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H 3319

Electioneering

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Don Chapman and 2 co-sponsors

Summary — H 3319 (House No. 3319) — "An Act relative to municipal lobbying"Note: Although the bill header in some records lists the title “Electioneering,” the text of House No. 33

Referred to Committee on Judiciary
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Bill Summary · H 3319

Summary — H 3319 (House No. 3319) — "An Act relative to municipal lobbying"

Note: Although the bill header in some records lists the title “Electioneering,” the text of House No. 3319 (filed by Rep. Kate Donaghue) addresses municipal lobbying and amendments to state lobbying/ethics law (chapter 3 of the General Laws).

Purpose

The bill seeks to extend state-level registration, fee, reporting and conduct rules that currently apply to legislative and executive lobbyists to persons who lobby municipal officials in large cities, and to increase transparency about who is lobbying municipal decision‑makers and on whose behalf.

Key provisions

  • Adds new definitions to chapter 3 (Section 39):
    • “Covered municipal official”: mayor, city manager, city councilor, board of alderman member, school committee member, or municipal department head in a city with more than 150,000 residents (per most recent federal census).
    • “Municipal agent”: a person who, for compensation, engages in municipal lobbying that includes at least one lobbying communication with a government employee. Includes persons whose regular professional work involves municipal lobbying unless the activity is incidental under specified thresholds.
    • “Municipal lobbying”: any act to promote, oppose, influence, or attempt to influence decisions by covered municipal officials (ordinances, rules, appointments, approvals/modifications of formal actions, etc.).
  • Incidental-activity safe harbor for municipal agents presumed not to be municipal lobbying if during a reporting period they (i) lobby ≤25 hours and (ii) receive < $2,500 for legislative lobbying.
  • Inserts “municipal agent” alongside “legislative agent” throughout Section 41 to require registration and docketing with the state secretary.
  • Establishes a $50 annual filing fee assessed by the state secretary when a municipal agent’s name is entered on the docket.
  • Prohibits contingency-fee arrangements for municipal lobbying (no pay contingent on the outcome).
  • Expands reporting requirements (amendments to Section 43):
    • Semiannual reports due Jan. 15 (covering July 1–Dec. 31) and July 15 (covering Jan. 1–June 30).
    • Municipal agents must file itemized, sworn statements listing campaign contributions, expenditures (with a $35-per-day non‑itemization threshold), identification of each client, bills/actions lobbied, positions taken, compensation from each client, and all direct business associations with public officials.

Who is affected

  • Municipal agents and firms that lobby covered municipal officials in cities with populations over 150,000.
  • Covered municipal officials (greater public disclosure of contacts and lobbyist activity).
  • Clients who hire municipal agents (must be identified in public filings).
  • State Secretary’s office (registration/fee collection) and enforcement agencies administering disclosures.

Procedural status & timeline (as recorded)

  • Prefiled: 12/05/2024
  • Introduced / first read: 01/14/2025
  • Referred to Committee on Judiciary: 01/14/2025
  • Senate concurred / Referred to State Administration & Regulatory Oversight: 02/27/2025 (per bill history)
  • Hearing(s) scheduled/rescheduled for November 5, 2025 (locations amended).

Potential impacts / considerations

  • Increases transparency of municipal lobbying in large cities by requiring registration, fees, and substantive semiannual disclosure.
  • Brings municipal lobbying closer to state lobbying rules; may increase compliance costs for small consultants, though an incidental-activity threshold and modest $50 fee are included.
  • Enforcement/resource needs for the Secretary’s office and local officials to process filings and monitor compliance.
  • Scope limited to municipalities with >150,000 population — smaller cities/towns are not covered.

If you’d like, I can extract draft amendment language by section, prepare a one-page briefing for municipal lobbyists, or compare this bill to prior sessions (e.g., House No. 3020 of 2023–24).

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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