Under the facts presented, the members would enter into a paid contract for services with an individual. The individual would act as a consultant and the duties would include research, data collection and policy development on various member issues. Additionally, the individual would be registered as the legislative agent for the members and would actively advocate on their behalf. A legislative agent is any individual who is engaged by an employer during at least a portion of his or her time, as one of his or her main purposes, to promote, advocate, or oppose the passage, modification, defeat, or executive approval or veto of any legislation by direct communication with any member of the General Assembly, the controlling board, the governor, the director of any department listed in section 121.02 of the Revised Code or the staff of any of those listed persons.
Employer means any person who, directly or indirectly, engages a legislative agent.
As noted above, the person would be conducting research, collecting data and developing policy. This activity is not direct contact, on behalf of someone else, for the purposes of attempting to influence the passage, modification, defeat, or executive approval or veto of any legislation. The person would not be making direct contact with others on behalf of the members in these circumstances, but would in fact only be advising the members. There is nothing which prohibits members from employing an individual, regardless of whether the person is registered as a legislative agent or not, to perform any type of work that does not constitute actively advocating. Here, the members would be paying an individual for services to be rendered that do not fall within the purview of the Lobbying Laws, therefore, it is irrelevant whether or not the individual is registered as a legislative agent.