Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 101.73 – Statements of expenditures

(A) Each legislative agent and each employer shall file in the office of the joint legislative ethics committee, with the updated registration statement required by division (B) of section 101.72 of the Revised Code, a statement of expenditures as specified in divisions (B) and (C) of this section. A legislative agent shall file a separate statement of expenditures under this section for each employer engaging the legislative agent.
(B)
1. (1) In addition to the information required by divisions (B)(2) and (3) of this section, a statement filed by a legislative agent shall show the total amount of expenditures made by the legislative agent during the reporting period covered by the statement.
2. (2) If, during a reporting period covered by a statement, an employer or any legislative agent the employer engaged made, either separately or in combination with each other, either directly or indirectly, expenditures to, at the request of, for the benefit of, or on behalf of any particular member of the general assembly, any particular member of the controlling board, the governor, the director of a department created under section 121.02 of the Revised Code, or any particular member of the staff of any of the public officers or employees listed in division (B)(2) of this section, then the employer or legislative agent shall also state all of the following:
  1. (a) The name of the public officer or employee to whom, at whose request, for whose benefit, or on whose behalf the expenditures were made;
  2. (b) The total amount of the expenditures made;
  3. (c) A brief description of the expenditures made;
  4. (d) The approximate date the expenditures were made;
  5. (e) The specific items of legislation, if any, for which the expenditures were made and the identity of the client on whose behalf each expenditure was made. As used in division (B)(2) of this section, "expenditures" does not include expenditures made by a legislative agent as payment for meals and other food and beverages.
3. (3) If, during a reporting period covered by a statement, a legislative agent made expenditures as payment for meals and other food and beverages, other than for meals and other food and beverages provided to a member of the general assembly at a meeting at which the member participated in a panel, seminar, or speaking engagement or provided to a member of the general assembly at a meeting or convention of a national organization to which any state agency, including, but not limited to, any legislative agency or state institution of higher education as defined in section 3345.011 of the Revised Code, pays membership dues, that, when added to the amount of previous payments made for meals and other food and beverages by that legislative agent during that same calendar year, exceeded a total of fifty dollars to, at the request of, for the benefit of, or on behalf of any particular member of the general assembly, any particular member of the controlling board, the governor, the director of a department created under section 121.02 of the Revised Code, or any particular member of the staff of any of the public officers or employees listed in division (B)(3) of this section, then the legislative agent shall also state all of the following regarding those expenditures:
  1. (a) The name of the public officer or employee to whom, at whose request, for whose benefit, or on whose behalf the expenditures were made;
  2. (b) The total amount of the expenditures made;
  3. (c) A brief description of the expenditures made;
  4. (d) The approximate date the expenditures were made;
  5. (e) The specific items of legislation, if any, for which the expenditures were made and the identity of the client on whose behalf each expenditure was made.
(C) In addition to the information required by divisions (B)(2) and (3) of this section, a statement filed by an employer shall show the total amount of expenditures made by the employer filing the statement during the period covered by the statement. As used in this section, "expenditures" does not include the expenses of maintaining office facilities or the compensation paid to legislative agents engaged by an employer. No employer is required to show any expenditure on a statement filed under this division if the expenditure is reported on a statement filed under division (B) of this section by a legislative agent engaged by the employer.
(D) Any statement required to be filed under this section shall be filed at the times specified in section 101.72 of the Revised Code. Each statement shall cover expenditures made during the four-calendar-month period that ended on the last day of the month immediately preceding the month in which the statement is required to be filed. No portion of the amount of an expenditure for a dinner, party, or other function sponsored by an employer or legislative agent need be attributed to, or counted toward the amount for, a reporting period specified in division (B)(2) or (3) of this section if the sponsor has invited to the function all the members of either of the following:
1. (1) The general assembly;
2. (2) Either house of the general assembly. However, the amount spent for such function and its date and purpose shall be reported separately on the statement required to be filed under this section and the amount spent for the function shall be added with other expenditures for the purpose of determining the total amount of expenditures reported in the statement under division (B)(1) or (C) of this section. If it is impractical or impossible for a legislative agent or employer to determine exact dollar amounts or values of expenditures, reporting of good faith estimates, based upon reasonable accounting procedures, constitutes compliance with this section.
(E) All legislative agents and employers shall retain receipts or maintain records for all expenditures that are required to be reported pursuant to this section. These receipts or records shall be maintained for a period ending on the thirty-first day of December of the second calendar year after the year in which the expenditure was made.
(F)
1. (1) An employer or legislative agent who is required to file an expenditure statement under division (B) or (C) of this section shall deliver a copy of the statement, or of the portion showing the expenditure, to the public officer or employee who is listed in the statement as having received the expenditure or on whose behalf it was made, at least ten days before the date on which the statement is filed.
2. (2) If, during a reporting period covered by an expenditure statement filed under division (B)(2) of this section, an employer or any legislative agent the employer engaged made, either separately or in combination with each other, either directly or indirectly, expenditures for transportation, lodging, or food and beverages purchased for consumption on the premises in which the food and beverages were sold to, at the request of, for the benefit of, or on behalf of any of the public officers or employees described in division (B)(2) of this section, the employer or legislative agent shall deliver to the public officer or employee a statement that contains all of the nondisputed information prescribed in division (B)(2)(a) through (e) of this section with respect to the expenditures described in division (F)(2) of this section. The statement of expenditures made under division (F)(2) of this section shall be delivered to the public officer or employee to whom, at whose request, for whose benefit, or on whose behalf those expenditures were made on the same day in which a copy of the expenditure statement or of a portion showing the expenditure is delivered to the public officer or employee under division (F)(1) of this section. An employer is not required to show any expenditure on a statement delivered under division (F)(2) of this section if the expenditure is shown on a statement delivered under division (F)(2) of this section by a legislative agent engaged by the employer.