Sec.1-92-49. Financial reports of client lobbyists shall disclose other expenditures for lobbying

(a) Financial reports of all client registrants, including those who terminate their registrations during the calendar year, shall also include the dollar amount and the type of expenditure for:

(1) Office expenses which are in furtherance of lobbying including:

(A) secretarial salaries or portions thereof, except that such salaries are excluded for any individual whose pro rata value of time spent in furtherance of lobbying is less than $50 in any calendar year;

(B) printing, photocopying, data processing, and postage together costing $50 or more in any calendar year, except that membership, shareholder, or employee newsletters as defined in section 1-91(6) of the Connecticut General Statutes are excluded, and the term “members” as used in section 1-91(6) means bona fide members;

(C) telephone usage costing $50 or more in any calendar year; and

(D) the monthly amount of rent for an office for any month during which the office is used primarily for lobbying.

(2) Any paid communications, costing $50 or more in any calendar year, in print, radio, television or other medium for the purpose of influencing any legislative or administrative action, provided that the paid communications refer to pending legislative or administrative action.

(3) Any solicitation or solicitations (other than those excluded in section 1-91(12) of the Connecticut General Statutes) costing $50 or more in the aggregate for any calendar year of other persons to communicate with a public official, the legislature or any executive agency for the purpose of influencing any legislative or administrative action.

(4) Any entertainment, costing $50 or more in the aggregate in any calendar year, conducted in furtherance of lobbying. This total shall include:

(A) all expenditures for the benefit of a public official or a member of the public official's staff or immediate family made incidental to lobbying, whether the expenditure per person per occasion or transaction is above or below the threshold for detailed reporting pursuant to section 1-96(e) of the Connecticut General Statutes, including expenditures below ten dollars per person per occasion or transaction; and

(B) all other expenditures made incident to lobbying relative to an occasion or transaction described in subparagraph (A) of this subdivision (e.g., expenditures for a client registrant's communicators, or other representatives or members, to attend a function incident to lobbying where a public official or a member of a public official's staff or immediate family is benefitted).

(5) Other expenses which are in furtherance of lobbying, such as the pro rata value of the compensation (A) of individuals who lobby but who need not register because they do not meet the financial threshold for lobbying or they are excused by section 1-91(12)(D) or (G) of the Connecticut General Statutes, and (B) of individuals who do not lobby but carry on activities in furtherance of lobbying and whose compensation is not reported elsewhere in the financial report.

(b) Additionally, any expenditures, as defined in subdivisions (1), (2), (3), (4), and (5) of subsection (a) of this section, made prior to registration which were not previously reported to the Office of State Ethics, whether occurring in the year of registration or a previous calendar year, shall be disclosed in the first financial report due after registration.

(Effective June 16, 1993; Amended January 2, 2008; Amended May 11, 2023)