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<br />- <br /> <br />5) RECOMl\1ENDATION BY THE MIAMI-DADE COMMISSION ON <br />ETHICS AND PUBLIC TRUST <br /> <br />Pursuant to Section 2-11.1(s)(6), all lobbyists are required to submit to the Clerk of <br />the Board of their respective governments a signed statement detailing all lobbying <br />expenditures for the preceding calendar year. Any lobbyists who fail to timely file an <br />expenditure report may be assessed a fine of fifty dollars per day for reports filed <br />after the due date. The clerks are responsible for notifying the Commission on Ethics <br />of the failure of a lobbyist to file a report and/or pay the assessed fines after <br />notification. A lobbyist may appeal a fine and may request a hearing before the <br />Ethics Commission, The Ethics Commission has the authority to waive the fine, in <br />whole or in part, based on good cause shown. Over the years enforcing this ordinance <br />provision, the Ethics Commission finds two trends worth noting: 1) Close to one <br />hundred percent of the lobbyists who file expenditure reports indicate lobbying <br />expenditures of zero and 2) An overwhelming majority of those requesting appeals <br />before the Ethics Commission receive either a full or partial waiver of their fines <br />based by on good cause shown. <br /> <br />1. Expenditure Reports <br />Section 2-11.1(s) <br /> <br />Recommendation: Eliminate the filing of an expenditure reporting form for <br />lobbyists with no expenditures. <br /> <br />Rationale: There is little to be gained compelling lobbyists to submit forms <br />detailing their expenditures connected to their lobbying activities when practically <br />all of the lobbyists report no expenditures on the forms filed with the respective <br />clerks. Therefore, the provision should be amended to require the filing of an <br />expenditure report only in instances where lobbyists have expenditures in excess <br />of twenty-five dollars in anyone category. The Ethics Commission sees no <br />benefit in sifting through hundreds of forms where no expenditures are listed. <br />Furthermore, such a change will reduce the number of appeals filed with the <br />Ethics Commission, freeing up space on the agendas of the Ethics Commission to <br />tackle more pressing issues. <br /> <br />19 <br />