Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking SECTION 7 on page 10 and inserting:
/ SECTION ____. Chapter 17, Title 2 of the 1976 Code of Laws is amended by adding:
"Section2-17-10(22) 'Consultant' means (i) any person who is employed, appointed, or retained, with or without compensation, by a lobbyist or a lobbyist's principal to perform professional services in drafting legislation or in advising and rendering opinions to any member of the General Assembly, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, or any other statewide constitutional officer on behalf of a lobbyist or lobbyist's principal as to the construction and effect of proposed or pending legislation and strategies for a lobbyist or lobbyist's principal in its lobbying activities; and (ii) who directly contacts a member of the General Assembly regarding the performance of his services described in (i). This includes, but is not limited to, accompanying a lobbyist or lobbyist's principal during lobbying activities or communicating on behalf of a lobbyist or lobbyist's principal for any action contained within the definition of 'lobbying' as defined by Section 2-17-10(12) or 'lobbyist' as defined by Section 2-17-10(13). 'Consultant' does not include:
(a) a person registered as a lobbyist pursuant to Section 2-17-20;
(b) an individual who receives no compensation and who expresses a personal opinion on legislation, covered gubernatorial actions, or covered agency actions to any public official or public employee;
(c) a person who appears only before public sessions of committees or subcommittees of the General Assembly, public hearings of state agencies, public hearings before any public body of a quasi-judicial nature, or proceedings of any court of this State;
(d) any duly elected or appointed official or employee of the State, the United States, a county, municipality, school district, or a political subdivision thereof, or a member of the judiciary when appearing solely on matters pertaining to his office and public duties;
(e) a person who provides written information in response to a written request from any member of the General Assembly, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, or any other statewide constitutional officer or from their respective public employees acting within the scope of employment, for technical advice or factual information regarding legislation;
(f) a person who owns, publishes, or is employed by a radio station, television station, wire service, or other bona fide news medium which in the ordinary course of business disseminates news, editorials, columns, other comments, or other regularly published periodicals if such person represents no other person in lobbying for legislation, covered agency actions, or covered gubernatorial actions. This exception applies to the publication of any periodical which is published and distributed by a membership organization to its subscribers at least twelve times annually and for which an annual subscription charge of at least one dollar fifty cents a subscriber is made;
(g) a person who has specialized knowledge and who assists a lobbyist or lobbyist's principal in drafting legislation or advising and rendering opinions as to the construction and effect of proposed or pending legislation.
To further amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking lines 1-5 on page 12 and inserting:
/ (B) The registration must be in a form prescribed by the State Ethics Commission and be limited to and contain:
(1) the consultant's full name and address, telephone number, occupation, name of employer, principal place of business, and position held in that business by the consultant; /
Amend the bill, as and if amended, page 21 by inserting an appropriately numbered SECTION in line 6 to read:
/ SECTION ( ) Section 2-17-120 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 2-17-120. A lobbyist or consultant who is indicted in a state or federal court for a violation of this chapter must be suspended immediately from acting as a lobbyist or consultant by the State Ethics Commission. The suspension shall remain in effect until the lobbyist or consultant is acquitted, the charge is dismissed, or the lobbyist or consultant becomes subject to Section 2-17-130." /
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Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.