Section 43: Executive and legislative agents; itemized statement of expenditures; notification of legislators; public inspection; family gifts restricted
Section 43. On or before the fifteenth day of July, complete from January first through June thirtieth; and the fifteenth day of January, complete from July first to December thirty-first of the preceding year, every executive and legislative agent shall render to the state secretary an itemized statement, under oath, listing all campaign contributions as defined in section one of chapter fifty-five; all expenditures, and the total amount thereof, incurred, contributed or paid during the reporting period in the course of his employment as an executive or legislative agent and all expenditures made for or on behalf of statewide constitutional officers, officers and employees of such offices, members of the general court, officers and employees of the general court, officers and employees of the executive branch and officers and employees of an authority, incurred or paid during the reporting period, except that the executive or legislative agent shall not be required to report such expenditures not in the course of his employment made for or on behalf of the immediate family of such executive or legislative agent or a relative within the third degree of consanguinity of the executive or legislative agent or of his spouse or the spouse of any such relative; and except that in the case of all expenditures the executive or legislative agent shall not be required to itemize the expenditures of any one day in which the amount incurred or paid did not total thirty-five dollars or more. Such itemized accounting shall include, but not be limited to, specific expenditures for meals, gifts, transportation, entertainment, advertising, public relations, printing, mailing and telephone; and shall also include the names of the payees and the amount paid to each payee and shall further include the names of the candidate or political committee to whom or to which the contribution was made, and the amount and date of each contribution.
When such expenditure is for meals, entertainment or transportation, said expenditure shall be identified by date, place, amount, and the names of all persons in the group partaking in or of such meal, entertainment or transportation. No expenditure shall be split or divided for the purpose of evading any provision of this section. The state secretary shall, within thirty days of receipt of such accounting, notify persons whose names appear therein as having received campaign contributions, meals, transportation or entertainment, as to the nature of the contribution or expenditure claimed, the date and amount of the contribution or expenditure, and the person or persons who reported the contribution or expenditure.
Every legislative agent and executive agent shall include in the statement required by this section for the relevant reporting period: (1) the identification of each client for whom the legislative or executive agent provided lobbying services; (2) a list of all bill numbers and names of legislation and other governmental action that the executive or legislative agent acted to promote, oppose or influence; (3) a statement of the executive or legislative agent's position, if any, on each such bill or other governmental action; (4) the identification of the client or clients on whose behalf the executive or legislative agent was acting with respect to each such bill or governmental action; (5) the amount of compensation received for executive or legislative lobbying from each client with respect to such lobbying services; and (6) all direct business associations with public officials. The disclosure shall be required regardless of whether the legislative agent or executive agent specifically referenced the bill number or name, or other governmental action while acting to promote, oppose or influence legislation, and shall be as complete as practicable.
The state secretary shall assess a penalty for any statement which is filed by an executive or legislative agent later than the prescribed date; or, if such statement has been filed by mailing, where the postmark on such mailing is later than the prescribed date. Said penalty shall be in the amount of $50 per day up to the twentieth day and an additional $100 per day for every day after the twentieth day until the statement is filed. The state secretary may waive these penalties for good cause. A waiver for good cause shall not be granted for statements filed more than sixty days late by executive or legislative agents, or groups and organizations employing executive or legislative agents, which have never filed or have never been required to file such statements. In all other instances no waiver for good cause shall be granted when a statement has been filed more than thirty days late.
The state secretary shall prescribe and make available the appropriate statement forms which shall be open and accessible for public inspection during normal working hours.
Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, no executive or legislative agent shall knowingly offer or knowingly give to any public official or public employee, as defined in section one of chapter two hundred and sixty-eight B, or to a member of such person's immediate family any gift, as defined in said section one of said chapter two hundred and sixty-eight B, of any kind or nature, nor knowingly pay for any meal, beverage, or other item to be consumed by such public official or employee, whether or not such gift or meal, beverage or other item to be consumed is offered, given or paid for in the course of such agent's business or in connection with a personal or social event; provided, however, that an executive or legislative agent shall not be prohibited from offering or giving to a public official or public employee who is a member of his immediate family or a relative within the third degree of consanguinity or of such agent's spouse or the spouse of any such relative any such gift or meal, beverage or other item to be consumed; provided, however, that regulations promulgated by the state ethics commission under section 6 of chapter 268B, shall apply to this provision.