Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H3020 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2480 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3020
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Kate Donaghue
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to municipal lobbying.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Kate Donaghue19th Worcester1/18/2023Michelle M. DuBois10th Plymouth2/7/2023 1 of 8
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2480 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3020
18	18	By Representative Donaghue of Westborough, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3020)
19	19	of Kate Donaghue and Michelle M. DuBois for legislation to regulate municipal lobbying. State
20	20	Administration and Regulatory Oversight.
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
24	24	(2023-2024)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act relative to municipal lobbying.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
28	28	of the same, as follows:
29	29	1 SECTION 1. Section 39 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
30	30	2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after line 99, the following definition:-
31	31	3 “Covered municipal official”, a mayor, city manager, city councilor, member of the board
32	32	4of alderman, school committee member or municipal department head in a city having more than
33	33	5150,000 inhabitants as of the most recent federal census.”, and further;
34	34	6 By inserting after line 169, the following definitions:- ““Municipal agent”, a person who
35	35	7for compensation or reward engages in municipal lobbying which includes at least 1 lobbying
36	36	8communication with a government employee made by said person. The term “municipal agent”
37	37	9shall include a person who, as part of his regular and usual business or professional activities and
38	38	10not simply incidental thereto, engages in legislative municipal lobbying, whether or not any
39	39	11compensation in addition to the salary for such activities is received for such services. For
40	40	12purposes of this definition a person shall be presumed to be engaged in municipal lobbying that 2 of 8
41	41	13is simply incidental to his regular and usual business or professional activities if he or she: (i)
42	42	14engages in municipal lobbying for not more than 25 hours during any reporting period; and (ii)
43	43	15receives less than $2,500 during any reporting period for legislative lobbying.
44	44	16 “Municipal lobbying”, any act to promote, oppose, influence, or attempt to influence the
45	45	17decision of any covered municipal official, where such decision concerns any ordinance
46	46	18proposed or change to an adopted ordinance, action or vote of a covered municipal official or the
47	47	19adoption, repeal, amendment or postponement of a standard, rate, rule, regulation or appointment
48	48	20within a covered municipal official’s direct jurisdiction or the approval, modification or
49	49	21disapproval of any formal action by a covered municipal.”
50	50	22 SECTION 2. Section 41 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
51	51	23Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “legislative agents” in line 7 the
52	52	24following words:- “, municipal agents”.
53	53	25 SECTION 3. Section 41 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
54	54	26Official Edition, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “legislative” in line 9 the
55	55	27following word:- “, municipal”.
56	56	28 SECTION 4. Section 41 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
57	57	29Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “legislative agent” in line 20 the
58	58	30following words:- “, municipal agent”.
59	59	31 SECTION 5. Section 41 of chapter 3 of the General, as appearing in the 2020 Official
60	60	32Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “legislative agent” in line 25 the
61	61	33following words :- “, municipal agent”. 3 of 8
62	62	34 SECTION 6. Section 41 of chapter 3 of the General, as appearing in the 2020 Official
63	63	35Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “legislative agent” in line 31 the
64	64	36following words :- “, municipal agent”.
65	65	37 SECTION 7. Section 41 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
66	66	38Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting the following sentence after the second sentence
67	67	39in line 5:- The state secretary shall assess each municipal agent an annual filing fee of $50 upon
68	68	40entering the agent’s name on the docket.
69	69	41 SECTION 8. Section 41 of chapter 3 of the General, as appearing in the 2020 Official
70	70	42Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “legislative agent” in lines 48 and 49 the
71	71	43following words :- “, municipal agent”.
72	72	44 SECTION 9. Section 42 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
73	73	45Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting the following sentence at the end of the first
74	74	46paragraph in line 8:-
75	75	47 No person shall agree to engage in municipal lobbying for consideration to be paid upon
76	76	48the contingency of the outcome of the actions described in the definition of “municipal
77	77	49lobbying.”
78	78	50 SECTION 10. Section 43 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
79	79	51Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting the following new sentence after the first
80	80	52sentence of the first paragraph in line 29:-
81	81	53 On or before the fifteenth day of July, complete from January first through June thirtieth;
82	82	54and the fifteenth day of January, complete from July first to December thirty-first of the 4 of 8
83	83	55preceding year, every municipal agent shall render to the state secretary an itemized statement,
84	84	56under oath, listing all campaign contributions as defined in section one of chapter fifty-five; all
85	85	57expenditures, and the total amount thereof, incurred, contributed or paid during the reporting
86	86	58period in the course of his employment as a municipal agent and all expenditures made for or on
87	87	59behalf of covered municipal officials incurred or paid during the reporting period, except that the
88	88	60municipal agent shall not be required to report such expenditures not in the course of his
89	89	61employment made for or on behalf of the immediate family of such municipal agent or a relative
90	90	62within the third degree of consanguinity of the municipal agent or of his or her spouse or the
91	91	63spouse of any such relative; and except that in the case of all expenditures the municipal agent
92	92	64shall not be required to itemize the expenditures of any one day in which the amount incurred or
93	93	65paid did not total thirty-five dollars or more.
94	94	66 SECTION 11. Section 43 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
95	95	67Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking the first sentence of the third paragraph contained
96	96	68in lines 41 to 54, inclusive, and inserting in place thereof the following text:
97	97	69 Every legislative agent, municipal agent and executive agent shall include in the
98	98	70statement required by this section for the relevant reporting period: (1) the identification of each
99	99	71client for whom the legislative, municipal or executive agent provided lobbying services; (2) a
100	100	72list of all bill numbers and names of legislation and other governmental action that the executive,
101	101	73municipal or legislative agent acted to promote, oppose or influence; (3) a statement of the
102	102	74executive, municipal or legislative agent's position, if any, on each such bill or other
103	103	75governmental action; (4) the identification of the client or clients on whose behalf the executive,
104	104	76municipal or legislative agent was acting with respect to each such bill or governmental action;
105	105	77(5) the amount of compensation received for executive, municipal or legislative lobbying from 5 of 8
106	106	78each client with respect to such lobbying services; and (6) all direct business associations with
107	107	79public officials. The disclosure shall be required regardless of whether the legislative agent,
108	108	80municipal agent or executive agent specifically referenced the bill number or name, or other
109	109	81governmental action while acting to promote, oppose or influence legislation, and shall be as
110	110	82complete as practicable.
111	111	83 SECTION 12. Section 43 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
112	112	84Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “executive” in line 60 the
113	113	85following word:- “, municipal”.
114	114	86 SECTION 13. Section 43 of chapter 3 of the General, as appearing in the 2020 Official
115	115	87Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “executive” in line 67 the following
116	116	88word:- “, municipal”.
117	117	89 SECTION 14. Section 43 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
118	118	90Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “executive” in line 77 the
119	119	91following word:- “, municipal”.
120	120	92 SECTION 15. Section 44 of chapter 3 of the General Laws is hereby amended by
121	121	93inserting the following new sentence after the first sentence in line 26 of the first paragraph:-
122	122	94 On or before the fifteenth day of July, complete from January first through June thirtieth;
123	123	95and the fifteenth day of January, complete from July first to December thirty-first of the
124	124	96preceding year, any group or organization, however constituted, not employing a municipal
125	125	97agent which as part of an organized effort, expends in excess of two hundred and fifty dollars
126	126	98during any calendar year to promote, oppose, or influence municipal governmental action, or to
127	127	99influence the decision of any officer or employee of a covered municipal official, where such 6 of 8
128	128	100decision concern the adoption, defeat or postponement of a standard, rate, rule or regulation
129	129	101pursuant thereto, or to do any act to communicate directly with a covered municipal official to
130	130	102influence a decision concerning policy or procurement shall register with the state secretary by
131	131	103rendering a statement, under oath, containing the names and addresses of the principals of such
132	132	104group or organization, the purposes of the organization, such aforesaid decisions of such
133	133	105employees of the executive branch or an authority or legislation which affects those purposes,
134	134	106the total amount of expenditures, incurred or paid during the reporting period in furtherance of
135	135	107the foregoing objectives and an itemized statement containing all expenditures made for or on
136	136	108behalf of covered municipal officials and employees of such offices.
137	137	109 SECTION 16. Section 44 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
138	138	110Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “executive” in line 56 the
139	139	111following word:- “, municipal”.
140	140	112 SECTION 17. Section 44 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
141	141	113Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking the text contained in the last paragraph in lines
142	142	11462 to 76, inclusive, and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:
143	143	115 This section shall not apply to any group or organization that (i) does not employ an
144	144	116executive, municipal or legislative agent; (ii) does not realize a profit; (iii) does not make a
145	145	117contribution, as defined in section one of chapter fifty-five, to a political candidate or committee;
146	146	118(iv) does not pay a salary or fee to any member for any activities performed for the benefit of the
147	147	119group or organization; and (v) expends two thousand dollars or less during any calendar year to
148	148	120promote, oppose, or influence legislation, or the governor's veto or approval thereof, or to
149	149	121influence the decision of any officer or employee of the executive branch or an authority, 7 of 8
150	150	122including, but not limited to, statewide constitutional officers and employees thereof, or a
151	151	123covered municipal official and employees thereof, where such decision concerns legislation or
152	152	124the adoption, defeat or postponement of a standard, rate, rule or regulation pursuant thereto or
153	153	125other government action, or to do any act to communicate directly with a covered executive
154	154	126official or covered municipal official to influence a decision concerning policy or procurement.
155	155	127 SECTION 18. Section 45 of chapter 3 of the General Laws is hereby amended by
156	156	128inserting the following the words in the subsection (d) after the words “executive lobbying”:- ,
157	157	129municipal lobbying.
158	158	130 SECTION 19. Section 45 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
159	159	131Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “executive” in line 96 the
160	160	132following word:- “, municipal”.
161	161	133 SECTION 20. Section 46 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
162	162	134Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “executive” in line 1 the
163	163	135following word:- “, municipal”.
164	164	136 SECTION 21. Section 47 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
165	165	137Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence contained in lines 1 to 25,
166	166	138inclusive, and inserting in place thereof the following text:
167	167	139 “On or before the fifteenth day of July, complete from January first through June
168	168	140thirtieth; and the fifteenth day of January, complete from July first to December thirty-first of the
169	169	141preceding year, every employer of an executive, municipal or legislative agent shall render to the
170	170	142state secretary a complete and detailed itemized statement, under oath, listing all expenditures
171	171	143incurred or paid separately by such employer during the reporting period in connection with 8 of 8
172	172	144promoting, opposing or influencing legislation, or the governor's approval or veto thereof, or
173	173	145influencing the decision of any officer or employee of the executive branch or an authority,
174	174	146including, but not limited to, statewide constitutional officers and employees thereof, or a
175	175	147covered municipal official and employees thereof, where such decision concerns legislation or
176	176	148the adoption, defeat or postponement of a standard, rate, rule or regulation pursuant thereto or
177	177	149other government action, or to do any act to communicate directly with a covered executive
178	178	150official or covered municipal official to influence a decision concerning policy or procurement
179	179	151and all expenditures for or on behalf of the statewide constitutional officers, officers and
180	180	152employees of such offices, members of the general court, officers and employees of the general
181	181	153court, officers and employees of the executive branch and officers and employees of an
182	182	154authority, covered municipal officials and any employees thereof and the total amount thereof
183	183	155incurred or paid separately by such employer during the reporting period; and except that in the
184	184	156case of all expenditures the employer shall not be required to itemize the expenditures of any one
185	185	157day in which the amount incurred or paid did not total thirty-five dollars or more.”
186	186	158 SECTION 22. Section 47 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
187	187	159Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “executive” in line 47 the
188	188	160following word:- “, municipal”.
189	189	161 SECTION 23. Section 48 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
190	190	162Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “executive” in lines 6 and 8, as it
191	191	163appears in each instance, the following word:- “, municipal”.