Political Reform Act of 1974: lobbyists.

Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, requires the Secretary of State to establish and maintain on the Internet an updated Directory of Lobbyists, Lobbying Firms, and Lobbyist Employers. The act further requires lobbyist employers and persons making certain payments to influence legislative or administrative actions to file periodic reports disclosing, among other information, their lobbying interests. This bill would require that the online directory maintained by the Secretary of State also contain information regarding lobbying interests. The bill would require that the periodic reports filed by lobbyist employers and other persons contain, in addition to their lobbying interests, the bill numbers of any legislation lobbied during the reporting period. The bill would also require the Secretary of State to display on his or her Internet Web site, within 90 days of the end of each calendar quarter, a list of the lobbying interests containing a specific reference to a bill number, accompanied by a list of all lobbyist employers who reported each of those lobbying interests, reported for the prior calendar quarter. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties. This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating additional crimes. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.