New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 19 - DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Chapter XX - Commission on ethics and lobbying in Government
Part 943 - LOBBYING
Section 943.6 - Direct Lobbying
Universal Citation: 19 NY Comp Codes Rules and Regs ยง 943.6
Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 12, March 20, 2024
(a) Principles.
(1) While Grassroots Lobbying
attempts to influence a Public Official indirectly, or through another, Direct
Lobbying attempts to influence a Public Official through Direct
Contact.
(2) Direct Lobbying
generally requires the identification of an Individual Lobbyist(s) on the
filings of an organization or person.
(b) Definitions. All definitions in section 943.3 are in effect unless otherwise noted below.
(1)
Direct Contact
(i) Means any
communication or interaction directed to a Public Official, including, but not
limited to:
(a) Verbal
communications;
(b) Written
communications;
(c) Electronic
communications, including electronic mail, Social Media communications, and
Internet communications;
(d)
Attendance at a meeting with a Public Official; or
(e) Presence on a phone call with a Public
Official, when the Official is aware of such presence;
(ii) Direct Contact with a Public Official
also includes direct contact with the members of the Public Official's
staff.
(iii) Direct Contact does
not include any communication that is directed to a group of which a Public
Official is incidentally a member, or is intended for the public. For example,
the following generally will not constitute Direct Contact:
(a) An opinion piece published in a
newspaper;
(b) A statement made to
a reporter that is published or broadcast by a media outlet;
(c) A blog post;
(d) Attendance at a speech or public meeting;
or
(e) A speech to a group or at a
public meeting.
(iv) Mere
attendance by a person at a lobby day does not constitute Direct Contact unless
they speak to a Public Official or their staff on behalf of an organization or
employer.
(2)
Preliminary contact includes any of the following, when the
Lobbyist knows or has reason to know that the Client will Attempt to Influence
a Public Official on a matter covered by the Lobbying Act:
(i) Scheduling a meeting or telephone call
with a Public Official and a Client;
(ii) Introducing a Client to a Public
Official; or
(iii) Any other
contact with a Public Official on behalf of a Client.
Note: A person who schedules a meeting or places a call in a purely administrative capacity is not required to be identified as an Individual Lobbyist; such activity is attributable to the person who directed that the call be made or that the meeting be set up.
(c) Direct Lobbying.
(1) A person is engaged in Direct Lobbying
and must be listed as an Individual Lobbyist on a lobbying filing when the
person:
(i) Has Direct Contact with a Public
Official to Attempt to Influence an action enumerated in section 1-c(c)(i)-(x)
of the Lobbying Act; or
(ii) Has
Direct or Preliminary Contact with a Public Official to enable or facilitate an
Attempt to Influence.
(2)
A person is not engaged in Direct Lobbying when the person:
(i) Attends a meeting with a Public Official
simply to provide technical information or address technical
questions;
(ii) Attends a meeting
to provide clerical or administrative assistance (including audio/visual,
translation or interpretation, and sign language); or
(iii) Attends a meeting to observe for
educational purposes; and
(iv)
Plays no role in the strategy, planning, messaging or other substantive aspect
of the overall lobbying effort.
(3) Direct Lobbying can include Direct
Contact with a Public Official who supports the position being advocated by the
Lobbyist or his Client.
(4) Direct
Lobbying of a Public Official can occur in a variety of settings, including but
not limited to, face-to-face interaction, direct written communication, social
media posts (subject to the limitations set forth in subsection (d) of this
section), and at a lobby day coordinated by an organization or person lobbying
on their own behalf.
(5) Any
Individual Lobbyist who engages in Direct Lobbying must be listed on lobbying
filings. This would not include volunteers or mere members of a Lobbying
Organization.
(6) Examples of
Reportable Expenses of Lobbying Organizations or Individuals Lobbying on their
Own Behalf:
(i) A Lobbying Organization or
individual must disclose reportable Expenses, as defined in subdivision (e) of
section
943.9,
related to Direct Lobbying, which may include, as applicable, but are not
limited to:
(a) time spent by employees
engaging in Lobbying Activities (even if such employees are not required to be
identified as Individual Lobbyists) if such employees are compensated for their
time;
(b) staff time allocated to
planning Lobbying Activities;
(c)
expenses related to placards, signs, t-shirts or other advocacy
paraphernalia;
(d) expenses related
to Social Media activities, as set forth in subdivision (d) of this section;
and
(e) expenses related to
transportation of volunteers and other individuals not identified as Lobbyists,
including, for example, transportation of volunteers to a lobby
day.
(d) Direct Lobbying through Social Media
(1) A Social Media communication that
Attempts to Influence an action enumerated in section 1-c(c)(i)-(x) of the
Lobbying Act constitutes Direct Contact for purposes of Direct Lobbying if such
communication:
(i) Is directly sent to a
Social Media account known to be owned or controlled by a Public Official;
or
(ii) Creates a direct electronic
link to any Social Media account known to be owned or controlled by a Public
Official.
(2) Direct
Contact with a Public Official through a Social Media communication also
includes contact that is targeted and directed to members of the Public
Official's staff through a Social Media communication and done with the
knowledge that such persons are members of the Public Official's
staff.
(3) When Direct Contact with
a Public Official through a Social Media communication is undertaken by an
organization, through the organization's Social Media
account(s), such activity is reportable Lobbying Activity by the
organization.
(i) An Individual Lobbyist,
however, need not be listed based on this activity alone.
(4) When Direct Contact with a Public
Official through a Social Media communication is undertaken by an individual,
through their personal social media account(s), this activity
is not reportable Lobbying Activity unless such
individual is specifically retained by a Client for such Social Media activity.
(i) In this case, the individual should
register as a Lobbyist on behalf of the paying Client, listing themselves as an
Individual Lobbyist;
(ii) Any
expenses incurred to create, promote, place or otherwise highlight an
individual's personal Social Media activity that are
reportable pursuant to paragraph (4) above, are reportable by the party
incurring the expenses.
(5) Reportable Expenses related to Direct
Lobbying via Social Media.
(i) Reportable
expenses attributable to a Principal Lobbyist's Social Media activities that
constitute Direct Lobbying may include, but are not limited to: consulting
services, staff time allocated to planning and posting, search engine
optimization and sponsoring, and advertising.
(ii) A reasonable methodology used by a
Principal Lobbyist in good faith to calculate lobbying expenses related to
Direct Lobbying via Social Media is acceptable.
(6) Examples
(i) Any of the following could be Direct
Lobbying through Social Media:
(a) A direct
message sent to a Public Official through Social Media (e.g., through Facebook
Messenger, Twitter Direct Message);
(b) A post on a Public Official's Social
Media page;
(c) A post on a
person's own Social Media page that tags a Public Official if such person has
specifically been hired by a Client for their personal Social Media activity;
or
(d) A tweet tagging a Public
Official, using the organization's twitter handle.
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