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Arkansas House Bill HB1149

Arkansas 2023 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HB1149 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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44 State of Arkansas 1
55 94th General Assembly A Bill 2
66 Regular Session, 2023 HOUSE BILL 1149 3
77 4
88 By: Representative Cavenaugh 5
99 6
1010 For An Act To Be Entitled 7
1111 AN ACT TO PROHIBIT G IFTS FROM LOBBYISTS TO CABINET-8
1212 LEVEL DEPARTMENT SEC RETARIES; TO AMEND T HE LAW 9
1313 CONCERNING THE ARKAN SAS ETHICS COMMISSIO N; TO AMEND 10
1414 THE LAW RESULTING FR OM INITIATED ACT 1 O F 1988; AND 11
1515 FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 12
1616 13
1717 14
1818 Subtitle 15
1919 TO PROHIBIT GIFTS FR OM LOBBYISTS TO 16
2020 CABINET-LEVEL DEPARTMENT SECRETARIES; TO 17
2121 AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE ARKANSAS 18
2222 ETHICS COMMISSION; AND TO AMEND THE LAW 19
2323 RESULTING FROM INITIATED ACT 1 OF 1988. 20
2424 21
2525 22
2626 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 23
2727 24
2828 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 21, Chapter 8, Subchapter 3, is amended 25
2929 to add an additional section to read as follows: 26
3030 21-8-311. Gifts from lobbyists to secretaries of cabinet -level 27
3131 departments. 28
3232 (a) Persons appointed, hired, or serving in the following posit ions in 29
3333 the state shall not knowingly solicit or accept a gift from a lobbyist, a 30
3434 person acting on behalf of a lobbyist, or a person employing or contracting 31
3535 with a lobbyist: 32
3636 (1) Secretary of the Department of Agriculture; 33
3737 (2) Secretary of the Depart ment of Commerce; 34
3838 (3) Secretary of the Department of Corrections; 35
3939 (4) Secretary of the Department of Education; 36 HB1149
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4444 (5) Secretary of the Department of Energy and Environment; 1
4545 (6) Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration; 2
4646 (7) Secretary of the Department of Health; 3
4747 (8) Secretary of the Department of Human Services; 4
4848 (9) Secretary of the Department of Inspector General; 5
4949 (10) Secretary of the Department of Labor and Licensing; 6
5050 (11) Secretary of the Department of the Milita ry; 7
5151 (12) Secretary of the Department of Parks, Heritage, and 8
5252 Tourism; 9
5353 (13) Secretary of the Department of Public Safety; 10
5454 (14) Secretary of the Department of Transformation and Shared 11
5555 Services; and 12
5656 (15) Secretary of the Department of Veterans Af fairs. 13
5757 (b)(1) A person who knowingly violates this section is guilty of a 14
5858 Class B misdemeanor. 15
5959 (2) The Arkansas Ethics Commission shall: 16
6060 (A) Promulgate rules to implement and administer this 17
6161 section as necessary; 18
6262 (B) Issue advisory opinions an d guidelines on the 19
6363 requirements of this section; and 20
6464 (C) Investigate complaints of alleged violations of this 21
6565 section and issue findings and disciplinary action for those complaints. 22
6666 (3)(A) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution or 23
6767 disciplinary action under subdivisions (b)(1) and (2) of this section that a 24
6868 person appointed, hired, or serving in a position under subsection (a) of 25
6969 this section takes one (1) of the following actions within thirty (30) days 26
7070 of discovering or learning of an unintentional violation of this section: 27
7171 (i) Returns the gift to the donor; or 28
7272 (ii) If the gift is not returnable, pays the donor 29
7373 consideration that is equal to or greater than the value of the gift. 30
7474 (B)(i) The commission shall not procee d with an 31
7575 investigation of an alleged violation of this section if the commission 32
7676 determines that a person would be eligible to raise the affirmative defense 33
7777 under subdivision (b)(3)(A) of this section. 34
7878 (ii) If the commission does not proceed with an 35
7979 investigation of an alleged violation under subdivision (b)(3)(B)(i) of this 36 HB1149
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8484 section, the person shall not be considered to have committed a violation. 1
8585 (C) This subdivision (b)(3) does not authorize a person to 2
8686 knowingly solicit or accept a gift in vio lation of this section. 3
8787 4
8888 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 21 -8-402, resulting from Initiated Act 1 of 5
8989 1988, is amended to read as follows: 6
9090 21-8-402. Definitions. 7
9191 As used in this subchapter and § 21-8-311, § 21-8-601 et seq., § 21-8-8
9292 701 et seq., and § 21 -8-801 et seq., unless the context otherwise requires: 9
9393 (1)(A) “Administrative action” means any decision on, or 10
9494 proposal, consideration, or making of any rule, ratemaking proceeding, or 11
9595 policy action by a governmental body. 12
9696 (B) “Administrative action” d oes not include ministerial 13
9797 action; 14
9898 (2) “Business” means any corporation, partnership, sole 15
9999 proprietorship, firm, enterprise, franchise, association, organization, self -16
100100 employed individual, receivership, trust, or any legal entity through which 17
101101 business is conducted; 18
102102 (3) “County government” means any office, department, 19
103103 commission, council, board, bureau, committee, legislative body, agency, or 20
104104 other establishment of a county; 21
105105 (4) “Family” means an individual's spouse, children of that 22
106106 individual or his or her spouse, or brothers, sisters, or parents of the 23
107107 individual or his or her spouse; 24
108108 (5)(A) “Gift” means any payment, entertainment, advance, 25
109109 services, or anything of value, unless consideration of equal or greater 26
110110 value has been given therefor . 27
111111 (B) The term “gift” does not include: 28
112112 (i)(a) Informational material such as books, 29
113113 reports, pamphlets, calendars, or periodicals informing a public servant 30
114114 regarding his or her official duties. 31
115115 (b) Payments for travel or reimbursement for 32
116116 any expenses are not informational material; 33
117117 (ii) The giving or receiving of food, lodging, or 34
118118 travel which bears a relationship to the public servant's office and when 35
119119 appearing in an official capacity; 36 HB1149
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124124 (iii) Gifts which are not used and which, within 1
125125 thirty (30) days after receipt, are returned to the donor; 2
126126 (iv) Gifts from an individual's spouse, child, 3
127127 parent, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, parent -in-law, brother-in-4
128128 law, sister-in-law, nephew, niece, aunt, uncle, or first cousi n, or the 5
129129 spouse of any of these persons, unless the person is acting as an agent or 6
130130 intermediary for any person not covered by this subdivision (5)(B)(iv); 7
131131 (v) Campaign contributions; 8
132132 (vi) Any devise or inheritance; 9
133133 (vii)(a) Anything with a value of one hundred 10
134134 dollars ($100) or less. 11
135135 (b) The value of an item shall be considered 12
136136 to be less than one hundred dollars ($100) if the public servant reimburses 13
137137 the person from whom the item was received any amount over one hundred 14
138138 dollars ($100) and the reimbursement occurs within ten (10) days from the 15
139139 date the item was received; 16
140140 (viii) Wedding presents and engagement gifts; 17
141141 (ix) A monetary or other award presented to an 18
142142 employee of a public school district, the Arkansas School for t he Blind, the 19
143143 Arkansas School for the Deaf, the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, 20
144144 and the Arts, a university, a college, a technical college, a technical 21
145145 institute, a comprehensive life -long learning center, or a community college 22
146146 in recognition of the employee's contribution to education; 23
147147 (x) Tickets to charitable fund -raising events held 24
148148 within this state by a nonprofit organization which is exempt from taxation 25
149149 under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; 26
150150 (xi) A personalized award, plaque, or trophy with a 27
151151 value of one hundred and fifty dollars ($150) or less; 28
152152 (xii) An item which appointed or elected members of 29
153153 a specific governmental body purchase with their own personal funds and 30
154154 present to a fellow member of that gover nmental body in recognition of public 31
155155 service; 32
156156 (xiii) Food or beverages provided at a conference -33
157157 scheduled event that is part of the program of the conference; 34
158158 (xiv) Food or beverages provided in return for 35
159159 participation in a bona fide panel, sem inar, or speaking engagement at which 36 HB1149
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164164 the audience is a civic, social, or cultural organization or group; 1
165165 (xv)(a) A monetary or other award publicly presented 2
166166 to an employee of state government in recognition of his or her contributions 3
167167 to the community and State of Arkansas when the presentation is made by the 4
168168 employee's supervisors or peers, individually or through a nonprofit 5
169169 organization which is exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the 6
170170 Internal Revenue Code, and the employee's receipt o f the award would not 7
171171 result in or create the appearance of the employee using his or her position 8
172172 for private gain, giving preferential treatment to any person, or losing 9
173173 independence or impartiality. 10
174174 (b) The exception in subdivision (5)(B)(xv)(a) 11
175175 of this section shall not apply to an award presented to an employee of state 12
176176 government by a person having economic interests which may be affected by the 13
177177 performance or nonperformance of the employee's duties or responsibilities; 14
178178 and 15
179179 (xvi) Anything of value provided by a political 16
180180 party under § 7-1-101 or § 7-7-205 when serving as the host of the following 17
181181 events to all attendees as part of attendance at the event: 18
182182 (a) The official swearing -in, inaugural, and 19
183183 recognition events of constitutiona l officers and members of the General 20
184184 Assembly; and 21
185185 (b) An official event of a recognized 22
186186 political party so long as all members of either house of the General 23
187187 Assembly affiliated with the recognized political party are invited to the 24
188188 official event; 25
189189 (6) “Governmental body” means any office, department, 26
190190 commission, council, board, committee, legislative body, agency, or other 27
191191 establishment of the executive, judicial, or legislative branch of the state, 28
192192 municipality, county, school district, improve ment district, or any political 29
193193 district or subdivision thereof; 30
194194 (7)(A) “Income” or “compensation” means any money or anything of 31
195195 value received or to be received as a claim for future services, whether in 32
196196 the form of a retainer, fee, salary, expense, a llowance, forbearance, 33
197197 forgiveness, interest, dividend, royalty, rent, or any other form of 34
198198 recompense or any combination thereof. It includes a payment made under 35
199199 obligation for services or other value received. 36 HB1149
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204204 (B) The term “compensation” does not in clude anything of 1
205205 value presented to an employee of a public school district, the Arkansas 2
206206 School for the Blind, the Arkansas School for the Deaf, the Arkansas School 3
207207 for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, a university, a college, a technical 4
208208 college, a technical institute, a comprehensive life -long learning center, or 5
209209 a community college in recognition of the employee's contribution to 6
210210 education; 7
211211 (8) “Legislative action” means introduction, sponsorship, 8
212212 consideration, debate, amendment, passage, defea t, approval, veto, or any 9
213213 other official action or nonaction on any bill, ordinance, law, resolution, 10
214214 amendment, nomination, appointment, report, or other matter pending or 11
215215 proposed before a committee or house of the General Assembly, a quorum court, 12
216216 or a city council or board of directors of a municipality; 13
217217 (9) “Legislator” means any person who is a member of: 14
218218 (A) The General Assembly; 15
219219 (B) A quorum court of any county; 16
220220 (C) The city council or board of directors of any 17
221221 municipality; or 18
222222 (D) A member of a school district board of directors; 19
223223 (10) “Lobbying” means communicating directly or soliciting 20
224224 others to communicate with any public servant with the purpose of influencing 21
225225 legislative action or administrative action; 22
226226 (11) “Lobbyist” means a person who: 23
227227 (A) Receives income or reimbursement in a combined amount 24
228228 of four hundred dollars ($400) or more in a calendar quarter for lobbying one 25
229229 (1) or more governmental bodies; 26
230230 (B) Expends four hundred dollars ($400) or more in a 27
231231 calendar quarter for lobbying one (1) or more governmental bodies, excluding 28
232232 the cost of personal travel, lodging, meals, or dues; or 29
233233 (C) Expends four hundred dollars ($400) or more in a 30
234234 calendar quarter, including postage, for the express purpose of solicit ing 31
235235 others to communicate with any public servant to influence any legislative 32
236236 action or administrative action of one (1) or more governmental bodies unless 33
237237 the communication has been filed with the Secretary of State or the 34
238238 communication has been publishe d in the news media. If the communication is 35
239239 filed with the Secretary of State, the filing shall include the approximate 36 HB1149
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244244 number of recipients; 1
245245 (12) “Municipal government” means any office, department, 2
246246 commission, council, board, bureau, committee, legis lative body, agency, or 3
247247 other establishment of a municipality; 4
248248 (13) “Official capacity” means activities which: 5
249249 (A) Arise solely because of the position held by the 6
250250 public servant; 7
251251 (B) Would be subject to expense reimbursement by the 8
252252 agency with which the public servant is associated; and 9
253253 (C) Involve matters which fall within the official 10
254254 responsibility of the public servant; 11
255255 (14) “Person” means a business, individual, corporation, union, 12
256256 association, firm, partnership, committee, club, or other organization or 13
257257 group of persons; 14
258258 (15)(A) “Public appointee” means an individual who is appointed 15
259259 to a governmental body. 16
260260 (B) “Public appointee” shall not include an individual 17
261261 appointed to an elective office; 18
262262 (16)(A) “Public employee” means an individual who is employed by 19
263263 a governmental body or who is appointed to serve a governmental body. 20
264264 (B) “Public employee” shall not include public officials 21
265265 or public appointees; 22
266266 (17)(A) “Public official” means a legislator or any other per son 23
267267 holding an elective office of any governmental body, whether elected or 24
268268 appointed to the office, and shall include such persons during the time 25
269269 period between the date they were elected and the date they took office. 26
270270 (B) “Public official” includes without limitation a member 27
271271 of a school district board of directors; 28
272272 (18) “Public servant” means all public officials, public 29
273273 employees, and public appointees; 30
274274 (19) “Registered lobbyist” means a lobbyist registered pursuant 31
275275 to the provisions of this subchapter and § 21-8-601 et seq., § 21-8-701 et 32
276276 seq., and § 21-8-801 et seq.; 33
277277 (20) “Special event” means a planned activity to which a 34
278278 specific governmental body or identifiable group of public servants is 35
279279 invited; and 36 HB1149
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284284 (21) “State government” means any office, department, 1
285285 commission, council, board, bureau, committee, legislative body, agency, or 2
286286 other establishment of the State of Arkansas. 3
287287 4
288288 SECTION 3. DO NOT CODIFY. Rules. 5
289289 (a) When adopting the initial rules required under this act, the 6
290290 Arkansas Ethics Commission shall file the final rules with the Secretary of 7
291291 State for adoption under § 25 -15-204(f): 8
292292 (1) On or before January 1, 2024; or 9
293293 (2) If approval under § 10 -3-309 has not occurred by January 1, 10
294294 2024, as soon as practicable after ap proval under § 10-3-309. 11
295295 (b) The commission shall file the proposed rules with the Legislative 12
296296 Council under § 10-3-309(c) sufficiently in advance of January 1, 2024, so 13
297297 that the Legislative Council may consider the rules for approval before 14
298298 January 1, 2024. 15
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