From a press release from the Secretary of State’s office:
Secretary of State Mike Coffman today announced that his office will proceed with an investigation of a complaint filed by Colorado Citizens for Ethics in Government (CCEG) against Colorado Cab Company, LLC (Colorado Cab).
CCEG’s complaint requested an investigation by the Secretary of State, alleging that Colorado Cab “violated state law by offering monetary consideration to [cab] drivers, who are not registered lobbyists, for lobbying state legislators to oppose a pending bill.”
Click below for the full press release…
Secretary of State Mike Coffman today announced that his office will proceed with an investigation of a complaint filed by Colorado Citizens for Ethics in Government (CCEG) against Colorado Cab Company, LLC (Colorado Cab).
CCEG’s complaint requested an investigation by the Secretary of State, alleging that Colorado Cab “violated state law by offering monetary consideration to [cab] drivers, who are not registered lobbyists, for lobbying state legislators to oppose a pending bill.”
After consideration of CCEG’s complaint, the response to the complaint submitted by Colorado Cab, the subsequent reply from CCEG, and a review of the applicable statutory and case law, the Secretary of State’s office has determined it is necessary to investigate whether there are sufficient facts to support two possible violations:
* That Colorado Cab violated § 24-6-307, C.R.S., concerning the employment of unregistered persons to engage in lobbying.
* That Colorado Cab drivers violated § 24-6-302 and § 24-6-303 by failing to register and report as professional lobbyists.State law requires individuals who lobby state government to register with the Secretary of State’s office. State law also says it is “unlawful for any person to employ for pay or any consideration, or pay or agree to pay any consideration to, an individual to engage in lobbying who is not registered…”
In its response, Colorado Cab stated that it “has never paid money to, or given consideration to, a cab driver in exchange for lobbying.”
“It is essential to our system of government that an individual has the right to lobby his state representative,” Coffman said. “Also as critical, however, are the laws we have in place to regulate lobbyist activity. My office is committed to making sure that lobbying is conducted in accordance with our laws; this investigation will seek to ensure that is the case.”
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….Is a person a lobbyist when they speak as an employee….oh, wait, they are all independent contractors…OK, so they get a perk like free cab rental for one day if they come and talk before the legislators?
How would this be different from all the Comcast and Qwest employees weighin in on the DSL licensing bill if they came in to testify while being paid their wages? How would we know?
Who is guilty? The cab company or the (often Ethiopian and other immigrant) cab drivers? Throw the book at guys making $100 on a good 16 hour day?
But I like the fact that Mike is at least checking this out.