2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 2 - General Assembly › Chapter 17 - Lobbyists And Lobbying › Section 2-17-25. Registration of lobbyist's principal; notice of termination of lobbying authority; supplemental registration statements; list of lobbyist's principal; recording keeping requirements; reregistration requirements.

(A) Any lobbyist's principal must, within fifteen days of employing, appointing, or retaining a lobbyist, register with the State Ethics Commission as provided in this section. Each person registering must pay a fee of one hundred dollars. If a partnership, committee, an association, a corporation, labor organization, or any other organization or group of persons registers as a lobbyist's principal, it must identify each person who will act as a lobbyist on its behalf during the covered period. If the State is a lobbyist's principal, the State is exempt from paying a registration fee and filing a lobbyist's principal registration statement.
(B) The registration must be in a form prescribed by the State Ethics Commission and be limited to and include:
(1) the full name, address, and telephone number of the lobbyist's principal. If the lobbyist's principal is an individual, the lobbyist's principal also shall include his occupation, name of employer, principal place of business, and position of authority held in that business by the lobbyist's principal;
(2) an identification of each person the lobbyist's principal expects to employ, appoint, or retain as a lobbyist;
(3) an identification of the public office or public body which the lobbyist's principal will authorize lobbying and the subject matter in which the lobbyist's principal will authorize lobbying, including the name of legislation, covered agency actions, or covered gubernatorial actions, if known; and
(4) certification by the lobbyist's principal that the information contained on the registration statement is true and correct.
(5) If a lobbyist's principal fails to identify the public office or public body for which he has authorized lobbying as required by item (3) of this subsection, then the lobbyist's principal is deemed a lobbyist's principal as to all public offices or public bodies of the State.
A lobbyist's principal may comply with the requirements of items (1), (2), and (3) above by attaching a copy of the information submitted by any lobbyist employed, retained, or appointed by the lobbyist's principal if the information requested from the lobbyist's principal is the same as the information supplied by the lobbyist pursuant to Section 2-17-20.
(C) Each lobbyist's principal who ceases to authorize lobbying requiring him to register pursuant to this section must file a written statement with the State Ethics Commission acknowledging the termination of lobbying. The written statement of termination is effective immediately, except that the provisions of Sections 2-17-80(A)(5), 2-17-80(B)(5), 2-17-110(C), and 2-17-110(F) continue in force and effect for the remainder of the calendar year in which the lobbyist's principal was registered, regardless of the date of the termination statement filed with the State Ethics Commission. Each lobbyist's principal who files a written statement of termination pursuant to this section shall file reports required by this chapter for any reporting period during which the lobbyist's principal was registered pursuant to this section.
(D) A lobbyist's principal must file a supplemental registration statement indicating any substantial change in the information contained in the prior registration statement within fifteen days after the date of the change.
(E) The State Ethics Commission annually must furnish to each chairman of standing and special committees of the General Assembly, each member of the General Assembly, and each statewide constitutional officer a list of every lobbyist's principal registered with that office. The State Ethics Commission must furnish monthly updates to the same persons. These lists must be available to state agency heads upon request.
(F) Each lobbyist's principal must maintain for not less than four years records which must be available to the State Ethics Commission for inspection and which must contain:
(1) the identification of each person to whom income attributable to lobbying is paid or promised and the amount of such income attributable to lobbying paid or promised;
(2) the total expenditures of the lobbyist's principal for lobbying; and
(3) in the case of a voluntary membership organization, dues, fees, or other amounts payable to the organization during any calendar year from a member need be recorded only if the contribution to the organization is more than five hundred dollars and more than twenty percent of the total contributions of the organization during that calendar year.
(G) A lobbyist's principal must reregister annually with the State Ethics Commission by January fifth of each year.
(H) The State Ethics Commission shall not allow a lobbyist's principal to register, reregister, or continue to be registered pursuant to this section until the lobbyist's principal complies with the reporting requirements pursuant to Section 2-17-35, and pays all late filing penalties in accordance with Section 2-17-50 and all complaint fines in accordance with Section 8-13-320(10)(1).
HISTORY: 1991 Act No. 248, Section 2; 1995 Act No. 6, Sections 5, 6; 2003 Act No. 76, Sections 3, 4; 2011 Act No. 40, Section 2, eff June 7, 2011.
Effect of Amendment
The 2011 amendment rewrote subsection (H).