A new clarification:
No member of the House shall knowingly meet at the state Capitol or CLOB with any person who is required by the law of this State to register as a lobbyist to discuss the promotion or opposition of the passage of any legislation by the General Assembly or any committee… unless such person either is wearing his or her valid officially registered badge or is a resident of the House district which such member represents.
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In other words, a member of the House can’t be lobbied in secret while on the grounds of the Capitol.
But, if said member simply walks down the hill to Atlanta City Hall, they can be lobbied in secret.
Or if they go across the street, they can get cocktails while being lobbied.
I think it’s perfectly acceptable to be lobbied behind closed doors, the suspected lobbyist only needs to wear an I.D. Badge to engage in the activity. I wouldn’t say this is an earth shattering rule, although, it seems to place some responsibility on the members to police lobbyist registration.
Considering some of the past lobbying that has occurred behind closed doors one wonders how they would attach the badge.
Bazinga.
Who is “required by the law of this State to register as a lobbyist.”
http://ethics.ga.gov/2011/04/lobbyist/
Seems wearing your ID is so I I know who is eavesdropping on the hallway conversation.
Frankly the ID badge isn’t really that effective-they should be wearing safety orange vests, and if they are from Georgia Power-Hard hats.
If you are “meeting” with a lobbyist, wouldn’t you already know that through the introduction.
Perhaps some sort of lie detector device built into the badge, similar to people who work around radiation (like x-ray technicians).
As someone who has lobbied under the Gold Dome for more than 20 years, I am suggesting that we be required to wear the Scarlet “L”. Amazing to see the comments from those who want to paint everyone with the same broad strokes. I once heard this definition of a lobbyist:
“A Lobbyist is the Person You Hire, to Protect You From the Person You Elected”
Just saying…
Reality check: For those of us who follow the rules (register, report, etc), we continue to see others in the hall doing the same work who neither register or report. Maybe this is a first step.
All lobbyists should have to wear their badges.
All legislators should have to wear their price tags.
There’s no need for legislators to wear price tags when legislators usually always go to the highest bidder. Though, in all fairness, I guess that lobbyists should be able to know where to start the bidding.
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