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ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Fifty-Fifth Legislature, Second Regular Session

 

AMENDED

FACT SHEET FOR S.B. 1198

 

local governments; lobbying; prohibition

Purpose

Prohibits a county, city, town, school district or other political subdivision from contracting with or spending monies on lobbying services, unless the person lobbying is an employee of the entity. Exempts cities or towns with a population of fewer than 75,000 persons or a county with a population of fewer than 250,000 persons.

Background

A state agency, office, department, board or commission may not: 1) enter into a contract or other agreement with a person or entity for lobbying services; or 2) spend monies for any person or entity to lobby on its behalf unless the person is an employee of the state agency, office, department, board or commission. This prohibition does not apply to: 1) any state agency, office, department, board or commission that is either headed by one or more elected officials or exempt from the Arizona Procurement Code for the purposes of contracts for professional lobbyists; or
2) the employment relationship of a lobbyist who is a state employee directly employed by a state governmental unit for whom the employee acts as a lobbyist or lobbying is part of the employee's job description (A.R.S. § 41-1234).  

There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.

Provisions

1.   Prohibits a county with a population of 250,000 or more persons, a city or town with a population of more than 75,000 persons, a school district or other political subdivision or a representative of a county, city, town, school district or other political subdivision from:

a)   entering into a contract or other agreement with a person or entity for lobbying services; or

b)   spending monies for any person or entity to lobby on its behalf unless the person is an employee of a county, city, town, school district or other political subdivision.

2.   Prohibits a county, city, town, school district or other political subdivision from authorizing the payment of any portion of membership dues for lobbying activities to any organization in which the majority of members are composed of counties, cities, towns, school districts or other political subdivisions.

3.   Exempts a city or town with a population of fewer than 75,000 persons or a county with a population of fewer than 250,000 persons from the prohibition on authorizing membership dues for lobbying activities.

4.   Makes technical changes.

5.   Becomes effective on the general effective date.

Amendments

· Exempts a city or town with a population of fewer than 75,000 persons or a county with a population of fewer than 250,000 persons from the lobbying prohibitions.

Senate Action

GOV               2/14/22      DPA       4-3-0

Prepared by Senate Research

February 21, 2022

MH/HW/slp