A concurrent resolution relating to the joint rules governing lobbyists of the Senate and House of Representatives for the Ninety-first General Assembly.(Formerly SSB 1021.)
SCR 1 is a concurrent resolution that adopts the joint rules governing lobbyists for the Senate and House of Representatives for the Ninety-first General Assembly. It restates and updates the procedural and ethical standards that apply to lobbyists and their clients when interacting with legislators and legislative staff, including registration requirements, electronic filing, public disclosure, and limits on gifts, loans, honoraria, campaign support, and other forms of influence. The resolution also defines key terms such as lobbyist, client, gift, and political action committee for purposes of the joint rules.
The resolution requires lobbyists to register before lobbying begins, disclose the subjects and bills they intend to lobby, and file amendments when their representation changes. It also requires clients to file lobbying reports, makes those filings public records, and directs that filings be made electronically. In addition, it prohibits certain conduct such as paying members’ charges, funding memberships or club contributions for members, offering employment or investment opportunities to influence official action, communicating with a member’s employer to influence a vote, and making prohibited gifts, loans, or honoraria. The rules apply throughout the calendar year and allow the chambers to adopt supplemental rules.
SCR 1 does not amend the Code directly, but it establishes the joint procedural rules that govern lobbyist conduct for the legislative session. Its practical effect is to set enforceable standards for registration, disclosure, reporting, and ethics compliance in the General Assembly, while tying enforcement and complaint procedures to the existing house and senate codes of ethics. It affects lobbyists, lobbying clients, legislators, legislative employees, and the clerks and ethics committees responsible for administering the rules.
The available voting history suggests broad support for the resolution, with the Senate Ethics Report passing 6-0. There is no committee transcript provided, and no recorded opposition appears in the materials. The bill was later withdrawn, but the vote record indicates the underlying lobbyist-rule package was not controversial at the committee stage.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. Based on the text, the most likely areas of concern would be the scope of disclosure requirements, the breadth of the gift and campaign-contribution prohibitions, and the requirement that lobbyist and client filings be made public and electronic. However, the record supplied does not identify any member, interest group, or chamber as formally objecting to those provisions.