(a) REGISTRATION OF LOBBYISTS REQUIRED. Lobbyists shall register with the Ethics Commission and comply with the disclosure requirements imposed by this Chapter 1. Such registration shall occur no later than five business days of qualifying as a lobbyist. Contact lobbyists shall register prior to making any additional contacts with an officer of the City and County of San Francisco and expenditure lobbyists shall register prior to making any additional payments to influence local legislative or administrative action.
(b) REGISTRATION.
(1) Contact lobbyists. At the time of initial registration each contact lobbyist shall report to the Ethics Commission the following information:
(A) The name, business address, e-mail address, and business telephone number of the lobbyist;
(B) The name, business address, and business telephone number of each client for whom the lobbyist is performing lobbyist services;
(C) The name, business address, and business telephone number of the lobbyist’s employer, firm or business affiliation;
(D) Each agency that the contact lobbyist has attempted, will attempt, or may attempt to influence on behalf of any client; and
(E) Any other information required by the Ethics Commission through regulation, consistent with the purposes and provisions of this Chapter.
(2) Expenditure lobbyists. At the time of initial registration each expenditure lobbyist shall report to the Ethics Commission the following information:
(A) The name, mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone number of the lobbyist;
(B) Expenditure lobbyists that are entities shall provide:
(i) a description of their nature and purpose(s);
(ii) if the expenditure lobbyist is a corporation, the names of the corporation’s chief executive officer, chief financial officer, and secretary, any officer who authorized payments to influence local legislative and administrative action, and any person who owns more than 20 percent of the corporation;
(iii) if the expenditure lobbyist is a partnership, the name of each partner if the entity has fewer than 10, or the name of the partner with the greatest ownership interest if the entity has 10 or more partners;
(iv) for any other type of business entity, the name of each person with an ownership interest if the entity has fewer than 10 owners, or the name of the person with the greatest ownership interest in the entity, if the entity has 10 or more owners;
(C) Expenditure lobbyists that are individuals shall provide a description of their business activities;
(D) Each agency that the expenditure lobbyist has made, will make, or may make payments to influence; and
(E) Any other information required by the Ethics Commission through regulation, consistent with the purposes and provisions of this Chapter.
(c) LOBBYIST DISCLOSURES. For each calendar month, each lobbyist shall submit the following information no later than the fifteenth calendar day following the end of the month:
(1) Contact lobbyists. Each contact lobbyist shall report to the Ethics Commission the following information:
(A) The name, business address and business telephone number of each person from whom the lobbyist or the lobbyist’s employer received or expected to receive economic consideration to influence local legislative or administrative action during the reporting period.
(B) The name of each officer of the City and County of San Francisco with whom the lobbyist made a contact during the reporting period.
(C) The date on which each contact was made.
(D) The local legislative or administrative action that the lobbyist sought to influence, including, if any, the title and file number of any resolution, motion, appeal, application, petition, nomination, ordinance, amendment, approval, referral, permit, license, entitlement, or contract, and the outcome sought by the client.
(E) The client on whose behalf each contact was made.
(F) The amount of economic consideration received or expected by the lobbyist or the lobbyist’s employer from each client during the reporting period.
(G) All activity expenses incurred by the lobbyist during the reporting period, including the following information:
(i) The date and amount of each activity expense;
(ii) The full name and official position, if any, of the beneficiary of each activity expense, a description of the benefit, and the amount of the benefit;
(iii) The full name of the payee of each activity expense if other than the beneficiary;
(iv) Whenever a lobbyist is required to report a salary of an individual pursuant to this subsection (c)(1), the lobbyist need only disclose whether the total salary payments made to the individual during the reporting period was less than or equal to $250, greater than $250 but less than or equal to $1,000, greater than $1,000 but less than or equal to $10,000, or greater than $10,000.
(H) All campaign contributions of $100 or more made or delivered by the lobbyist or the lobbyist’s employer, or made by a client at the behest of the lobbyist or the lobbyist’s employer during the reporting period to an officer of the City and County, a candidate for such office, a committee controlled by such officer or candidate, or a committee primarily formed to support or oppose such officer or candidate, or any committee primarily formed to support or oppose a measure to be voted on only in San Francisco. This report shall include such campaign contributions arranged by the lobbyist, or for which the lobbyist acted as an agent or intermediary.
The following information regarding each campaign contribution shall be submitted to the Ethics Commission:
(i) The amount of the contribution;
(ii) The name of the contributor;
(iii) The date on which the contribution was made;
(iv) The contributor’s occupation;
(v) The contributor’s employer, or if self-employed, the name of the contributor’s business; and
(vi) The committee to which the contribution was made.
(I) For each contact at which a person providing purely technical data, analysis, or expertise was present, as described in Section 2.106(b)(10), the name, address, employer and area of expertise of the person providing the data, analysis or expertise.
(J) Any other information required by the Ethics Commission through regulation consistent with the purposes and provisions of this Chapter.
(2) Expenditure lobbyists. Each expenditure lobbyist shall report to the Ethics Commission the following information:
(A) The local legislative or administrative action that the lobbyist sought to influence, including, if any, the title and file number of any resolution, motion, appeal, application, petition, nomination, ordinance, amendment, approval, referral, permit, license, entitlement, or contract.
(B) The total amount of payments made during the reporting period to influence local legislative or administrative action.
(C) Each payment of $1,000 or more made during the reporting period, including the date of payment, the name and address of each person receiving the payment, a description of the payment, and a description of the consideration for which the payment was made.
(D) All campaign contributions of $100 or more made or delivered by the lobbyist or made at the behest of the lobbyist during the reporting period to an officer of the City and County, a candidate for such office, a committee controlled by such officer or candidate, or a committee primarily formed to support or oppose such officer or candidate, or any committee primarily formed to support or oppose a measure to be voted on only in San Francisco. This report shall include such campaign contributions arranged by the lobbyist, or for which the lobbyist acted as an agent or intermediary.
The following information regarding each campaign contribution shall be submitted to the Ethics Commission:
(i) The amount of the contribution;
(ii) The name of the contributor;
(iii) The date on which the contribution was made;
(iv) The contributor’s occupation;
(v) The contributor’s employer, or if self-employed, the name of the contributor’s business; and
(vi) The committee to which the contribution was made.
(E) Any other information required by the Ethics Commission through regulation, consistent with the purposes and provisions of this Chapter 1.
(d) DUTY TO UPDATE INFORMATION. Lobbyists shall amend any information submitted to the Ethics Commission through registration and monthly disclosures within five days of the changed circumstances that require correction or updating of such information.
(e) REGISTRATION AND FILING OF DISCLOSURES BY ORGANIZATIONS. The Ethics Commission is authorized to establish procedures to permit the registration and filing of contact lobbyist disclosures by a business, firm, or organization on behalf of the individual contact lobbyists employed by those businesses, firms, or organizations.
(f) FEES; TERMINATION OF REGISTRATION.
(1) At the time of registration each lobbyist shall pay a fee of $500. On or before every subsequent February 1, each registered lobbyist shall pay an additional fee of $500.
(2) Failure to pay the annual fee by February 1 shall constitute a termination of a lobbyist’s registration with the Ethics Commission. The Ethics Commission is also authorized to establish additional processes for the termination of a lobbyist’s registration.
(3) The Ethics Commission shall waive all registration fees for any full-time employee of a tax-exempt organization presenting proof of the organization’s tax-exempt status under 26 U.S.C. Section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4).
(4) The Ethics Commission shall deposit all fees collected pursuant to this Section in the General Fund of the City and County of San Francisco.
(Added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000; amended by Ord. 129-03, File No. 030250, App. 5/30/2003; Ord. 235-09, File No. 090833, App. 11/10/2009; Ord. 98-14
, File No. 130374, App. 6/26/2014, Eff. 7/26/2014; Prop. C, App. 11/3/2015, Oper. 2/1/2016; Prop. T, App. 11/8/2016, Oper. 1/1/2018; re-enacted by Proposition D, 3/5/2024, Eff. 4/12/2024, Oper. 10/12/2024)