Lobbyist Contribution and Solicitation Ban

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State Elections Enforcement Commission

• Lobbyist Contribution and Solicitation Ban

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State Elections Enforcement Commission

• Public Act 2005-05
• October 25 Special Session

• Public Campaign Financing Program for Statewide
  and General Assembly Candidates
• State Contractor Contribution and Solicitation
  Ban
• Lobbyist Contribution and Solicitation Ban
• Filing Repository moved to SEEC from SOTS

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Commission Staff
State Elections Enforcement Commission

• Senior Executive Operations
• Information Technology Services
• Public Financing Unit
• Legal and Enforcement Unit
• Campaign Disclosure and Audit Unit
• Fiscal, Administrative and Grant Payments Unit

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Lobbyist Contribution Ban
State Elections Enforcement Commission

• No communicator lobbyist may make a contribution
  to
• Candidates for statewide office or general
• assembly or exploratory committees for those
  offices (including qualifying contributions to
  candidates participating in the Citizens
  Election Program)
• Political committees established or controlled by
  those candidates
• Legislative leadership and legislative caucus
  committees
• Party committees

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Whos Who - Definitions
State Elections Enforcement Commission

• Client Lobbyist expends or agrees to expend
  2,000 in a calendar year
• Communicator Lobbyist receives or agrees to
  receive 2,000 in a calendar year
• Individual
• Member of a business organization
• In-house (regular employee of client lobbyist)

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State Elections Enforcement Commission
Definitions Continued

• 2,000 for what?
• Administrative Lobbying and/or
• Legislative Lobbying and or
• Activities in Furtherance of Lobbying

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Lobbyist Contribution Ban
State Elections Enforcement Commission

• Also applies to political committees (known as
  PACs) established or controlled by a communicator
  lobbyist
• Lobbyist political committees may not make
  contributions to covered candidates or
  committees, or solicit for them

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Lobbyist Solicitation Ban
State Elections Enforcement Commission

• Lobbyists, immediate family members, agents or
• political committees cannot solicit contributions
  for
• Candidates for Statewide Office and General
  Assembly
• Political committees established or controlled by
  such candidates
• Legislative leadership or legislative caucus
  committees or
• Party committees (including state central and
  town committees)

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Lobbyist Solicitation Ban
State Elections Enforcement Commission

• Lobbyists, immediate family members, agents or
• their political committees cannot solicit a
  contribution or an ad book purchase for a town
  committee

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State Elections Enforcement Commission
Immediate Family

• Spouse and dependent
• children of a lobbyist are also subject to the
  
• contribution and
• solicitation bans
• Includes partners to a civil union

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State Elections Enforcement Commission
Solicit Means

• Requesting that a contribution be made
• Participating in any fundraising activities,
• including, but not limited to
• forwarding tickets
• receiving contributions
• bundling contributions
• attending a fundraiser
• Serving as chairperson, campaign treasurer or
• deputy treasurer of a covered committee

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State Elections Enforcement Commission
Solicit Does NOT Mean

• Informing any person of a position taken by a
  candidate for public office or a public official
• Notifying the person of any activities of, or
  contact information for, any candidate for public
  office

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State Elections Enforcement Commission
A Lobbyist May Still

• Volunteer for a political campaign
• Put a sign on his/her lawn
• Drive the candidate around campaigning
• Tell people candidate X is greator awful
• Make get out to vote calls

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State Elections Enforcement Commission
Lobbyists May Still

• Contribute to and solicit for candidates for
  Judge of Probate, local candidates and referenda
• Make independent expenditures in support of
  candidates

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State Elections Enforcement Commission
Lobbyists May Still

• Express support for a candidate or their views
• Communicate their evaluations of a legislator or
  candidate to their clients
• Contribute to a political committee that is not a
  legislative leadership committee, legislative
  caucus committee or a political committee
  established or controlled by one of the covered
  candidates (but no earmarking)

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State Elections Enforcement Commission
Legislators May Not Solicit Lobbyists

• It is illegal to make, receive or solicit a
  prohibited contribution 9-622(10)
• Since lobbyist contributions are prohibited, they
  cannot legally be solicited
• Same definition of solicit applies

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State Elections Enforcement Commission
Sessional Lobbyist Contribution Ban

• Law since 1990
• Used to apply to both client and communicator
  lobbyists and their political committees
• Contributions/Solicitations banned during the
  legislative session
• Still necessary for Client Lobbyists
• And non-contributions dont apply for client and
  communicator lobbyists during session

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State Elections Enforcement Commission
Prohibited Donor and Recipient Lists for
Sessional Lobbyist Ban

• B-2 Certification of Eligibility to Receive
  Lobbyist Contributions During Session
• B-3 Certification of a Committee Established by
  of on Behalf of a Lobbyist
• Lists published and distributed during session
• Reminders of sessional ban in Bulletin

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State Elections Enforcement Commission
Annual Filing Requirement Abolished

• PA 06-137 Removed the annual lobbyist campaign
  finance filing
• Effective October 1, 2007

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State Elections Enforcement Commission
State Contractors Ban

• Law requires us to compile a database of those
  subject to the
• ban
• Over 10,000 vendors
• Posted on our website
• www.ct.gov\seec

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State Elections Enforcement Commission
Contractor Ban

• Principals of contractors with the executive and
  legislative branches
• Valued at 50,000, or 100,000 in the aggregate
• CANNOT contribute to or solicit for candidates in
  the branch of government they have a contract
  with, political committees authorized to
  contribute to said candidates or party committees
• CANNOT make qualifying contributions to
  candidates participating in the Citizens
  Election Program

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Certification

• ALL contributors making contributions to covered
  candidate committees, political committees or
  party committees of 50 dollars or more must
  certify that they are not communicator lobbyists,
  immediate family members of communicator
  lobbyists, or principals of state contractors or
  prospective state contractors

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New Electronic Filing System
State Elections Enforcement Commission

• New system being developed
• Searchable database
• Redesigned forms
• User friendly
• All SOTS campaign finance filings with SEEC
  beginning in 2007

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Purpose of Presentation

• The purpose of this presentation is to provide
  you with general information about the various
  rules and requirements of the Program. This
  presentation however, is not a substitute for the
  law, which can be found on the Commissions web
  site.

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State Elections Enforcement CommissionContact
Information

• Address
• 20 Trinity Street, Hartford, CT 06106
• E-mail
• Seec_at_.ct.gov
• Telephone
• [phone]
• Toll free (in-state only)
• 1-[phone]
• 1-(866) SEEC-INFO
• Fax
• [phone]
• Website
• www.ct.gov/seec