Political Reform Act of 1974: lobbying expenditures: reporting.

The Political Reform Act of 1974 requires lobbyists employed by a lobbyist employer or a lobbying firm to provide a periodic report of the lobbyist's activity expenses and contributions to the employer or firm within 2 weeks following the end of each quarter. The act requires lobbying firms, lobbyist employers, and persons who make payments to influence legislative or administrative action of $5,000 or more in value in any calendar quarter to file with the Secretary of State, during the month after the end of each calendar quarter of a biennial legislative session, reports regarding lobbying expenditures made during the calendar quarter. This bill would, beginning on January 1, 2021, instead require those reports to be filed a monthly basis. 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 of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.