Lobby/Advocates Registration bill

[Leslie Pool]

Colleagues,

I’d like to clarify some areas of concern that have been raised about my proposal to update the city’s lobby registration ordinance so that it more closely mirrors state law. First, simply meeting with staff on a discretionary issue does not constitute lobbying in and of itself. Under my draft resolution, for a person to be required to register as a lobbyist, he or she he or she must satisfy all of seven specifically defined terms:

The person must be ...
1) compensated to lobby
2) above a prescribed threshold (proposal currently has $2000 per calendar quarter)
3) to influence or persuade (as opposed to providing information)
4) through direct communications
5) to a non-clerical city employee
6) on a discretionary decision or action
7) on a municipal matter.

Boiled down: If you're paid (more than $2000/quarter) to influence an outcome (of an application/project/proposal/issue) and you communicate directly with a city employee/Council Member in an attempt to have them render a decision in your favor, then you're likely lobbying. All seven requirements must be satisfied to be considered a lobbyist. No element should be read in isolation.

Concerns relating to a potential avalanche of paperwork have not, in fact, been the reality when ethics and lobby reform requirements were adopted by the State of Texas some 20-plus years ago - and that was well before electronic filing was a possibility.

The proposal is being carefully and assiduously reviewed by the City's Ethics Review Commission and a committee of that body, the Lobby Registration Committee, which held a public meeting on the proposal and will review it later this month at a full meeting, and also by the Audit & Finance Committee twice (September and October meetings) including public input. I anticipate the resolution will come to the full Council in early December. Originally hoping to move the proposal expeditiously, I have deliberately slowed the process to ensure every opportunity for any who question the intent of the proposal to have their questions answered and to offer alternative solutions. Jack Gullahorn, Fred Lewis, Brian Thompson and I have and will continue to meet and discuss concerns with various groups and individuals.

Here are some of the activities that fall outside the parameters of the proposal and are not considered to be compensated lobbying under my proposal:

1. Is submitting a site plan, permit application, or other application to the city paid lobbying? No. The resolution proposes a specific lobby compensation exception for “preparing or submitting an application or other required written document.”

2. Is requesting information from the city paid lobbying? Or responding to city requests for information? No. The resolution provides a specific compensation exception for both persons “requesting or inquiring merely for informational purposes only” from the city and “responding, without seeking to influence or persuade, to a specific request for information from the city...”

3. Is communicating with the city to achieve compliance with city laws paid lobbying? No. The resolution provides a specific lobby compensation exception for communicating “for the purpose merely of achieving compliance with an audit, inspection, city investigation, or existing laws, rules, and policies.”

4. Is communicating with the city on a building or other inspection lobbying? No. The proposed resolution specifically exempts from the definition of a discretionary decision building technical code life and safety issues. Communicating to achieving compliance with a city inspection or investigation is also excepted, as noted above.

5. Is seeking a plumber’s, electrician’s, or other permit, and related disputes with city staff, lobbying? No. Building technical code life and safety decisions are exempted expressly from the definition of discretionary decision.

6. Is communicating with city staff on routine, day-to-day staff decisions lobbying? No. Non-discretionary decisions include “the non-discretionary day-to-day, routine application, administration, and execution of city programs and policies such as routine, non-discretionary permitting and design approval matters in connection with a specific project or development.”

7. My engineering firm lobbies. Do each of my 50 lobbying employees have to file to register, pay an annual fee, and report separately? No. If an engineering or other firm meets the lobby registration threshold, they can elect to have the firm file one registration, one fee, and one report for all the firm’s lobby employees.

8. Isn’t lobby registration and reporting burdensome and costly? No. At the state level, similar reporting has been required for years and persons have found it manageable and reasonable. When reporting, a registered lobbyist must list their paid clients, the employees who lobbied or assisted in lobbying for the client, the subject matters they are working on for the client, and their compensation within ranges.

9. How do I determine my compensation for lobbying when lobbying is just one part of my representation of a client? The proposed resolution would require the registrant to allocate reasonably their time between lobbying and other activities. They report just their lobbying compensation. So, if a person is paid $10,000 for their representation of a client, and ¼ of their time is lobbying city staff, they check the compensation range box between $0- $5000. A good faith effort in reporting compensation within ranges is required.

10. Isn’t lobby registration and reporting a lot of paperwork and costly? No. It will be all electronic and the reporting requires basic information firms are already keeping for their billing or recordkeeping. Registration is once a year and reporting is quarterly.

11. Am I subject to going to jail for violating the law? No. The maximum proposed penalty is a fine up to $500, a Class C misdemeanor. On contrast, under state law, a violation is a Class A misdemeanor, which can entail jail time theoretically. No one in Texas has ever been placed in jail for failing to properly register and report although they have paid fines.

12. Why do citizens who lobby without pay not have to register? Nowhere in the United States do uncompensated citizens seeking to influence their government register. People have a constitutional right to seek to influence their government in a democracy. Lobby registration is limited to paid lobbyists over a certain threshold because of the possibility of their undue influence and special access. However, the proposed resolution will contain a provision that when meeting with city staff that all persons, whether lobbyists or not, sign up and indicate their name, who they represent, and who they are meeting with.

It's no secret that Austinites - Texans as a whole - support transparency, accountability, and a lot of sunlight shining on the actions of their governments. The goal of my proposal is to ensure that, at least in our municipal world, we are acting with ethics and good governance top of mind, and that extends to all the City's boards and commissions and the actions of our staffs. My proposal mirrors State Law and is supported by a number of official Opinions issued by the Texas Ethics Commission. The changes I'm offering are well-supported in fact and in practice. I commend this work to the Council. I'm keen to hear any questions you may have, and my staff are available should I not be. Thanks for your interest in this issue!

Regards,

Leslie