Chapter 12 - § 12.4 • COLORADO LOBBYING REGISTRATION LAWS

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 12.4 • COLORADO LOBBYING REGISTRATION LAWS

§ 12.4.1—Background

For purposes of state law, "lobbying" means communicating directly, or soliciting others to communicate, with a covered public official in order to aid in or influence certain proposed or pending governmental actions. (Many local jurisdictions have their own registration and reporting requirements.) The list of certain proposed or pending actions includes:

• The drafting, introduction, sponsorship, consideration, debate, amendment, passage, defeat, approval, or veto of a bill, amendment, appointment, nomination, or report, whether or not in writing, by either house of the General Assembly or any committee thereof, whether or not the legislature is in session;
• Any matter pending or proposed in writing by either house of the General Assembly or a committee thereof, whether or not the legislature is in session;
• The convening of a special session or the specification of business to be conducted at such special session; and
• The drafting, consideration, amendment, adoption, or defeat of any rule, standard, or rate of any state agency having rule-making authority.

C.R.S. § 24-6-301(3.5)(a); see also Dallasta v. Dep't of Highways, 387 P.2d 25, 29 (Colo. 1963) (allegation of coercion or duress — "lobbying" — in legislative process will not invalidate enactment by a duly constituted body, acting within its authority).

There are a number of notable exceptions to the definition of "lobbying." Those exceptions include:

• Communications by a person in response to a statute, rule, regulation, or order requiring such a communication;
• Communications by persons who only give testimony or provide information to committees of the General Assembly or at public hearings of state agencies or who give information to public officials and who clearly identify themselves and the interest for whom they are testifying or providing information; and
• Communications by an attorney when such communications constitute the practice of law and are made on behalf of a client who has been identified.

C.R.S. § 24-6-301(3.5)(e); cf. Black v. Sw. Water Conservation Dist., 74 P.3d 462, 468 (Colo. App. 2003) (distinguishing services performed as lawyer from services performed as lobbyist; summaries of legislative meetings, progress reports, and general updates on lobbying activities do not constitute legal advice and are not protected by attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine).

A major change in lobbying regulation occurred in 2006 when voters adopted Article XXIX of the constitution. This ethics-in-government ballot measure was proposed in the aftermath of lobbying scandals at the congressional level. It imposes a ban on professional lobbyists' gifts to legislators, other government employees and officials, and their families. Colo. Const. art. XXIX, § 3(4). It prohibits all gifts of money, forbearance, or forgiveness of a loan, Colo. Const. art. XXIX, § 3(1), as well as gifts worth more than $50 from persons other than professional lobbyists. Colo. Const. art. XXIX, § 3(2). There are a number of exceptions to the $50 limit, including unsolicited items of trivial value, awards of appreciation such as plaques, admission and meals at meetings at which the official gives a speech or answers questions as part of a scheduled program, and reasonable expenses paid by certain nonprofit organizations for attendance at a convention, reception, or other meeting at which the official is scheduled to give a speech, participate on a panel, or make a presentation. Colo. Const. art. XXIX, § 3(3) (in the case of a nonprofit's reimbursement of reasonable expenses for attendance at an event, the organization must receive less than 5 percent of its funding from for-profit entities). These provisions also apply to officials and employees of city and county governments, other than home rule jurisdictions that adopt provisions to address matters covered in Article XXIX. Colo. Const. art. XXIX, § 7.

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