CITY COUNCIL
Darrell Steinberg, Mayor
Lisa Kaplan, District 1
Shoun Thao, District 2
Karina Talamantes, Mayor Pro Tem, District 3
Katie Valenzuela, District 4
Caity Maple, Vice Mayor, District 5
Eric Guerra, District 6
Rick Jennings, II, District 7
Mai Vang, District 8
CHARTER OFFICERS
Mindy Cuppy, City Clerk
Susana Alcala Wood, City Attorney
Farishta Ahrary, Interim City Auditor
Howard Chan, City Manager
John Colville, City Treasurer
City Council
Financing Authority
Housing Authority
Public Financing Authority
Redevelopment Agency Successor Agency
City Hall Complex
915 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
Published by the Office of the City Clerk
(916) 808-7200
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Description: Attached is supplemental material received after publishing the agenda, which includes the addition of the published date.
For the Me
eting of: Tuesday, June 25, 2024 at 2:00 p.m.
Agenda Item: Consent Item 7
7. Ordinance Amending Various Sections of Chapter 2.15 and Section 2.112.030 of the Sacramento City Code, Relating to Lobbyists (Passed for Publication 06/18/2024; Published XX/XX/2024) (06/21/2024)
File
ID: 2024-01202
Loca
tion: Citywide
Re
commendation: Adopt an Ordinance amending various sections of Chapter 2.15 and Section 2.112.030 of the Sacramento City Code relating to Lobbyists.
Co
ntact: Mindy Cuppy, City Clerk, (916) 808-5442, [email protected], Office of the City Clerk; Gary Lindsey, Senior Deputy City Attorney, (916) 808-5346, [email protected], Office of the City Attorney City of Sacramento Page 1
City of Sacramento
City Council - 2PM Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2024-01202 6/25/2024 Consent Item 7.
Ordinance Amending Various Sections of Chapter 2.15 and Section 2.112.030 of the Sacramento City Code, Relating to Lobbyists (Passed for Publication 06/18/2024; Published XX/XX/2024) (06/21/2024)
File ID: 2024-01202
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Adopt an Ordinance amending various sections of Chapter 2.15 and Section
2.112.030 of the Sacramento City Code relating to Lobbyists.
Contact: Mindy Cuppy, City Clerk, (916) 808-5442, [email protected], Office of the City Clerk; Gary Lindsey, Senior Deputy City Attorney, (916) 808-5346, [email protected], Office of the City Attorney
Presenter: None
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Ordinance-Redline
3-Ordinance-Clean
Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: On May 16, 2023, after prior deliberations by the Sacramento Ethics Commission and the Personnel and Public Employees Committee, the Law and Legislation Committee passed a motion directing the City Clerk and/or City Attorney to bring back to the Law and Legislation Committee draft amendments to ordinance(s) on behalf of the Sacramento Ethics Commission per committee direction. The matter now before the Law and Legislation Committee is those draft ordinance amendments.
Pursuant to Sacramento City Code section 2.112.030, subsection A, paragraph 1, clause d, the Sacramento Ethics Commission “has the power and duty to . . . review, investigate, and consider complaints alleging violations of . . . Chapter 2.15 (‘Lobbyist Registration and Reporting Code’) ….” Contradictorily, subsection B states the following:
File ID: 2024-01202 6/25/2024 Consent Item 7.
The commission’s authority under subsection A extendsonly to city elected officials, candidates for city elected office, independent expenditure committees, members of boards and commissions, the city manager, the city clerk, the city attorney, the city treasurer, the city auditor, the independent budget analyst, and the public safety accountability officer.
(Emphasis added.) The glaring omission is the word “lobbyist.” The Sacramento Ethics Commission proposes to amend subsection B to add lobbyists, lobbying firms, and lobbyist employers to those whom the commission has the authority with respect to complaints. This is in addition to further amendments to the Lobbyist Registration and Reporting Code (Ch. 2.15) itself in order to accomplish the following modernizations:
1. Changing lobbying registration thresholds to (a) 15 hours per 3-month period for in- house lobbyists and (b) $1,500 per 3-month period for contract lobbyists;
2. Requiring lobbyists’ quarterly lobbying reports to indicate (a) how much lobbying firms are receiving from clients and how much lobbyist employers are paying lobbying firms; in addition to, (b) stating any gifts, campaign contributions, and behested payments made to city officials by a lobbying firm, lobbyist, or lobbyist employer; and
3. Limiting gifts from lobbyists and lobbying firms to an amount valued at less than $10 per month to elected officials, and are prohibiting lobbyists and lobbying firms from directly contributing to campaigns of the elected officials whom they lobby.
Policy Considerations: Approving updates to the Lobbyist Registration and Reporting Code and the related scope of the Sacramento Ethics Commission is in alignment with furthering government transparency.
Economic Impacts: None.
Environmental Considerations: This action is not a project subject to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it involves only general policy and procedure making and does not have the potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. (CEQA Guidelines, §§ 15002(d), 15378(b) (2), 15061(b)(3)).
Sustainability: Not applicable.
Commission/Committee Action: On October 24, 2022 the Sacramento Ethics Commission passed a Motion forwarding the general recommendations for modernizing the Lobbyist Registration and
File ID: 2024-01202 6/25/2024 Consent Item 7.
Reporting Code to the Personnel and Public Employees Committee for review and deliberation. On April 18, 2023 the Personnel and Public Employees Committee reviewed and provided direction on the Sacramento Ethics Commission recommendation and directing staff to forward the recommendations to the Law and Legislation Committee for deliberation. On May 16, 2023, the Law and Legislation Committee passed a motion directing the City Clerk and/or City Attorney to bring back to the Law and Legislation Committee draft amendments to ordinance(s) on behalf of the Sacramento Ethics Commission per committee direction. The Law and Legislation Committee reviewed the proposed ordinance on May 21, 2024 and passed a motion forwarding the ordinance to the City Council for adoption. The City Council passed for publication the ordinance title per Sacramento City Code section 32(c) on June 18, 2024.
Rationale for Recommendation: These amendments modernize the Lobbyist Registration and Reporting Code and close a loophole in the Sacramento Ethics Commission’s jurisdiction over local lobbying activities.
Financial Considerations: Not applicable.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.