affected monetary amounts. These
20 results shall be rounded up to the nearest dollar for amounts
21 established on the effective date of this section APRIL 15,
22 1986 which are $100.00 or less, and rounded up to the nearest
23 $25.00 for amounts established on the effective date of this
24 section APRIL 15, 1986 which are more than $100.00, and added to
25 or subtracted from the current monetary amounts as previously
26 adjusted by this section which shall be the new amounts for that
27 year.
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1 (2) (3) The adjustments shall apply only to expenditures
2 or violations occurring after the date of the adjusting of the
3 amounts.
4 (3) (4) The adjusted amounts shall be determined and
5 announced by the secretary of state on or before December 15 of
6 each year and shall be provided to all persons requesting the
7 adjusted amounts.
8 (4) (5) If the DETROIT CONSUMER PRICE index is unavail-
9 able, the secretary of state shall make a reasonable
10 approximation.
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