SEC. 67.29-4. LOBBYIST ON BEHALF OF THE CITY.
§ 67.29-4
Lobbyists hired by the City of San Francisco to advocate before government bodies must file quarterly reports with the Ethics Commission detailing all expenditures and the legislative or administrative actions they supported or opposed. A person qualifies as a covered lobbyist if they receive at least $300 monthly compensation or make 25+ contacts with officials within two consecutive months. City funds cannot be used for lobbying efforts that restrict public access to records or meetings, except to protect private citizens' privacy.
If someone is paid by San Francisco to lobby (convince government officials to take action), they must report four times a year to the Ethics Commission saying how much they spent, who they paid, and what government actions they were trying to influence. You only count as a covered lobbyist if you make $300 or more in a month for this work, or if you contact government officials 25 or more times in two months. The city also cannot use its money to pay for lobbying that tries to keep government records or meetings secret, unless it's just to protect regular people's privacy.
- Complex:Subsection (b) contains intricate definitions with multiple threshold triggers (monthly compensation OR contacts), compensation aggregation rules, and separate thresholds for individuals versus organizations, making it difficult to determine coverage.
- Controversial:Restrictions on using city funds for certain lobbying efforts raise questions about when transparency should be sacrificed for privacy or other interests—a matter on which San Francisco residents and officials reasonably disagree.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
(a) Any lobbyist who contracts for economic consideration with the City and County of San Francisco to represent the City and County in matters before any local, regional, State, or federal administrative or legislative body shall file a public records report of their activities on a quarterly basis with the San Francisco Ethics Commission. This report shall be maintained by the Ethics Commission and not be exempt from disclosure. Each quarterly report shall identify all financial expenditures by the lobbyist, the individual or entity to whom each expenditure was made, the date the expenditure was made, and specifically identify the local, State, regional or national legislative or administrative action the lobbyist supported or opposed in making the expenditure. The failure to file a quarterly report with the required disclosures shall be a violation of this Ordinance.
(b) No person shall be deemed a lobbyist under section (a), unless that person receives or becomes entitled to receive at least $300 total compensation in any month for influencing legislative or administrative action on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco or has at least 25 separate contacts with local, State, regional or national officials for the purpose of influencing legislative or administrative action within any two consecutive months. No business or organization shall be deemed as a lobbyist under Section (a) unless it compensates its employees or members for their lobbying activities on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco, and the compensated employees or members have at least 25 separate contacts with local, State, regional or national officials for the purpose of influencing legislative or administrative action within any two consecutive months. "Total compensation" shall be calculated by combining all compensation received from the City and County of San Francisco during the month for lobbying activities on matters at the local, State, regional or national level. "Total number of contacts" shall be calculated by combining all contacts made during the two-month period on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco for all lobbying activities on maters at the local, state, regional or national level.
(c) Funds of the City and County of San Francisco, including organizational dues, shall not be used to support any lobbying efforts to restrict public access to records, information, or meetings, except where such effort is solely for the purpose of protecting the identity and privacy rights of private citizens.
(Added by Proposition G, 11/2/99)