A. In the month of January prior to each regular session or before any service covered by the Lobbyist Regulation Act commences, any individual who is initially employed or retained as a lobbyist shall register with the secretary of state by paying an annual filing fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) for each of the lobbyist's employers and by filing a single registration statement under oath in an electronic format as prescribed by the secretary of state that states:

(1) the lobbyist's full name, permanent business address and business address while lobbying; and

(2) the name and address of each of the lobbyist's employers.

B. No registration fee shall be required of individuals receiving only reimbursement of personal expenses and no other compensation or salary for lobbying. Except as required by Subsection D of Section 2-11-6 NMSA 1978, no expenditure report shall be required if the lobbyist anticipates making or incurring and makes or incurs no expenditures or political contributions under Section 2-11-6 NMSA 1978. The lobbyist shall indicate in the lobbyist's registration statement whether those circumstances apply to the lobbyist.

C. Upon receipt of the online registration and payment, the secretary of state shall publish the registration information on the secretary of state's lobbying disclosure website.

D. For each employer listed in Paragraph (2) of Subsection A of this section, the lobbyist shall file the following information:

(1) a full disclosure of the sources of funds used for lobbying;

(2) an affirmation from each of the lobbyist's employers authorizing the lobbyist to lobby on the employer's behalf;

(3) a brief description of the matters in reference to which the service is to be rendered; and

(4) the name and address of the person, if other than the lobbyist or the lobbyist's employer, who will have custody of the accounts, bills, receipts, books, papers and documents required to be kept under the provisions of the Lobbyist Regulation Act.

E. For each succeeding year that an individual is employed or retained as a lobbyist by the same employer, and for whom all the information disclosed in the initial registration statement remains substantially the same, the lobbyist shall file a simple annual registration renewal in January and pay the fifty-dollar ($50.00) filing fee for each of the lobbyist's employers together with a short, abbreviated prescribed form for renewal.

F. Whenever there is a modification of the facts required to be set forth by this section or there is a termination of the lobbyist's employment as a lobbyist before the end of the calendar year, the lobbyist shall notify the secretary of state using the electronic registration system within one week of such occurrence and shall furnish full information concerning the modification or termination. If the lobbyist's employment terminates at the end of a calendar year, no separate termination need be reported.

History: 1953 Comp., § 2-13-3, enacted by Laws 1977, ch. 261, § 3; 1985, ch. 16, § 2; 1993, ch. 46, § 20; 2015, ch. 56, § 1; 2016, ch. 13, § 2.

The 2016 amendment, effective December 15, 2017, established an electronic registration system for lobbyists; in Subsection A, in the introductory paragraph, after "statement under oath", deleted "on a prescribed form showing" and added "in an electronic format as prescribed by the secretary of state that states"; in Subsection B, after "salary for lobbying.", deleted "No expenditure statement required by" and added "Except as required by Subsection D of", and after the first occurrence of "2-11-6 NMSA 1978," added "no expenditure report"; in Subsection C, deleted "No more than five days after a registration is filed" and added "Upon receipt of the online registration and payment", after "publish the registration", deleted "statement" and added "information"; in Subsection D, Paragraph (2), deleted "a written statement" and added "an affirmation"; and in Subsection F, after "secretary of state", added "using the electronic registration system", after "within one", deleted "month" and added "week", after "termination" deleted "report", and after "need to be", deleted "filed" and added "reported".

The 2015 amendment, effective June 19, 2015, increased the lobbyist registration and renewal filing fees and required the secretary of state to publish lobbyist registration statements online; in the introductory sentence of Subsection A, after "fee of", deleted "twenty-five dollars ($25.00)" and added "fifty dollars ($50.00)"; in Subsection B, after "indicate in", deleted "his" and added "the lobbyist's", and after "apply to", deleted "him" and added "the lobbyist"; added Subsection C and redesignated the succeeding subsections accordingly; in Subsection D, Paragraph (4), after "lobbyist or", deleted "his" and added "the lobbyist's"; and in Subsection E, after "pay the", deleted "twenty-five-dollar ($25.00)" and added "fifty-dollar ($50.00)".

The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, rewrote this section to the extent that a detailed comparison is impracticable.

Special session. — A lobbyist registered during the regular session of the legislature must again register if a special session is called. 1987 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 87-12 (issued prior to 1993 amendment).