Maryland 2025 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB1542 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	hb1542
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 1542
8	8	G2 5lr3614
9	9
10	10	By: Delegates Terrasa, Lehman, and Wu
11	11	Introduced and read first time: February 25, 2025
12	12	Assigned to: Rules and Executive Nominations
13	13
14	14	A BILL ENTITLED
15	15
16	16	AN ACT concerning 1
17	17
18	18	Maryland Public Ethics Law – Regulated Lobbyists – Reporting Requirements 2
19	19
20	20	FOR the purpose of altering the dates by which a regulated lobbyist must file a certain 3
21	21	report to the State Ethics Commission; altering the contents of the report; and 4
22	22	generally relating to reporting requirements for regulated lobbyists. 5
23	23
24	24	BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 6
25	25	Article – General Provisions 7
26	26	Section 5–101(x) and 5–702(a) 8
27	27	Annotated Code of Maryland 9
28	28	(2019 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 10
29	29
30	30	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 11
31	31	Article – General Provisions 12
32	32	Section 5–705(a) and (b) 13
33	33	Annotated Code of Maryland 14
34	34	(2019 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 15
35	35
36	36	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 16
37	37	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 17
38	38
39	39	Article – General Provisions 18
40	40
41	41	5–101. 19
42	42
43	43	(x) “Lobbying” means performing any act that requires registration under § 20
44	44	5–702 of this title. 21
45	45
46	46	5–702. 22
47	47	2 HOUSE BILL 1542
48	48
49	49
50	50	(a) Unless exempted under subsection (b) of this section, an entity shall register 1
51	51	with the Ethics Commission as provided in this subtitle and shall be a regulated lobbyist 2
52	52	for the purposes of this title if, during a reporting period, the entity: 3
53	53
54	54	(1) for the purpose of influencing any legislative action or any executive 4
55	55	action relating to the development or adoption of regulations or the development or 5
56	56	issuance of an executive order: 6
57	57
58	58	(i) 1. communicates with an official or employee of the 7
59	59	Legislative Branch or Executive Branch in the presence of that official or employee; and 8
60	60
61	61	2. except for the personal travel or subsistence expenses of 9
62	62	the entity or a representative of the entity, incurs expenses of at least $500 or earns at least 10
63	63	$2,500 as compensation for all such communication and activities relating to the 11
64	64	communication during the reporting period; or 12
65	65
66	66	(ii) 1. communicates with an official or employee of the 13
67	67	Legislative Branch or Executive Branch; and 14
68	68
69	69	2. earns at least $5,000 as compensation for all such 15
70	70	communication and activities relating to the communication during the reporting period; 16
71	71
72	72	(2) in connection with or for the purpose of influencing any executive 17
73	73	action, spends a cumulative value of at least $100 for gifts, including meals, beverages, and 18
74	74	special events, to one or more officials or employees of the Executive Branch; 19
75	75
76	76	(3) subject to subsection (b)(4) of this section, is compensated to influence 20
77	77	executive action on a procurement contract that exceeds $100,000; 21
78	78
79	79	(4) subject to subsection (b)(5) of this section, is compensated by a business 22
80	80	entity to influence executive action to secure from the State a business grant or loan with 23
81	81	a value of more than $100,000 for the business entity; 24
82	82
83	83	(5) spends at least $2,000, including expenditures for salaries, contractual 25
84	84	employees, postage, telecommunications services, electronic services, advertising, printing, 26
85	85	and delivery services, for the express purpose of soliciting others to communicate with an 27
86	86	official to influence legislative action or executive action; or 28
87	87
88	88	(6) spends at least $2,500 to provide compensation to one or more entities 29
89	89	required to register under this subsection. 30
90	90
91	91	5–705. 31
92	92
93	93	(a) (1) A regulated lobbyist shall file electronically with the Ethics 32
94	94	Commission, under oath and for each registration, a separate report concerning the 33
95	95	regulated lobbyist’s lobbying activities: 34
96	96	HOUSE BILL 1542 3
97	97
98	98
99	99	(I) BY FEBRUARY 15 EACH YEAR, TO COVER THE PERIOD FROM 1
100	100	NOVEMBER 1 OF THE IMMEDIATELY PRECEDIN G YEAR THROUGH JANUARY 31 OF 2
101	101	THE CURRENT YEAR , BOTH INCLUSIVE; 3
102	102
103	103	(II) BY MARCH 15 EACH YEAR, TO COVER THE PERIOD FROM 4
104	104	FEBRUARY 1 THROUGH THE LAST DAY OF FEBRUARY OF THAT YEAR , BOTH 5
105	105	INCLUSIVE; 6
106	106
107	107	[(i)] (III) by May 31 of each year, to cover the period from 7
108	108	[November] MARCH 1 [of the previous year] through April 30 of [the current] THAT year, 8
109	109	BOTH INCLUSIVE; and 9
110	110
111	111	[(ii)] (IV) by November 30 of each year, to cover the period from May 10
112	112	1 through October 31 of that year, BOTH INCLUSIVE. 11
113	113
114	114	(2) If the regulated lobbyist is not an individual, an authorized officer or 12
115	115	agent of the regulated lobbyist shall sign the report. 13
116	116
117	117	(3) If a prorated amount is reported as compensation, it shall be labeled as 14
118	118	prorated. 15
119	119
120	120	(b) A report required by this section shall include: 16
121	121
122	122	(1) a complete, current statement of the information required under § 17
123	123	5–704(b) of this subtitle; 18
124	124
125	125	(2) total expenditures in connection with influencing executive action or 19
126	126	legislative action in each of the following categories: 20
127	127
128	128	(i) total individual regulated lobbyist compensation, excluding 21
129	129	expenses reported under this paragraph; 22
130	130
131	131	(ii) office expenses of the regulated lobbyist; 23
132	132
133	133	(iii) professional and technical research and assistance; 24
134	134
135	135	(iv) publications that expressly encourage communication with one 25
136	136	or more officials or employees; 26
137	137
138	138	(v) witnesses, including the name of each and the fees and expenses 27
139	139	paid to each; 28
140	140
141	141	(vi) except as otherwise reported under this paragraph, meals and 29
142	142	beverages for officials, employees, or members of the immediate families of officials or 30
143	143	employees; 31
144	144	4 HOUSE BILL 1542
145	145
146	146
147	147	(vii) except as provided in § 5–709(d)(2) of this subtitle, food, 1
148	148	beverages, and incidental expenses for officials of the Legislative Branch for meals and 2
149	149	receptions to which all members of any legislative unit were invited; 3
150	150
151	151	(viii) food and beverages for members of the General Assembly at the 4
152	152	times and geographic locations of meetings of legislative organizations, as allowed under § 5
153	153	5–505(c)(2)(i)4 of this title; 6
154	154
155	155	(ix) food, lodging, and scheduled entertainment for officials and 7
156	156	employees at meetings at which the officials and employees were scheduled speakers or 8
157	157	scheduled panel participants; 9
158	158
159	159	(x) tickets and free admission extended to members of the General 10
160	160	Assembly, as a courtesy or ceremony to the office, to attend charitable, cultural, or political 11
161	161	events sponsored or conducted by the reporting entity, as allowed under § 5–505(c)(2)(viii) 12
162	162	of this title; 13
163	163
164	164	(xi) other gifts to or for officials, employees, or members of the 14
165	165	immediate families of officials or employees; and 15
166	166
167	167	(xii) other expenses; [and] 16
168	168
169	169	(3) as to expenditures reported in item (2)(vii), (viii), (ix), and (x) of this 17
170	170	subsection, the date, location, and total expense of the regulated lobbyist for each meal, 18
171	171	reception, event, or meeting; AND 19
172	172
173	173	(4) A LIST OF EACH MATTER ON WHICH THE REGULATED LOBBYI ST 20
174	174	PERFORMED LOBBYING A CTIVITY, INCLUDING: 21
175	175
176	176	(I) A DESCRIPTION OF THE LOBBYIST’S POSITION ON EACH 22
177	177	MATTER; AND 23
178	178
179	179	(II) EACH BILL NUMBER OR A DESCRIPTION OF EAC H 24
180	180	LEGISLATIVE ACTION O N WHICH THE LOBBYIST PERFORMED LOBBYING A CTIVITY. 25
181	181
182	182	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FUR THER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 26
183	183	October 1, 2025. 27