J-COPE Wants to Hear from You

No, we’re not talking about this Joint Commission on Public Ethics(J-COPE) investigation.  As an entirely separate matter, J-COPE will be conducting a public hearing on June 7 for the development of guidelines and regulations relating to new disclosure requirements for lobbyists and clients. Specifically, the hearing will concern the implementation of two requirements of the Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011: 1) Lobbyists and their clients must disclose “reportable business relationships” with a public official or entity in which a public official has an interest. 2) Certain lobbyists and their clients must disclose each source of funding in excess of $5,000 that was used to fund lobbying activities. Written comments are due by Friday May 18.