The Denver City Council gave final approval Monday to an ordinance that will add new reporting requirements for lobbyists who seek to influence city government.
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The new rules mandate that anyone paid at least $1,000 to engage in lobbying must report details of their work every two months, including when they meet with elected or appointed officials, how much they are paid, which proposals they are supporting or opposing, and who their client is.
Previously, they only had to report their names and clients.
Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul López’s office worked with Councilwomen Jamie Torres, Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez and Shontel Lewis on the legislation. The council approved the measure in a block vote without any comments.
“The residents of Denver, media and public in general deserve a clear and easy way to understand how decisions are made and who is influencing them at City Hall,” López said in a news release after the vote. “These newly passed regulations will bring our lobbying laws into the modern (era) and greatly expand easy-to-understand information.”
Any “grassroots lobbying” — or activity by organizations that instruct residents to email council members to ask them to vote a certain way — will now fall under the new lobbying requirements as well.
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The measure also creates a new “cooling-off period” for former elected officials and appointees who want to become lobbyists. Council members, the mayor, and anyone appointed by the mayor, the auditor or the clerk and recorder must wait at least six months after leaving their positions to begin lobbying the city.
The waiting period is intended to prevent elected officials from using their positions and relationships they form in office to improve their future earnings. It also is intended to prevent council members from casting favorable votes for a certain interested party with the promise of working for that company or organization after they leave office.
The new rules will take effect in January.
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