The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (“JCOPE”) authorized the State Office of Information Technology Services (“ITS”) to restore the online Lobbying Application (“LA”) and Financial Disclosure Statement (“FDS”) systems on March 9, 2022. The target of this cybersecurity incident, the pre-2019 legacy online lobbying filing system, will remain offline until further notice. Data from the legacy online filing system will also not be available until further notice.
Any filings due between February 17 and March 9 will be automatically granted an extension to March 31. Additionally, the March 15 lobbying bi-monthly report deadline is also extended to March 31.
The information security officials at ITS have completed their forensic review process, which attempts to retrace the malicious activity step-by-step. Although no direct or circumstantial evidence of any unauthorized access of user data or credit card information has been found, any evidence or other indication suggesting unlawful use of user information will be handled in accordance with state cyber-security laws.
JCOPE will continue to work with other state agencies, including the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of State’s Division of Consumer Protection, to ensure that any affected users are contacted and all legal obligations are met.
On February 5, 2020, the Commission hosted a training session entitled “JCOPE Training Opportunity: Clarifications about the Comprehensive Lobbying Regulations” for Lobbyists, Clients and other interested parties regarding the Commission's comprehensive lobbying regulations and online lobbying application. The training was divided into two parts: Part 1 relates to the Regulations and Part 2 relates to the Lobbying Application.
Below is a Table of Contents to assist you in navigating the video.
Part 1 – Regulations – from 0:00 to 50:48
Part 2 – Online Lobbying Application – from 50:49 to 1:34:15
- Introduction (50:49)
- Profile Overview (51:29)
- Registration (1:03:26)
- Detailed overview of the Lobbying Agreement section
- Bi-Monthly Report (1:13:29)
- Client Semi-Annual Report (1:15:03)
- Detailed overview of how to report Itemized Expenses and Lobbying Activities
- Source of Funding (1:29:57)
- Explanation of the difference between the Individual Lobbyist Effective Date and the Effective Date of Change on any Amended filing (1:31:37)