JCOPE Revises Source of Lobbying Funding Regulations

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) has moved forward with its “source of lobbying funding regulations,” which will require lobbying groups to report names of donors who give them more than $5,000, as well as the amount the donor has provided.

But JCOPE included a significant change to its proposed regulations that addresses some of the concerns that have been raised by associations and trade groups.

The Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011 included language requiring some organizations to disclose the source of their lobbying funding over $5,000 for each source that was used to fund its lobbying activity. (More details here.)

In July 2012, JCOPE proposed regulations to carry out this provision.  (More details here.)

In this prior post, I shared my view that the regulations were too broadly drawn.  (I was not alone in expressing this view – read the comments JCOPE received as part of the rulemaking process).

Apparently, the Commissioners were also convinced that the rules were too broadly drawn.

At their Nov. 20^th meeting, the Commissioners added language that is intended to require the reporting only of funds provided to an entity to support lobbying activities, rather than funds that support all organizational activities.

JCOPE will be adopting the revised rule on an emergency basis, while simultaneously moving to adopt the rule on a permanent basis.