The state ethics commission reluctantly approved a measure Tuesday advising lobbyists they no longer need to report money spent influencing state bureaucrats, but urged lawmakers to pass legislation making such reporting required.
"I think everybody agrees these disclosures are a good idea," said Kent Alexander, a member of the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission.
Peggy Kerns, director of the National Conference of State Legislatures' Center for Ethics in Government, said she is not aware of another state that requires reporting of money spent on officials but not on employees.
William Perry, executive director of Common Cause Georgia, said lobbyists have reported spending more than $200,000 so far this year on employees.
The ethics commission adopted the new interpretation of reporting rules after staff members said state law left them no alternative. Public employees are listed in one section of Georgia’s ethics law but are left out of the section describing what expenses lobbyists need to publicly report.
Commission Vice Chairman Josh Belinfante said the commission is required to stick to the letter of the law.
Lobbyists already take state employees out for dinners, give them tickets to sporting events and take them on trips in an effort to influence public policy. The commission's action means they now have permission to do it in secret.
Belinfante and others on the commission urged the Legislature to fix the loophole before the end of this session by amending a bill that is near final passage.Possible vehicles are SB 109 and SB 92. Both bills are related to elections but involve the same area of state law as the ethics provisions.
Sen. Joshua McKoon, R-Columbus, the sponsor of both bills, said he is more than willing to have his legislation amended to include the reporting requirements.
“We need to fix this problem as quickly as we can," he said.
Both bills are in the House. Marshall Guest, spokesman for House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, said the speaker has not ruled out addressing the issue in the Legislature's final three working days. But Ralston's office was critical of the commission's recent rulings, which Guest called "consistently inconsistent."
Last month, the Legislature quickly passed a bill amending the law after the commission issued an opinion broadening the definition of lobbyist to anyone who contacts a lawmaker to influence legislation. Potentially it would have required thousands of average Georgians to register as lobbyists to communicate with their elected officials.
Guest said the episode "speaks to [the commission's] ability to properly exercise rule-making authority."
While Tuesday's decision limits what lobbying information is public, other states are allowing the public more access to information, Kerns said.
“The public needs to know what goes on in the making of laws, and that is why disclosure is important,” she said.
Kerns said lobbyists spend a significant amount of money and time wooing the employees of public officials.
But Perry said the real target of that spending is government officials.
“It’s always spent in order to influence the Legislature,” he said. “You don’t spend money on a staff member to benefit the staff member.”
Records show lobbyists bought meals and other gifts for staffers of eight representatives, four senators, Ralston, Senate President Pro Tem Tommie Williams and Gov. Nathan Deal. The interests footing the bill include communications companies, medical concerns and nonprofits like Zoo Atlanta.
The ethics commission took the matter up at the request of attorney Douglas Chalmers, who said in a Feb. 11 letter to the commission that the law did not appear to require lobbying of state employees and the family members of government officials to be reported.
Chalmers, a legal adviser to Ralston, requested the commission look at the reporting issue after stories appeared in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution regarding a lobbyist-funded trip Ralston, his family and some staff members took to Europe last year. Another AJC story revealed a lobbying firm disclosed the hiring of Ralston’s son as a intern as a lobbying expense.
Chalmers said he was asked to look into the matter by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
“We are simply trying to get clarification on what the reporting requirements are so that we can comply with them when lobbyists are filing disclosures,” he said.
Why it matters
Lobbyists can’t always get lawmakers’ attention, so they routinely buy meals or tickets for state employees as they try to influence public policy. The new interpretation of state law means lobbyists can do this without reporting it.
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