Daily bulletin [2007 : March 5, v.2007 : no.23]

Daily Bulletin ACTIONS BY THE NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY Institute of Government — School of Government The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Legislative Reporting Service, Box 7294 State Legislative Building, Raleigh, NC 27601 Phone 919.733.2484 ~ Fax 919.715.3464 ~ www.dbulletin.org House Legislative Day 23 Vol. 2007, No. 23 Senate Legislative Day 23 Monday, March 5, 2007 SUMMARIES OF BILLS FILED HOUSE BILLS H 478. RESTORE CONFIDENCE IN THE LEGISLATURE ACT. Filed 3/2/07. TO MAKE REFORMS TO THE STATE GOVERNMENT ETHICS ACT, LOBBYING LAWS, CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS. AND THE LEGISLATIVE BUDGETARY PROCESS. Campaign contributions. Enacts new GS 1 63-278. 13C, prohibiting registered lobbyists from: (1) offering or making a contribution to a legislator, executive branch official, or candidate campaign committee; (2) making a contribution to a candidate, officeholder, or political committee and requesting that the contribution then be made to a legislator, executive branch official, or candidate campaign committee; (3) transferring anything of value to an entity and requesting that the entity use it to make a contribution to a legislator, executive branch official, or candidate campaign committee; (4) soliciting a contribution from an individual, political committee, or other entity on behalf of a legislator, executive branch official, or candidate campaign committee (does not apply to lobbyists soliciting a contribution on behalf of a political part executive committee if the solicitation is for a segregated fund and used for activities that are not candidate-specific); and (5) delivering a contribution made by someone else to a legislator, executive branch official, or candidate campaign committee. Prohibits legislators, executive branch officials, and candidate campaign committee or their agents from: (1) soliciting a contribution from a registered lobbyist; (2) soliciting a third party to solicit a contribution from a registered lobbyist or to relay the lobbyist the legislator’s, executive branch officials, or candidate campaign committees, solicitation of a contribution; and (3) accepting a contribution from a registered lobbyist. It is not a violation for a legislator or executive branch official to serve on the board of an organization soliciting a registered lobbyist as long as the legislator or official does not directly participate in or benefit from the solicitation. Also does not prohibit a registered lobbyist from advising (1) a political committee (or members of the committee) that employs or contracts with that lobbyist, or (2) the lobbyist’s principal with regard to contributions to a legislator, executive branch official, or candidate campaign committee. Violations of the section are punishable by a civil fine in accordance with GS 163-278.34. Amends GS 1 63-278. 16B(a) cap at $4,000 the amount of contributions a candidate or candidate campaign committee may use to make contributions to a national, state, district, or county committee of a political party each election cycle. Repeals GS 163-278. 13(e), which exempts political parties from the $4,000 limit on contributions made, or solicited, or received from an individual or entity. Amends GS 163-278.6 to define Constitutional officers of the state as those whose offices are established under Article III of the Constitution. Makes conforming and technical changes. These provisions are effect January 1, 2008. State Ethics Commission. Amends GS 138A-12 to allow the State Ethics Commission (Commission) to proceed with a hearing against legislators and legislative employees after conducting an inquiry into a complaint (was, refer the matter to the Legislative Ethics Committee or employing entity. Makes conforming changes. Amends GS 138A-12(k) to include the issuance of recommendations of punishment of the legislator or legislative employee and referral of the matter to the Legislative Ethics Committee as a manner in which the Commission © 2007 Institute of Government — School of Government The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill This work is copyrighted and subject to "fair use" as permitted by federal copyright law. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the express written permission of the publisher. Distribution by third parties is prohibited. Prohibited distribution includes, but is not limited to, posting, e-mailing, faxing, archiving in a public database, installing on intranets or servers, and redistributing via a computer network or in printed form. Unauthorized use or reproduction may result in legal action against the unauthorized user.