Section 47 Employers of executive or legislative agents; statement of expenditures; filing; penalty; public inspection
Section 47. On or before the fifteenth day of July, complete from January first through June thirtieth; and the fifteenth day of January, complete from July first to December thirty-first of the preceding year, every employer of an executive or legislative agent whose name appears upon the docket shall render to the state secretary a complete and detailed itemized statement, under oath, listing all expenditures incurred or paid separately by such employer during the reporting period in connection with promoting, opposing or influencing legislation, or the governor’s approval or veto thereof, or influencing the decision of any officer or employee of the executive branch or an authority, including, but not limited to, statewide constitutional officers and employees thereof, where such decision concerns legislation or the adoption, defeat or postponement of a standard, rate, rule or regulation pursuant thereto, or doing any act to communicate directly with a covered executive official to influence a decision concerning policy or procurement and all expenditures for or on behalf of the statewide constitutional officers, officers and employees of such offices, members of the general court, officers and employees of the general court, officers and employees of the executive branch and officers and employees of an authority, and the total amount thereof incurred or paid separately by such employer during the reporting period; and except that in the case of all expenditures the employer shall not be required to itemize the expenditures of any one day in which the amount incurred or paid did not total thirty-five dollars or more. Such itemized accounting shall include, but shall not be limited to, specific expenditures for meals, gifts, transportation, entertainment, advertising, public relations, printing, mailing, and telephone; and the names of the payees and the amount paid to each payee. Where such expenditure is for meals, entertainment or transportation, said expenditure shall be identified by the date, place, amount, and names of all persons in the group partaking in, or of, such meal, entertainment, or transportation. When such compensation is included as part of a regular salary or retainer, the statement shall specify the amount of the agent’s salary or retainer allocable to his legislative duties. If no such apportionment is possible, the statement shall indicate such impossibility and disclose the full salary or retainer. No expenditure shall be split or divided for the purpose of evading any provision of this section.
The state secretary shall assess a penalty for any statement which is filed by such an employer later than the prescribed date; or, if such statement has been filed by mailing, where the postmark on such mailing is later than the prescribed date. Said penalty shall be in the amount of two hundred and fifty dollars when such statement has been filed ten days late or less, and in the amount of five hundred dollars when such statement is more than ten days late; provided, however that the state secretary may waive said penalty for good cause. A waiver for good cause shall not be granted for statements filed more than sixty days late by executive or legislative agents, or groups and organizations employing executive or legislative agents, which have never filed or have never been required to file such statements. In all other instances no waiver for good cause shall be granted when a statement has been filed more than thirty days late.
The state secretary shall prescribe and make available the appropriate statement forms which after being completed and filed with the secretary shall be organized alphabetically, according to the name of the employer and such files shall be open and accessible for public inspection during normal business hours.