Senate Engrossed

 

local governments; lobbying; prohibition

 

 

 

 

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-fifth Legislature

Second Regular Session

2022

 

 

 

SENATE BILL 1198

 

 

 

An Act

 

amending section 41-1234, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to registration and regulation of lobbyists.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 


Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 41-1234, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE41-1234. Publicly funded contract lobbyists; prohibition

A. Notwithstanding any other law, a state agency, office, department, board, or commission, county, city, town, school district or other political subdivision of this state and any person acting on behalf of a state agency, office, department, board, or commission, county, city, town, school district or other political subdivision of this state shall not:

1. Enter into a contract or other agreement with a person or entity for lobbying services.

2. Spend monies for any person or entity to lobby on behalf of that agency, office, department, board, or commission, county, city, town, school district or other political subdivision unless that person is a state employee or an employee of a county, city, town, school district or other political subdivision of this state.

3. Authorize the payment of any portion of membership dues for lobbying activities to any organization of which the majority of the members are COMPOSED of COUNTIES, cities, towns, school districts or other political subdivisions of this state.

B. Subsection A of this section does not apply to A city or town with a population of less than seventy-five thousand persons or a county with a population of less than two hundred fifty thousand persons.

B. C. This section does not apply to any state agency, office, department, board or commission that is either:

1. Headed by one or more elected officials.

2. Exempt from title 41, chapter 23 of this title for the purposes of contracts for professional lobbyists.

C. D. This section does not apply to 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.

E. This section does not apply to a special taxing district formed pursuant to title 48 for the purpose of protecting or providing services to agricultural lands or crops.

D. For the purposes of this section, "state employee" has the same meaning prescribed in section 41-1231. END_STATUTE