Section 24-6-303 - Registration as professional lobbyist - filing of disclosure statements - certificate of registration - legislative declaration(1) Before lobbying, a professional lobbyist shall file an electronic registration statement with the secretary of state that contains: (a) His or her full legal name, business address, and business telephone number;(b) The name, address, and telephone number of his or her employer, if applicable;(c) The name, address, and telephone number of the client for whom he or she will be lobbying; and(d) The name, address, and telephone number of any other professional lobbyist for whom he or she is lobbying on a subcontract basis.(1.3)(a) At the time a professional lobbyist files a registration statement in accordance with subsection (1) of this section prior to engaging in lobbying, and each time such lobbyist files an updated registration statement in accordance with subsection (1.5) of this section, such individual shall pay a registration fee in an amount that shall be set by the secretary of state by rule promulgated in accordance with article 4 of this title and shall be set at a level that offsets the costs to the secretary of state of providing electronic access to information pursuant to section 24-6-304 (2), and in processing and maintaining the disclosure information required by this part 3. The secretary of state shall charge a reduced fee to a professional lobbyist that files his or her registration statement pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection (6.3) of this section. The secretary of state may waive the fee of a professional lobbyist for a not-for-profit organization who derives his or her compensation solely from the organization. A volunteer lobbyist shall be exempt from the requirement to pay the registration fee mandated by this paragraph (a).(b) All fees collected pursuant to the provisions of this subsection (1.3) shall be credited to the department of state cash fund created in section 24-21-104 (3)(b).(1.5) A professional lobbyist shall file an updated registration statement on or before July 15 of each year unless at that time he or she is no longer a professional lobbyist. Registration under this subsection (1.5) shall be effective until July 1 of the next year.(2) A professional lobbyist shall file disclosure statements as required by section 24-6-302.(3) Consistent with the requirements of subsection (6.3) of this section, a hard copy of all registration statements and disclosure statements of professional lobbyists and lobbying firms must be compiled by the secretary of state within thirty days after the end of the calendar month for which such information is filed and shall be organized alphabetically according to the names of the lobbyists and firms.(4) No individual shall act as a professional lobbyist unless he has received a certificate of registration as provided in section 24-6-305 (1).(5) An individual shall not be considered a lobbyist solely because of his or her appearance as a witness in rule, standard, or rate-making proceedings.(6) This section shall not apply to any political committee, volunteer lobbyist, citizen who lobbies on his or her own behalf, state official or employee acting in his or her official capacity, except as provided in section 24-6-303.5, or elected public official acting in his or her official capacity.(6.3)(a) No later than January 1, 2002, the secretary of state shall establish, operate, and maintain a system that enables electronic filing of the reports required by this part 3 by utilizing the internet. Rules concerning the manner in which reports required by this part 3 may be filed electronically, including but not limited to the information to be contained in such reports, the procedure for amending such reports, and public access to the electronic filing system, shall be promulgated by the secretary of state in accordance with article 4 of this title.(b) In addition to any other method of filing, any person subject to the filing requirements of this part 3 or his or her duly authorized agent may use the electronic filing system described in paragraph (a) of this subsection (6.3) in order to meet such filing requirements.Amended by 2019 Ch. 232, § 4, eff. 5/20/2019.Amended by 2014 Ch. 398, § 3, eff. 7/1/2015.Initiated 72. L. 73: p. 1663, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 3-37-303. L. 77: Entire section R&RE p. 1151, § 3, effective June 19. L. 79: (1)(a) amended, pp. 853, 1638, §§ 1, 2, 38, effective December 29. L. 87: Entire section R&RE, p. 923, § 3, effective July 3. L. 96: (1)(d) amended, p. 1083, § 3, effective August 7. L. 2001: IP(1), (1)(d), (1.5), and (3) amended and (1.3) added, p. 148, § 2, effective July 1 and (6.3) added, p. 148, § 2, effective 1/1/2002. L. 2010: (1), (1.3)(a), (2), (3), (5), and (6) amended, (SB 10-087), ch. 2013, p. 2013, § 3, effective June 10. L. 2014: (1) and (3) amended, (SB 14-217), ch. 2004, p. 2004, § 3, effective 7/1/2015. L. 2019: (7) added, (HB 19-1248), ch. 2322, p. 2322, § 4, effective May 20.Subsection (7)(c) provided for the repeal of subsection (7), effective March 1, 2020. (See L. 2019, p. 2322.)
For the short title ("Lobbyist Transparency Act") in HB 19-1248, see section 1 of chapter 232, Session Laws of Colorado 2019.