HLS 24RS-58 ORIGINAL 2024 Regular Session HOUSE BILL NO. 106 BY REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON LOBBYING: Provides relative to the assessment of penalties on lobbyists for failure to timely file required reports 1 AN ACT 2To amend and reenact R.S. 24:58(D)(2), R.S. 33:9668(D)(2), R.S. 42:1157(A)(4)(c), and 3 R.S. 49:78(D)(2), relative to penalties imposed by the Board of Ethics; to provide for 4 the enforcement of registration and reporting requirements of legislative, executive 5 branch, and local lobbyists; to provide for the assessment of late fees and civil 6 penalties for failure to timely file; and to provide for related matters. 7Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana: 8 Section 1. R.S. 24:58(D)(2) is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows: 9 §58. Enforcement 10 * * * 11 D. In addition to any other applicable penalties: 12 * * * 13 (2) Any person whose registration or report is filed eleven or more days after 14 the day on which it was due may be assessed, in addition to any late fees pursuant 15 to this Section, after a hearing by the board, a civil penalty not to exceed ten one 16 thousand dollars. 17 * * * 18 Section 2. R.S. 33:9668(D)(2) is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows: 19 §9668. Enforcement 20 * * * Page 1 of 3 CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored are additions. HLS 24RS-58 ORIGINAL HB NO. 106 1 D. In addition to any other applicable penalties: 2 * * * 3 (2) Any person whose registration or report is filed eleven or more days after 4 the day on which it was due shall be assessed, in addition to any late fees pursuant 5 to this Section, after a hearing by the ethics board, a civil penalty not to exceed ten 6 one thousand dollars. 7 * * * 8 Section 3. R.S. 42:1157(A)(4)(c) is hereby amended and reenacted to read as 9follows: 10 §1157. Late filing fees 11 A. 12 * * * 13 (4) Any late filing fees assessed by the Board of Ethics or its staff, for any 14 failure to timely file any report or statement due, shall not exceed the following: 15 * * * 16 (c) If the fee is fifty dollars per day, the maximum shall be one thousand five 17 hundred dollars, except that the maximum shall be five hundred dollars for fees 18 assessed pursuant to Paragraph (2) of this Subsection. 19 * * * 20 Section 4. R.S. 49:78(D)(2) is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows: 21 §78. Enforcement 22 * * * 23 D. In addition to any other applicable penalties: 24 * * * 25 (2) Any person whose registration or report is filed eleven or more days after 26 the day on which it was due may be assessed, in addition to any late fees pursuant 27 to this Section, after a hearing by the board, a civil penalty not to exceed ten one 28 thousand dollars. 29 * * * Page 2 of 3 CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored are additions. HLS 24RS-58 ORIGINAL HB NO. 106 DIGEST The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)] HB 106 Original 2024 Regular Session Jackson Abstract: Reduces the maximum amount of late fees and the maximum civil penalty imposed by the Bd. of Ethics on lobbyists for failure to timely file required reports. Present law requires legislative, executive branch, and local lobbyists to register with the Bd. of Ethics (the "board") as soon as possible after employment as a lobbyist or after the first action requiring his registration as a lobbyist, whichever occurs first, and in any event no later than five days after employment or first action as a lobbyist. Present law provides that any person required to register and who fails to timely register and any person who fails to timely file any required report, including a combined report for legislative and executive branch lobbying, shall be assessed a late fee of $50 per day. Present law requires legislative and executive branch lobbyists to file with the board monthly expenditure reports containing specific information. Present law provides that any person who fails to file a required expenditure report containing all required information shall be assessed a late fee of $50 per day. Present law establishes maximums for late filing fees assessed by the board; such maximums are based on the amount of the per day fee. If the per day late filing fee is $50, present law provides that the maximum fee is $1,500. Proposed law reduces the maximum fee as applicable to legislative, executive branch, and local lobbyists to $500. Otherwise retains present law. Present law provides that any lobbyist whose registration or report is filed 11 or more days after the day on which it was due may be assessed, in addition to late fees, after a hearing by the board, a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000. Proposed law lowers the maximum civil penalty to $1,000. (Amends R.S. 24:58(D)(2), R.S. 33:9668(D)(2), R.S. 42:(A)(4)(c), and R.S.49:78(D)(2)) Page 3 of 3 CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored are additions.