Section 4.419 - Preservation of accounts, bills, receipts, books, papers, and documents; inspection of records; contents of records; violation; penalty.

LOBBYISTS, LOBBYING AGENTS, AND LOBBYING ACTIVITIES (EXCERPT)
Act 472 of 1978

4.419 Preservation of accounts, bills, receipts, books, papers, and documents; inspection of records; contents of records; violation; penalty.

Sec. 9.

(1) A lobbyist or a lobbyist agent acting on behalf of the lobbyist, and a lobbyist agent acting on his or her own behalf, shall obtain and preserve all accounts, bills, receipts, books, papers, and documents necessary to substantiate the reports required to be made pursuant to section 8 for 5 years after the report containing those items is filed. These records shall be made available for inspection upon request by the secretary of state after reasonable notice. The records shall include the following:

(a) An itemized account of all expenditures related to the performance of lobbying. Single expenditures of $100.01 or more shall be recorded separately with the record showing the date, purpose, and name and address of the recipient of the expenditures.

(b) An itemized account of all expenditures for food and beverage provided for public officials. The account shall reflect the date and amount of the expenditure and the name and title or office of the public official for whom the expenditure was made, and the name of the lobbyist agent or representative of the lobbyist who purchased the food or beverage for the public official, except that when more than 1 public official is provided food and beverage and a single check or voucher is rendered, the account may reflect the average amount of the check for each public official. A lobbyist shall record amounts expended on public officials for food and beverage where the expenditures are a result of an event at which more than 25 public officials were in attendance or are a result of an event to which an entire standing committee of the legislature has been invited in writing to be informed concerning a bill which has been assigned to that standing committee. The record shall not list the expenditures for public officials individually. The lobbyist shall record the names of all public officials in attendance and the nature of each event or function held.

(2) A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000.00, or imprisoned for not more than 90 days, or both, and if the person is other than an individual, the person shall be fined not more than $10,000.00.


History: 1978, Act 472, Eff. June 16, 1981
Popular Name: Lobby Act