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AN ACT relating to legislative ethics. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS 6.601 TO 6.849 IS CREATED TO 3
READ AS FOLLOWS: 4
(1) A legislator or legislative agent shall not engage in discrimination against or 5
sexual harassment of any legislator, legislative agent, or employee of the 6
legislative branch of state government. 7
(2) Violation of this section by a legislator or legislative agent is ethical misconduct. 8
(3) A copy of a complaint of discrimination or sexual harassment filed by an 9
employee of the legislative branch of state government against a legislator or 10
legislative agent shall be transmitted by the executive director of the commission 11
or his or her designee to the chief human resources officer of the Legislative 12
Research Commission no later than one (1) business day after receipt of the 13
complaint. 14
SECTION 2. A NEW SECTION OF KRS 6.601 TO 6.849 IS CREATED TO 15
READ AS FOLLOWS: 16
As used in Sections 1 and 2 of this Act: 17
(1) "Discrimination" means any direct or indirect act or practice of exclusion, 18
distinction, restriction, segregation, limitation, refusal, denial, or any other act or 19
practice of differentiation or preference in treatment of any person, or the aiding, 20
abetting, inciting, coercing, or compelling of such an act or practice, that is 21
unlawful under KRS Chapter 344, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or 22
state or federal case law, or enforced in policy or regulation by the federal Equal 23
Employment Opportunity Commission or the Kentucky Commission on Human 24
Rights; and 25
(2) (a) "Sexual harassment" means any sexual advance, request for sexual favors, 26
or other verbal or physical conduct or communication of a sexual nature if: 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1576
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1. Submission to the advances, requests, conduct, or communication is 1
an explicit or implicit term or condition of obtaining or retaining 2
employment; 3
2. Submission to or rejection of the advances, requests, conduct, or 4
communication affects decisions concerning a person's employment; 5
3. The conduct or communication has the purpose or effect of 6
unreasonably interfering with a person's ability to perform his or her 7
job functions or of creating a hostile work environment; or 8
4. The conduct or communication is sexual harassment as described in 9
KRS Chapter 344, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or state 10
federal case law, or enforced in policy or regulation by the federal 11
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Kentucky 12
Commission on Human Rights. 13
(b) "Sexual harassment" includes such conduct or communication as: 14
1. Unwanted sexual contact or conduct of any kind, including sexual 15
flirtations, touching, advances, actions, propositions, intercourse, or 16
assault; 17
2. Unwelcome verbal communication of a sexual nature, including lewd 18
comments or innuendo, sexual jokes or references, or offensive 19
personal references; 20
3. Sexually demeaning, insulting, intimidating, or suggestive comments 21
or behavior directed at a person or in the presence of any person in a 22
public or private setting; 23
4. The display in the workplace of sexually demeaning, insulting, 24
intimidating, or suggestive objects, pictures, or photographs; 25
5. Sexually demeaning, insulting, intimidating, or suggestive written, 26
recorded, or electronically transmitted messages; or 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1576
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6. Other sexual conduct or communication not specifically described but 1
which is substantially similar to the conduct or communication 2
described in this subsection. 3
(c) A single incident described in this subsection may constitute sexual 4
harassment, if it is linked to an employment benefit or is severe. 5
Section 3. KRS 6.807 is amended to read as follows: 6
(1) Each legislative agent and employer, within seven (7) days following engagement 7
of a legislative agent, shall file with the commission an initial registration statement 8
listing the following: 9
(a) The name, business address and telephone number, and occupation of the 10
legislative agent; 11
(b) The name, brief description of the nature of the business, nature and identity 12
of the organized association, coalition, or public interest entity, business 13
address and telephone number of the employer, and the real party in interest 14
on whose behalf the legislative agent is lobbying, if it is different from the 15
employer. For the purposes of this section, if a trade association or other 16
charitable or fraternal organization that is exempt from federal income 17
taxation under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code is the employer, 18
the statement shall not list the names and addresses of each member of the 19
association or organization, if the association or organization itself is listed; 20
(c) The name, bill number, or a brief description of the legislative action for 21
which the legislative agent is or will be engaged in lobbying on behalf of their 22
employer or as a representative of the organized association, coalition, or 23
public interest entity; 24
(d) The date on which the legislative agent was engaged; and 25
(e) Certification by the employer and legislative agent that the information 26
contained in the registration statement is complete and accurate. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1576
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(2) The registration shall be valid through the next thirty-first day of December of an 1
odd-numbered year, unless previously terminated. 2
(3) (a) In addition to the initial registration statement required by subsection (1) of 3
this section, each legislative agent and employer shall file an updated 4
registration statement with the commission to be received by the commission, 5
not later than 4 p.m. on the fifteenth day of January, February, March, April, 6
May, and September of each year, for the period since the end of the period 7
covered by the previous report until the last day of the month preceding the 8
filing date. The commission may grant a reasonable extension of time for 9
filing the updated registration statement for good cause shown. 10
(b) The updated registration statement shall confirm the continuing existence of 11
each engagement described in an initial registration statement, and list the 12
specific bills or resolutions on which the agent lobbied under that engagement 13
during the period covered by the updated statement. Any statement of 14
expenditures required to be filed by KRS 6.821 and any details of financial 15
transactions required to be filed by KRS 6.824 shall be filed with the updated 16
registration statement. 17
(4) If a legislative agent is engaged by more than one employer, the agent shall file a 18
separate initial and updated registration statement for each engagement. If an 19
employer engages more than one (1) legislative agent, the employer shall file only 20
one (1) updated registration statement under subsection (3) of this section, which 21
shall contain the information required by subsection (3) of this section regarding all 22
legislative agents engaged by the employer. 23
(5) (a) A change in any information required by subsection (1)(a), (b), or (c) of this 24
section shall be reflected in the next updated registration statement filed under 25
subsection (3) of this section. 26
(b) Within thirty (30) days after the termination of an engagement, the legislative 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1576
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agent who was employed under the engagement shall file written notice of the 1
termination with the commission. 2
(c) If the termination of a legislative agent leaves an employer without the 3
engagement of any legislative agents, within thirty (30) days after the 4
termination, the employer shall file written notice with the commission of its 5
intent to terminate its current registration. 6
(6) Upon registration pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, the[ legislative agent 7
shall be issued a card by the] commission shall issue an electronic notification to 8
the legislative agent, showing that the legislative agent is registered. The 9
registration[ card] shall be valid from the date of its issuance through the next 10
thirty-first day of December of an odd-numbered year. 11
(7) Any legislative agent or employer who fails to file the initial registration statement 12
or updated registration statement, or who fails to remedy a deficiency in any filing 13
in a timely manner, may be fined by the commission an amount not to exceed one 14
hundred dollars ($100) per day, up to a maximum total fine of one thousand dollars 15
($1,000) without the necessity of a complaint being filed, notwithstanding KRS 16
6.686(1)(a), but only after notice has been given to the alleged violator of the intent 17
of the commission to impose a fine, including the amount of the fine, and an 18
opportunity has been afforded the alleged violator to appear before the commission 19
or otherwise offer evidence as he or she may choose in mitigation of the imposition 20
of the fine. 21
(8) Any legislative agent or employer who intentionally fails to register shall be guilty 22
of a Class D felony. 23
Section 4. KRS 6.811 is amended to read as follows: 24
(1) A legislative agent or employer shall not knowingly fail to register, as required 25
under KRS 6.807. 26
(2) A legislative agent or employer shall not knowingly fail to keep a receipt or 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1576
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maintain a record which KRS 6.821 requires the person to keep or maintain. 1
(3) A person shall not knowingly fail to file a statement that KRS 6.807, 6.821, or 2
6.824 requires the person to file. 3
(4) A legislative agent or employer shall not knowingly offer, give, or agree to give 4
anything of value to a legislator, a candidate, or the spouse or child of a legislator or 5
candidate. 6
(5) A legislative agent shall not serve as a campaign treasurer, and shall not directly 7
solicit, control, or deliver a campaign contribution, for a candidate or legislator. 8
(6) A legislative agent shall not make a campaign contribution to a legislator, a 9
candidate, or his or her campaign committee. 10
(7) During a regular session of the General Assembly, an employer of a legislative 11
agent shall not make a campaign contribution to a legislator, candidate, campaign 12
committee for a legislator or candidate, or caucus campaign committee. This 13
subsection shall not apply to: 14
(a) Candidates for the General Assembly in a special election held during a 15
regular session of the General Assembly; or 16
(b) A member of the General Assembly who is a candidate, as defined in KRS 17
121.015, contemporaneously seeking election for a statewide office. 18
(8) An employer shall not knowingly employ, appoint, or retain a serving legislator or 19
former legislator as a legislative agent until at least two (2) years have elapsed from 20
the date on which he or she vacated his or her office. 21
(9) No person shall engage any person to lobby in exchange for compensation that is 22
contingent in any way upon the passage, modification, or defeat of any legislation. 23
No person shall accept any engagement to lobby in exchange for compensation that 24
is contingent in any way upon the passage, modification, or defeat of any 25
legislation. Violation of this provision is a Class D felony. 26
(10) A legislative agent or other lobbyist shall not go upon the floor of either house of 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1576
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the General Assembly while the house is in session, except upon invitation of that 1
house. Violation of this provision is a Class B misdemeanor. 2
(11) If any legislative agent or employer violates any provision in subsections (4) to (8) 3
of this section, he or she shall for the first violation be guilty of ethical misconduct. 4
For the second and each subsequent violation, he or she shall be guilty of a Class D 5
felony. 6