In an effort to clean up a 2001 ordinance ridden with lobbying loopholes, members of Madison's City Council will aim to make business owners who are in frequent contact with alders and city officials register as lobbyists.
In the past, business owners have not been required to register as lobbyists, even though they often must contact and sometimes influence officials in their district. Closing the loopholes is an effort to prevent business owners, architects and attorneys from escaping registration due to an unclear and unspecific ordinance.
\There are huge developers that own more than 50 percent of their companies and they don't have to register-and these are multimillion dollar companies,"" City Council President Brenda Konkel said. ""Those are precisely the people that should have to register.""
This is a controversial issue since business owners in the Madison Area Small Business Council are against the proposed change, claiming it would restrict their ability to grow their business if they are not allowed to contact higher officials on a regular basis.
Last Wednesday, special committee members voted to support a change in the law limits who business members may contact. According to the new law, businesses may only lobby or stay in close contact with aldermen either from the district where they live or from the district in which they have their business.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz told Greater Madison In Business the proposal ""strikes the right balance between having an open and accessible government.""
But while the decision was well received by many city officials, Konkel still has concerns with the issue of possible double representation and that current ordinance and the proposed change are too broad.
""If it's regarding the business that's located in that district then you should be able to contact them, without having to be registered,"" Konkel said. ""But if you're contacting them about something that doesn't have to do specifically with the business that's located in that district then it seems to me you should have to register to lobby. So I would just like to see it be narrowed down.""
A final proposal will be presented to the Common Council on March 1.
