Advisory Opinion No. 1996-7
Lobbyist Reporting Of
Expenditures For JF Parties
In general, the Lobbyist Code requires
an itemized
statement of each expenditure of ten dollars or more per person for each
occasion made by the reporting registrant or a group of registrants which
includes the reporting registrant for the benefit of a public official in the
legislative or executive branch, a member of his staff or immediate family,
itemized by date, beneficiary, amount and circumstances of the
transaction. Conn. Gen. Stat.
§1-96(e). JF parties and similar
events (e.g., legislative receptions), where the specific
attendance list is not known in advance, are in no way exempt from this general
requirement. Rather, in cognizance of
the difficulties inherent in such reporting, the Commission, by regulation, has
allowed that, under these circumstances, disclosure may be premised
on an
anticipated number of attendees
Regulations of Therefore, when a
lobbyist or lobbyists are asked to contribute goods or money for a JF party,
they must obtain in writing from the Clerk of the Committee, or other Committee
representative responsible for the event, an estimate of the expected number of
attendees. If the total amount
contributed by lobbyists divided by the anticipated number of attendees is ten
dollars or more per person, arrangements (e.g., a sign-in sheet)
must be made to allow for itemized lobbyist disclosure of the event. If, however, the preceding calculation yields
a figure less than ten dollars per person, itemization is not required. In either case, however, it should be
remembered that client lobbyists must include such entertainment expenditures,
in the aggregate, on their periodic financial disclosure reports. Conn. Gen. Stat. §1-96(e); Regulations of
Conn. State Agencies §1-92(a)(4). By order of the Commission,
Chairperson