06 LC 29
2265S
The
House Committee on Ethics offers the following substitute to HB
1141:
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Code Section 21-5-71 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to registration of lobbyists, so as to provide for the payment of certain
registration and other fees by persons who register as lobbyists; to provide for
the establishment of such fees; to provide for related matters; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Code
Section 21-5-71 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
registration of lobbyists, is amended by striking subsection (f) and inserting
in lieu thereof a new subsection (f) to read as follows:
"(f)(1)
Each person registering under this Code section shall pay the registration fees
set forth in paragraph (2) of this subsection; provided, however, that a person
who represents any state, county, municipal, or public agency, department,
commission, or authority shall be exempted from payment of such registration
fees and a
person employed by an organization exempt from federal income taxation under
Section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, as that code is
defined in Code Section 48-1-2, shall be exempted from payment of such
registration fees except for payment of an initial registration fee of
$25.00.
(2)(A)
The commission shall collect
the
following
fees:
for annual
lobbyist registration and for the issuance of identification cards under this
Code section. The amount of such fees shall be set by the Legislative Fiscal
Office annually after consultation with the commission such that the total
amount of such fees shall approximate the total of the direct and indirect costs
to the state for registering such lobbyists, filing the reports by such
lobbyists required by this article, providing identification cards to such
lobbyists, and enforcing the provisions of this article concerning lobbyists for
the year. In no event shall the registration fee exceed $200.00 per year for
any individual registered lobbyist. Additional registrations submitted by any
registered lobbyist for any given year shall not exceed $20.00 per additional
registration.
(A)
Annual lobbyist registration filed pursuant to this Code section
......................................................................................................................... $
200.00
(B)
Lobbyist supplemental registration filed pursuant to this Code section
............................................................................................................................ 10.00
(C)
Each lobbyist identification card issued pursuant to this Code section
............................................................................................................................. 5.00
(D)(B)
In addition to other penalties provided under this chapter, a filing fee of
$50.00 shall be imposed for each report that is filed late. In addition, a
filing fee of $25.00 shall be imposed on the fifteenth day after the due date if
the report has still not been
filed."
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.