JCOPE Extends Amnesty Program for Three Months

At its meeting earlier this week, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) voted to extends its amnesty program for lobbyists who are not registered for an additional three months, through the end of September.  (Note that as of this writing, the document describing the amnesty program has not been updated to reflect the extension. Read my prior blog post, which includes eligibility information and other details, here.) The amnesty program was originally scheduled to end today.

JCOPE’s Director of Lobbying and Financial Disclosure Compliance explained to commissioners that the staff has been “inundated with applications and calls” from construction, architecture and engineering industries” asking questions relating to appearances before local land use boards, zoning commissions, planning commissions.

Hopefully, JCOPE will use these inquiries as an opportunity to provide the regulated community with some clear guidance as to whether or not these activities are covered by the Lobbying Act.