Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 12, March 23, 2024
(a) A quarterly
expense report is required to be filed as set forth in this section when the
total lobbying expenses of a registered principal, registered lobbying firm or
registered lobbyist lobbying on the principal's behalf, together, exceed $2,500
in a quarterly reporting period. The threshold of $2,500 includes any economic
consideration paid by a principal to a lobbying firm or lobbyist for lobbying.
Individuals exempt under section 13A06 of the act (relating to exemption from
registration and reporting) need not register or report.
(b) For a quarterly reporting period in which
the total lobbying expenses of a registered principal, registered lobbying firm
or registered lobbyist lobbying on the principal's behalf, together, are $2,500
or less, a statement to that effect shall be filed with the Department by
checking the appropriate block on the quarterly expense report form.
(c) For purposes of determining whether the
reporting threshold has been met, and for filing reports required under section
13A05 of the act (relating to reporting), section 13A05(b)(2.1) of the act
permits filers to use any reasonable methods of estimation and
allocation.
(d) The principal shall
file a quarterly expense report or statement of failure to meet the reporting
threshold on or before the 30th day after the quarterly reporting period
ends.
(e) Under section 13A05(b)(6)
of the act and as detailed in subsection (n), a lobbyist or lobbying firm
required to be registered under the act shall file a separate quarterly expense
report or a separate amended quarterly expense report if during the reporting
period, the lobbyist or the lobbying firm engaged in lobbying which was not
contained in any report filed by a principal represented by the lobbyist or
lobbying firm. The deadline for filing a separate report shall be the 30th day
after the due date of the principal's report. The following apply to filing a
separate expense report by a lobbyist or a lobbying firm:
(1) If within 30 days of the due date, a
principal amends its quarterly expense report in compliance with §
51.8(c) (related
to amended filings), a lobbyist or lobbying firm need not file a separate
quarterly expense report as to the principal's expenses.
(2) The filing of a separate quarterly
expense report by a lobbyist or lobbying firm does not relieve a principal of
any reporting requirements.
(f) Quarterly expense reports, statements of
failure to meet the reporting threshold, separate quarterly expense reports by
lobbyists or lobbying firms and amendments to these shall be filed on forms
prescribed by the Department.
(g) A
quarterly expense report of a principal required to be registered under the act
must include at least the following information:
(1) The names and, when available, the
registration numbers of all lobbyists or lobbying firms that are required to be
registered, by whom the lobbying is conducted on behalf of the principal. If a
lobbyist is a lobbying firm, association, corporation, partnership, business
trust or business entity, its name and the names of the individuals who lobby
on behalf of the principal shall be included. Individuals exempt under section
13A06 of the act need not be included.
(2) The general subject matter or issue being
lobbied shall be indicated by checking the appropriate block on the form or
completing the category designated "other." A principal, lobbying firm or
lobbyist engaged in procurement may include this subject under the "other"
category. Examples of items that need not be reported include:
(i) A listing indicating which lobbyists are
lobbying on which matters.
(ii) The
specific bill numbers for which the lobbying is being done.
(iii) The specific contents of any
communications or the identity of those with whom the communications take
place.
(3) The total
costs of all lobbying for the period. The total must include all office
expenses, personnel expenses, expenditures related to gifts, hospitality,
transportation and lodging to State officials or employees, and any other
lobbying costs.
(i) The total amount reported
under this paragraph shall be allocated in its entirety among the following
categories:
(A) The costs for gifts,
hospitality, transportation and lodging given to or provided to State officials
or employees or their immediate families.
(B) The costs for direct
communication.
(C) The costs for
indirect communication.
(ii) Registrants shall use a good faith
effort to allocate expenses required to be reported under this subsection to
one of the three categories listed herein. A given expense may not be included
in more than one category. When allocating expenses:
(A) Gifts should not include expenses for the
following:
(I) Direct communication or
indirect communication.
(II)
Personnel expenses and office expenses, as defined in the act and this
section.
(III) Services to a
constituent or other member of the public based upon a referral or
recommendation by a legislator or other State official or employee made within
the scope of his office or employment.
(IV) Information received by a legislator or
other State official or employee within the scope of his office or employment,
except to the extent that the medium in which the information was received has
a fair market value itself.
(B) Hospitality should not include expenses
for the following:
(I) Personnel expenses and
office expenses, as defined in the act and this section.
(II) Direct communication or indirect
communication.
(C) Direct
communication should not include expenses for the following:
(I) Gifts or hospitality.
(II) Transportation or lodging.
(D) Indirect communication should
not include expenses for the following:
(I)
Gifts or hospitality.
(II)
Transportation or lodging.
(iii) Lobbying costs include the amount of
economic consideration paid by principals to lobbying firms or lobbyists for
lobbying. Although a registrant is only required to report the amount of
economic consideration that is attributable to lobbying in the Commonwealth,
the entire amount shall be reported unless the principal, lobbying firm or
lobbyist maintains records that establish the portion attributable to lobbying,
as well as the portion attributable to nonlobbying services.
(iv) Monitoring of legislation, monitoring of
legislative action or monitoring of administrative action is not lobbying.
However, for an individual or entity which is not exempt, the costs of
monitoring are subject to the reporting requirements of the act when the
monitoring occurs in connection with activity that constitutes
lobbying.
(4) The
information required to be disclosed under section 13A05(b)(3) of the act, as
detailed by paragraph (3)(i), and subsections (j) and (k).
(5) The name, permanent business address and
daytime telephone number of any individual, association, corporation,
partnership, business trust or other business entity which contributed more
than 10% of the total resources for lobbying received by the principal during
the reporting period. The term "total resources" includes all contributions to
the principal during the reporting period. The term also includes dues and
grants received by the principal.
(6) The total costs for gifts, hospitality,
transportation and lodging, given to or provided to State officials or
employees or their immediate families, except that any cost under this
paragraph which is of a value not exceeding $10 need not be reported under
section 13A05(b)(3) of the act. If the same or similar gift, hospitality or
transportation or lodging is provided to more than one State official or
employee, the aggregate economic value of which is more than $10, that value
shall be included in the appropriate totals reported under section 13A05(b)(2)
of the act.
(h) A
registered principal that attempts or that retains a lobbying firm or lobbyist
to attempt to influence an agency's preparing, awarding of a bid, entering into
or approving a contract pursuant to 62 Pa.C.S. (relating to procurement) shall
ensure that the related expenses are included in calculating the totals
referenced by subsection (g)(3).
(1) There is
no prohibition against lobbyists or vendors being paid fees for procurement
lobbying contingent upon the successful outcome of their lobbying.
(2) With certain exceptions, provided in
31 U.S.C. §
1352 (relating to limitation on the use of
appropriated funds to influence certain Federal contracting and financial
transactions), Federal funds cannot be spent by any recipient of a
Federally-funded contract to pay any person for lobbying a Federal agency,
employee or member of Congress.
(i) Within the total costs of all lobbying
for the period reported in subsection (g)(3), the amount spent for office and
personnel expenses must include salaries and other forms of compensation,
benefits, vehicle allowances, bonuses and reimbursable expenses for those
involved in lobbying, and costs for offices, equipment and supplies utilized
for lobbying.
(1) Any reasonable method may be
used to determine how to allocate among direct and indirect
communications.
(2) Because the
definitions of "gift" and "hospitality" in section 13A03 of the act (relating
to definitions) do not explicitly include personnel expenses and office
expenses, if a principal sponsors an event for public officials and employees,
the principal's expenses for mailing invitations, and the time its staff spends
planning this event should be reported as direct or indirect
communications.
(3) Reportable
personnel costs include costs for expenditures for salaries or other forms of
compensation, benefits, vehicle allowances, bonuses and reimbursable expenses
paid to lobbyists, lobbying staff, research and monitoring staff, consultants,
lawyers, publications and public relations staff and technical staff, as well
as clerical and administrative support staff and individuals who engage in
lobbying but who are exempt from reporting under section 13A06 of the
act.
(4) Compensation, benefits and
expenses of any nature shall be included if paid in furtherance of lobbying.
These expenses include transportation, food and lodging paid for any
individuals in furtherance of lobbying.
(5) If compensation is to be reported by or
for an individual or entity whose lobbying is incidental to regular employment,
it shall be sufficient to report a prorated estimate based on the value of the
time devoted to lobbying.
(j) A quarterly expense report must also
identify, by name, position and each occurrence, the State officials or
employees, or both, who received from a principal, lobbying firm or lobbyist
anything of value which must be included in the statement of financial
interests under section 1105(b)(6) or (7) of the Ethics Act (relating to
statement of financial interests) as implemented by section 1105(d) of the
Ethics Act.
(1) For purposes of the act, the
amount referred to in section 1105(b)(7) of the Ethics Act shall be considered
an aggregate amount per calendar year.
(2) Each occurrence must include the date and
the circumstances of the gift and the payment or reimbursement for
transportation, lodging or hospitality.
(3) The reporting of the provision of gifts
in the aggregate of $250 or more per calendar year to a State official or
employee must identify:
(i) The name and
position of the State official or employee, including the governmental body of
the State official or employee.
(ii) The name and address of the source of
the gift.
(iii) The value of the
gift.
(iv) The circumstances of the
gift, including the nature of the gift.
(4) The reporting of the provision of
transportation/lodging/hospitality in the aggregate exceeding $650 per calendar
year to a State official or employee in connection with public office or
employment must identify the following:
(i)
The name and position of the State official or employee, including the
governmental body of the State official or employee.
(ii) The name and address of the source of
the payment.
(iii) The value of the
transportation, lodging or hospitality.
(5) For purposes of the act, the amount
referred to in section 1105(b)(7) of the Ethics Act does not include the cost
of a reception which the State official or employee attends in connection with
public office or employment. However, a principal, lobbying firm or lobbyist
shall maintain records for purposes of disclosing the total costs of a
reception as hospitality expenses in quarterly expense reports, in compliance
with section 13A05(b)(2)(i) of the act and subsection (g)(3)(i).
(6) For purposes of the act, there is no
requirement under section 13A05 to disclose anything of value received from
immediate family when the circumstances make it clear that motivation for the
action was the personal or family relationship.
(k) For purposes of reporting the value of
gifts or transportation, lodging or hospitality to be disclosed under section
13A05 of the act, the following apply:
(1) Any
gift, transportation, lodging or hospitality item that is returned unused,
declined or is fully reimbursed to the registrant within 30 days of the date of
receipt need not be reported. For a gift, the date of receipt is the date the
State official or employee first has possession or control of the gift. For
purposes of calculating the 30 days for fully reimbursing an item of
transportation, lodging or hospitality, the date of receipt is the date the
State official or employee actually receives the benefit of the item.
(2) The valuation of a complimentary ticket
to a fundraiser must be based upon the reasonable value of the gifts,
hospitality, transportation or lodging received by the State official or
employee. This provision does not apply to expenditures and other transactions
subject to reporting under section 1626 of the Election Code (25 P. S. §
3246).
(3) The value of gifts, transportation,
lodging or hospitality must equal the costs to the registrant if the items or
services to be valued were in fact obtained by the registrant in marketplace
transactions.
(4) When paragraph
(3) is not applicable, the value of the gifts, transportation, lodging or
hospitality must equal the fair market values as determined by the replacement
costs, that is, the costs of purchasing the same or similar items or services
in marketplace transactions.
(5)
When paragraphs (3) and (4) are not applicable, the registrant may use any
reasonable method to determine the value of gifts, transportation, lodging or
hospitality.
(6) When more than one
individual is benefited incident to an occasion or transaction, the registrant
may calculate the value of the gifts, transportation, lodging or hospitality
provided to a particular individual by one of the following:
(i) Calculating the actual benefit provided
to that individual.
(ii) Dividing
the totals of expenditures common to more than one beneficiary including that
individual by the number of recipients, and adding the resulting figures
(quotients) together with the value of all other gifts, transportation, lodging
or hospitality provided to that individual.
(iii) Allocating a portion of the total
expenditures common to more than one beneficiary to each individual based upon
each individual's participation and adding that value to the value of all other
gifts, transportation, lodging or hospitality provided to that
individual.
(l)
The filer of the quarterly expense report or amended quarterly expense report
shall give written notice to each State official or employee of the State
official's or employee's inclusion in the report at least 7 days prior to the
submission of the report to the Department. The notice must include the
information which will enable the public official or employee to comply with
section 1105(b)(6) and (7) of the Ethics Act. The notice may not include the
cost of a reception that the State official or employee attends in connection
with State office or employment.
(m) A lobbying firm or lobbyist not
associated with a lobbying firm, required to be registered under the act, shall
sign the quarterly expense reports or amended quarterly expense reports
submitted by the principals represented to attest to the validity and accuracy
of the reports to the best of the lobbying firm's or lobbyist's knowledge. If
the principal is unable to secure the signature of a lobbyist or authorized
representative of a lobbying firm, the principal shall attach a statement to
the report, setting forth the attempts made and the reasons for the inability
to obtain the signature. The statement must be on a form prescribed by the
Department as required under §
51.7(a) (relating
to forms, records and Department publications).
(1) A lobbying firm or lobbyist may attach a
statement to the quarterly expense report or amended quarterly expense report
of any principal, describing the limits of the lobbyist's or lobbying firm's
knowledge concerning the expenditures contained in the report. Lobbying firms'
or lobbyists' statements as to limitations of knowledge must be on a form
prescribed by the Department as required under §
51.7(a), and
describe the limitations and the reasons for the limitations with
specificity.
(2) An individual in a
lobbying firm, a lobbyist or any other individual may also sign the quarterly
expense report of the principal on behalf of the principal, attesting to the
accuracy of the report, with authorization by the principal on its registration
statement. The registration statement will designate all individuals who may
sign expense reports on behalf of the principal.
(i) If an individual or lobbyist signs a
principal's quarterly expense report on the principal's behalf without
authorization by the principal on its registration statement, the quarterly
expense report will not be considered a valid filing by the
principal.
(ii) A principal that
authorizes an individual to sign the quarterly expense reports of the principal
on behalf of the principal on its registration statement is still responsible
for the accuracy and timely filing of the quarterly expense report.
(iii) When an individual signing the
principal's quarterly expense report, attesting to the accuracy of the report,
is an official or employee of the principal who also serves as one of the
principal's registered lobbyists as indicated on the report, that signatory
shall still be required to affirm the accuracy of the report as a lobbyist of
the principal, as provided by section 13A05(b)(4) of the act.
(n) When a lobbying firm
or lobbyist is required to file a separate report under subsection (e), the
following apply:
(1) The deadline for filing
any separate quarterly expense report or separate amended quarterly expense
report shall be the 30th day after the due date of the principal's
report.
(2) Separate quarterly
expense reports and separate amended quarterly expense reports shall be filed
on a form prescribed by the Department as required under §
51.7(a).
(3) A separate quarterly
expense report or separate amended quarterly expense report must contain the
identity of the principal for whom the lobbying was performed.
(4) A separate quarterly expense report must
include the information required by section 13A05(b)(2), (3) and (7) of the
act.
(5) A separate quarterly
expense report or separate amended quarterly expense report may include a
statement which specifies the limitations of the lobbying firm's or the
lobbyist's knowledge and the reasons for the limitations.
(6) A lobbying firm or lobbyist filing a
separate quarterly expense report or separate amended quarterly expense report
shall provide it to the principal contemporaneously with filing it with the
Department.
(7) A lobbying firm or
lobbyist filing a separate quarterly expense report or separate amended
quarterly expense report shall give written notice to each State official or
employee of the State official's or employee's inclusion in the report at least
7 days prior to the submission of the report to the Department. The notice must
include the information which will enable the State official or employee to
comply with section 1105(b)(6) and (7) of the Ethics Act.
(8) An individual in a lobbying firm, a
lobbyist or any other individual may also sign the quarterly expense report of
the lobbying firm or lobbyist on behalf of the lobbying firm or lobbyist,
attesting to the accuracy of the report, with authorization by the lobbying
firm or lobbyist on the lobbying firm's or lobbyist's registration statement.
The registration statement will designate all individuals who may sign expense
reports on behalf of the lobbying firm or lobbyist.
(i) If an individual or lobbyist signs a
lobbying firm's or lobbyist's quarterly expense report on the lobbying firm's
or lobbyist's behalf without authorization by the lobbying firm or lobbyist on
the lobbying firm's or lobbyist's registration statement, the quarterly expense
report will not be considered a valid filing by the lobbying firm or
lobbyist.
(ii) A lobbying firm or
lobbyist that authorizes an individual to sign the quarterly expense report of
the lobbying firm or lobbyist on the lobbying firm's or lobbyist's registration
statement is still responsible for the accuracy and timely filing of the
quarterly expense report.
(o) Whenever any person makes an expenditure
for indirect communication under this section, for the purpose of disseminating
or initiating a communication, such as a mailing, telephone bank, automated
telephone calls, print or electronic media advertisement, billboard,
publication or education campaign, the communication must clearly and
conspicuously state the name of the person who made or financed the expenditure
for the communication.
This section cited in 51 Pa. Code §
63.2 (relating to commission
proceedings regarding prohibited activities under section 13A07 of the
act).
