Advisory Opinion No. 2002-6

Application Of The Lobbyist Code’s Itemization Requirements
To A Non-Legislator Attending A Legislative Reception

Pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. §1-96(e), a client registrant must, in general, file an itemized statement of each expenditure of ten dollars or more made for the benefit of a public official in the legislative or executive branch, or a member of such official’s staff or immediate family. This requirement does not apply, however, to a legislative reception to which all members of the General Assembly have been invited, unless the per person benefit is thirty dollars or more. Id.

The Commission has been asked whether a client registrant must nonetheless itemize a benefit provided at a legislative reception and costing between ten dollars and thirty dollars per person, if the recipient is a non-legislator; e.g., a legislative liaison for an executive branch agency. The answer is no. The itemization exemption applies to the "event", and, therefore, extends to all potentially reportable beneficiaries who attend.

By order of the Commission,

Rosemary Giuliano
Chairperson