San Jose Lobbying Law Alert (August 2017)


San Jose now requires all registered City lobbyists to file electronic reports with the City Clerk no later than the Monday following any week in which they contact a City official.  For example, if a San Jose lobbyist contacts a Councilperson in support of a proposed ordinance on a Friday afternoon, the lobbyist must submit a report by the following Monday.  The law applies to all Contract, Expenditure and In-house Lobbyists, including investment firms/placement agents.

This is the first time that a California jurisdiction has imposed weekly lobbying reporting.

The City has not yet finalized the rules for weekly reporting, but the City Clerk currently agrees with our interpretation that only contacts with City officials trigger a weekly report.  While payments from clients, political contributions, fundraising activities and gifts may be reported on a weekly basis, the City Clerk will not require a lobbyist to disclose this information until the end of the quarter.  For example, a Contract Lobbyist must report all third quarter client payments, gifts and political contributions no later than October 2, 2017.  Alternatively, the Contract Lobbyist could disclose this financial information on an ongoing basis by adding it to weekly reports filed throughout the quarter.

To comply with the new law, lobbyists should keep an ongoing, contemporaneous record of all telephone calls, emails and meetings with City officials, and in certain situations, must be prepared to report such information as soon as the next business day.

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Feel free to contact a Sutton Law Firm attorney or Political Compliance Specialist if you have any questions regarding San Jose or other local lobbying laws.

 

THIS ALERT IS INTENDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE.