PROPOSED RULEMAKING

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[ 51 PA. CODE CH. 53 ]

Biennial Filing Fee

[39 Pa.B. 6049]
[Saturday, October 17, 2009]

 The Department of State (Department) proposes to amend Chapter 53 (relating to registration and termination) by amending § 53.1 (relating to biennial filing fee) to read as set forth in Annex A. The proposed rulemaking increases the biennial registration fee for individuals and entities required to be registered under 65 Pa.C.S. Chapter 13A (relating to lobbying disclosure) (act) from $100 to $200.

Statutory Authority

 Section 13A08(j) of the act (relating to administration) provides that the Department may by regulation adjust the filing fee established under section 13A10 of the act (relating to registration fees; fund established; system; regulations) if the Department determines that a higher fee is needed to cover the costs of carrying out the provisions of the act.

Purpose

 The current registration fee of $100 for individuals and entities required to be registered under the act was established by the act in section 13A10(a). Section 13A08(j) of the act states that the fees may be raised if the Department determines that a higher fee is needed to cover the costs of carrying out the provisions of the act. For the Fiscal Years (FY) 2007-2008, the Department's costs for administering the act totaled $1,054,165.07. For the biennial registration period 2007-2008, the registration fees paid to the Department totaled $234,200. For the FY 2008-2009, the Department's costs are projected to be $1,711,318. While the increase in the registration fee will not come close to covering the total costs of administering the act to the Department, it will help to defray some of the costs.

Description of Proposed Rulemaking:

Section 53.1. Biennial Filing Fee.

 Based upon the expense and revenue estimates provided to the Department, the Department proposes to adopt § 53.1(a)(1) to increase the biennial registration fee for individuals and entities required to be registered under the act from $100 to $200. The increased registration fee will go into effect on January 1, 2011. The increase in the registration fee will help defray some of the costs of administering the act.

Fiscal Impact

Commonwealth

 By raising the registration fee to $200, the proposed rulemaking will help the Department defray some of the costs of administering the act.

Local Government

 Local government will not have any expenses associated with this rulemaking. However, if a local government is required to register as a principal, the local government would have the cost of the increased registration fee of $200, and would then be considered part of the regulated community.

Private Sector

 The proposed rulemaking will increase the biennial registration fee for principals, lobbying firms and lobbyists to $200.

Regulatory Review

 Under section 5(a) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5(a)), on October 6, 2009, the Department submitted a copy of this proposed rulemaking and a copy of a Regulatory Analysis Form to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) and to the Senate and House State Government Committees. A copy of this material is available to the public upon request.

 Under section 5(g) of the Regulatory Review Act, IRRC may convey any comments, recommendations or objections to the proposed rulemaking within 30 days of the close of the public comment period. The comments, recommendations or objections must specify the regulatory review criteria which have not been met. The Regulatory Review Act specifies detailed procedures for review, prior to final publication of the rulemaking by the Department.

Responses to Comments

 Contact Person:

  Interested persons may contact Shauna C. Graves, Assistant Counsel, Department of State, 210 North Office Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120-0039, shgraves@state. pa.us. Comments must be received by November 16, 2009.

PEDRO A. CORTÉS, 
Secretary

 Fiscal Note: 16-50. No fiscal impact; (8) recommends adoption.

Annex A

TITLE 51. PUBLIC OFFICERS

PART III. LOBBYING DISCLOSURE

CHAPTER 53. REGISTRATION AND TERMINATION

§ 53.1. Biennial filing fee.

 (a) Under section 13A10(a) of the act (relating to registration fees; fund established; system; regulations), a principal, lobbying firm or lobbyist required to be registered under the act shall pay a biennial filing fee of [$100] $200 to the Department, made payable to the ''Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.''

*  *  *  *  *

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 09-1926. Filed for public inspection October 16, 2009, 9:00 a.m.]

---

No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.

This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.

---