Could disability council contractors bill Louisiana for time at the Capitol spent giving facts or listening to hearings?

Plain-English summary

The Louisiana Developmental Disabilities Council contracted with organizations whose workers spent time at the Capitol. The department's contracts barred billing for legislative lobbying, and counsel asked whether other activities there could be charged to the contracts. In 2005, the Attorney General separated factual information and listening from direct acts to influence legislation.

La. R.S. 43:31(D) barred use of state-controlled funds to lobby for or against proposed laws, but expressly allowed normal dissemination of factual information. The AG said providing factual information to people with disabilities or their families was not prohibited. Listening and gathering information at committee meetings or other forums also fell outside the cited lobbying definition, provided contractors did not communicate with legislators about legislation. Direct acts to influence a bill's passage or defeat were prohibited and could not be billed.

The AG did not give a blanket answer for contractors who “support” people taking part in the legislative process. What that support involved would determine whether it was lobbying, and the opinion left that factual classification to a case-by-case assessment.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2005. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Could contractors bill the council for listening to a legislative hearing?

The AG said listening and gathering information did not meet the lobbying definition, as long as the contractors did not communicate with legislators regarding legislation. The opinion addressed the anti-lobbying barrier to billing for that activity.

Could they give factual information to people with disabilities at the Capitol?

The AG said strictly factual information was not prohibited by La. R.S. 43:31(D). That statute distinguished normal factual dissemination from using state money to influence legislation.

Did helping someone participate in the legislative process always count as lobbying?

The AG did not decide that as a category. It said the answer depended on what “supporting” participation actually entailed and required a factual assessment in each case.

Which activities could not be billed?

The opinion said direct acts taken to help influence passage or defeat of legislation were prohibited under the cited statute and could not be charged to the council's contracts.

Background and statutory framework

The request came from Department of Health and Hospitals counsel on behalf of the developmental disabilities council's contracting program. The AG quoted La. R.S. 43:31(D)'s public-funds restriction and its exception for normal factual dissemination. It also quoted La. R.S. 24:51(4)'s definition of lobbying as a direct act or communication with a legislator for the purpose of influencing legislation. The opinion applied those provisions to the described Capitol activities rather than deciding whether every hour at the Capitol was contract-billable.

Citations

• La. R.S. 43:31(D) (state-funds lobbying prohibition and factual-information clause).
• La. R.S. 24:51(4) (lobbying definition quoted by the AG).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/05-0331

Original opinion text

October 7, 2005
OPINION NUMBER 05-0331

62-B LEGISLATURE – Acts and Bills
Mr. Frank H. Perez
90-A-1 PUBLIC FUNDS & CONTRACTS
General Counsel
La. R.S. 43:31, 24:51
Louisiana Department of Health
Discussion of billing under state contracts and
and Hospitals
activities prohibited by La. R.S. 43:31(D).
1201 Capitol Access Road
P.O. Box 3836
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821-3836

Dear Mr. Perez:

You requested an Attorney General’s opinion regarding the Louisiana Developmental Disabilities Council (“Council”). You indicate that the Council contracts with various organizations to perform functions for the Council relating to the Council’s purposes. La. R.S. 43:31(D) prohibits state agencies from using funds to lobby for or against any proposition having the effect of law being considered by the legislature. The department contract forms contain language reflecting these prohibitions. Contractors are advised that they are not to bill the Council for time spent signing a card at a committee hearing, speaking to a legislator, or testifying in support of or in opposition to a piece of legislation.

You question whether the remainder of time spent by contractors at the Capitol, not engaged in lobbying activities, can be billable under their state contracts. You advise that those activities specifically include providing information to individuals with disabilities and family members, supporting these individuals to participate in the legislative process, and, as many of them are individuals with disabilities and family members themselves, listening and learning from the information that is shared in committee meetings or through other forums.

As you noted, R.S. 43:31(D) prohibits state agencies from using funds to lobby for or against any proposition having the effect of law being considered by the legislature. R.S. 43:31(D) provides:

D. No branch, department, agency, official, employee, or other entity of state government shall expend funds of, administered by, or under the control of any branch, department, agency, employee, official, or other entity of state government to print material or otherwise to urge any elector to vote for or against any candidate or proposition on an election ballot nor shall such funds be used to lobby for or against any proposition or matter

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Mr. Frank H. Perez
OPINION NUMBER 05-0331
Page - 2 -

having the effect of law being considered by the legislature or any local governing authority. This provision shall not prevent the normal dissemination of factual information relative to a proposition on any election ballot or a proposition or matter having the effect of law being considered by the legislature or any local governing authority.

The statute makes clear that providing strictly factual information in support of the legislative process is not forbidden. As such, providing factual information to individuals with disabilities, or their families, is not prohibited by the statute. La. R.S. 24:51(4) defines “Lobbying” or “to lobby” as “any direct act or communication with a legislator, the purpose of which is to aid in influencing the passage or defeat of any legislation.” Listening and gathering information from committee meetings or other forums would not fall within the definition of “lobbying”, provided the contractors do not attempt to communicate with legislators regarding any legislation. However, supporting individuals to participate in the legislative process may be prohibited under the statute, depending on what this entails. Whether such activity falls within the definition of “lobbying” is a factual determination that must be made on a case by case basis. Any actions which are direct acts taken to aid in influencing the passage or defeat of any legislation would be prohibited, and can not be billed by the contractors.

Trusting this adequately responds to your request, we remain

Yours very truly,

CHARLES C. FOTI, JR.
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY: _________
KENNETH L. ROCHE, III
Assistant Attorney General

CCF, JR/KLR, III/mjb

Page 3

OPINION NUMBER 05-0331

62-B LEGISLATURE – Acts and Bills

90-A-1 PUBLIC FUNDS & CONTRACTS

La. R.S. 43:31, 24:51

Discussion of billing under state contracts and activities prohibited by La. R.S. 43:31(D).

Mr. Frank H. Perez
General Counsel
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals
1201 Capitol Access Road
P.O. Box 3836
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821-3836

Date Received:

Date Released: October 7, 2005

KENNETH L. ROCHE, III
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL