LDAFile Community

The LDAFile Community is a free interactive service at LDAFile.com. Community members can post messages and comment on messages from other members.

Community members acknowledge that their chosen screen name and any content they post will be public on LDAFile.com. Your email address is required to sign up but will not be disclosed to third parties.

LDAFile Subscription

LDAFile collects Registrant information provided by you during the subscription process. This information is required by the Lobbying Disclosure Act and includes your name, email address, business name, business address, and business phone number.

LDAFile transmits your LDA forms data directly to Congress. You should be aware that these forms are made public by Congress after they are processed. Once they are submitted to Congress, they cannot be edited. If you made a mistake, you will need to file an amendment.

While the processed forms are made public, the LDAFile database is not. Only subscribers can access the system, and subscribers can only access their own data.

LDAFile contacts its subscribers with service related notifications, updates, and Lobbying Disclosure Act information.

Take these steps to protect your account information:

• Use a firewall to prevent unauthorized access to your computer.
• Use a virus-checking program and keep it up to date.
• Keep your operating system and programs up-to-date.
• If you share a computer with others, close all active programs and log-out before leaving the computer.
• If you use file-sharing programs, be sure to restrict all other folders or directories to “no share”.
• Choose a user id that is not the same as a government issued identifier or your birthday or some other date or word that is either easily guessed or could cause harm if someone else learned it.
• Choose a strong password using a combination of letters, numbers and special characters that are meaningful to you and yet not easily guessed by someone else. Keep your password private.

No public database

LDAFile does not maintain a public database of LDA filings. A public, searchable database can be found on the House and Senate web sites. Once filed with the House and Senate, all reports are public

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LDAFile is a one-of-a-kind information center and Lobbying Disclosure Act registration and report filing service created to save government affairs professionals time and money by simplifying the reporting process.

LDAFile was created in response to the frustration of government affairs pros with the congressional LDA reporting process. The forms are confusing, instructions are incomplete or difficult to find, the House and Senate use different identification numbers, and the process is not web-based. Further, there is no tool to store report data so that new reports can be created quickly and accurately. Until now.

LDAFile was developed with extensive input from LDA filers. Like leading tax filing software, LDAFile uses a series of steps to guide you through the registration and reporting forms. Most fields are auto-populated, or if they are not applicable, skipped altogether.

LDAFile stores all of your LDA reports, lobbyist details, and client details, including all registration IDs. With error checking and data validation, your reports will always be accurate.

LDAFile annual subscription rates are as follows:

Level One: Single-client organizations, $495

Level Two: Up to 10 clients, $795

Level Three: Up to 30 clients, $1195

Level Four: Over 30 clients, $1795

You can subscribe to LDAFile in minutes via our secure online subscription page. We accept major credit cards.

To pay by check, contact us.

Subscribe now.

LDAFile provides the ability to file your quarterly lobbying report in 4 clicks by using the report cloning feature. By selecting this feature, information from the previous quarter’s report for a given client will automatically be copied into the new report. Lobbyists, issue codes, and lobbying issues will all be entered for you.

Simply review the report, file it, and you’re done in 4 clicks.

Quarterly Filing of Lobbying Reports

The HLOGA changed the filing schedule of LD-2 reports from semiannual to quarterly. The filing dates for quarterly reports are April 20th, July 20th, October 20th, and January 20th, or the next business day should the filing date occur on a weekend or holiday. The coverage periods are January 1 through March 31, April 1 through June 30, July 1 through September 30, and October 1 through December 31 for the April Quarterly (Q1), July Quarterly (Q2), October Quarterly (Q3), and January Quarterly (Q4) reports respectively.

Registration and Reporting Thresholds

Section 4 of the LDA was amended so that the financial threshold for registration for the new quarterly reporting periods is $2,500 in lobbying income for a lobbying firm and $10,000 in lobbying expenses for organizations that employ in-house lobbyists. The threshold as of January 1, 2008 will be as stated above. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) will be used to adjust these figures after January 1, 2009.

The Section 5(c) rounding rules for income or expenses were also amended to require amounts in excess of $5,000 to be rounded to the nearest $10,000. Amounts less than $5,000 do not have to be rounded; and the checkbox for reporting this information on Form LD-2 has been retained.
Additional Disclosure of a Client as a State or Local Government or Instrumentality Section 5 of the LDA was amended to require additional disclosure regarding whether the client is a state or local government or department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality controlled by one or more state or local governments. A checkbox has been added to Line 7 of LD-2 to accomplish this disclosure.

Semiannual Reports of Certain Contributions

Section 5 of the LDA was amended by mandating an additional filing requirement. Form LD-203 is required to be filed semiannually by July 30th and January 30th (or the next business day should either of those days fall on a weekend or holiday) covering the first and second calendar halves of the year. Registrants and each of their lobbyists (who were active for the entire or part of the semi-annual period) must file separate reports which detail various expenses including FECA contributions, honorary contributions, presidential library contributions, and payments for event costs. In addition, the filer must certify that the filer has read and understands the Rules of the House and Senate relating to gifts and travel and has not provided, requested, or directed a gift with knowledge that it would violate either House or Senate Rules. (See discussion in Section 7 below.)

Revised Definition of Affiliation

Section 4 of the LDA was amended to expand disclosure in regard to previously undisclosed affiliated entities that contribute more than $5,000 toward the registrant’s lobbying activities (either directly to the registrant or indirectly through the client) in a quarterly period and actively participate in the planning, supervision, or control of such lobbying activities. The revised section includes exceptions to narrow the scope of additional disclosure to make clear that an individual member or donor who only is a member of, or only contributes to, the client or other affiliate does not have to be disclosed.

Additional Disclosure of Past Governmental Employment

Section 4 of the LDA was amended to lengthen the covered period for disclosure of previous government service. The law now requires disclosure regarding whether a lobbyist served as a covered Executive Branch official or a covered Legislative Branch official in the 20 years before the date on which the individual first acted as a lobbyist on behalf of the client. This requirement applies to registrations having an effective date of 01/01/2008 or later. For any new registrant/client relationship requiring a registration which has an effective date of January 1, 2008 or later, government employment information going back 20 years is required. Registrants do not have to amend their pre-2008 registration information to reflect this additional disclosure requirement in reference to lobbyists listed in those reports.

Mandatory Electronic Filing of LDA Documents

Section 5 of the LDA was amended to require the mandatory electronic filing of all documents required by the LDA. The only exception to mandatory electronic filing is for the purpose of amending reports in the format previously filed, or for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Each electronic lobbying disclosure form provides usability for people with vision impairments who have the appropriate software and hardware. If you have questions regarding additional ADA accommodations, please contact the Senate Office of Public Records at 202-224-0758.

Increased Civil and Criminal Penalties

Whoever knowingly fails: (1) to correct a defective filing within 60 days after notice of such a defect by the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House; or (2) to comply with any other provision of the Act, may be subject to a civil fine of not more than $200,000. Whoever knowingly and corruptly fails to comply with any provision of this Act shall be imprisoned for not more than five years or fined under title 18, United States Code, or both.

Revised Forms, Instructions and Format

LD-1, the registration form, and LD-2, the reporting form, have been revised. Previous editions of these forms are obsolete. Additionally, all LDA documents must be filed electronically (with the ADA exception noted above) Instructions for both LD-1 and LD-2 have been updated to correspond with the new forms.

See the complete U.S. House/Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act Guidance (PDF).

Source: U.S. House/Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act Guidance (revised July 16, 2008).

Specifically:
Whoever knowingly fails: (1) to correct a defective filing within 60 days after notice of such a defect by the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House; or (2) to comply with any other provision of the Act, may be subject to a civil fine of not more than $200,000, and whoever knowingly and corruptly fails to comply with any provision of this Act may be imprisoned for not more than 5 years or fined under title 18, United States Code, or both.

Lobbying Disclosure Act and False Statements Accountability Act of 1996

The False Statements Accountability Act of 1996, amending 18 U.S.C. 1001, makes it a crime knowingly and willfully: (1) to falsify, conceal or cover up a material fact by trick, scheme or device; (2) to make any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or (3) to make or use any false writing or document knowing it to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry; with respect to matters within the jurisdiction of the Legislative, Executive, or Judicial branch. The False Statements Accountability Act does not assign any responsibilities to the Clerk and Secretary.

Source: U.S. House/Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act Guidance (revised July 16, 2008).

Lobbying Activities: Lobbying contacts and any efforts in support of such contacts, including preparation or planning activities, research and other background work that is intended, at the time of its preparation, for use in contacts and coordination with the lobbying activities of others.

Lobbying Contact: Any oral, written or electronic communication to a covered official that is made on behalf of a client with regard to the enumerated subjects at 2 U.S.C. §1602(8)(A) (legislation, government programs, policy or positions, federal contracts or the nomination or confirmation of anyone to federal office). Note that certain contacts are exempt, such as congressional testimony and inquiries about government proceedings and actions.

Lobbying Firm: A lobbying firm is a person or entity consisting of one or more individuals who meet the definition of a lobbyist with respect to a client other than that person or entity. The definition includes a self-employed lobbyist.

Lobbying Registration: An initial registration on Form LD-1 filed pursuant to Section 4 of the Act (2 U.S.C. §1603).

Lobbying Report: A quarterly report on Form LD-2 filed pursuant to Section 5 of the Act (2 U.S.C. §1604).

Client: Any person or entity that employs or retains another person for financial or other compensation to conduct lobbying activities on behalf of the person or entity. An organization employing its own lobbyists is considered its own client for reporting purposes.

Affiliated Organization: An affiliated organization is any entity other than the client that contributes in excess of $5,000 toward the registrant’s lobbying activities in a quarterly period, and actively participates in the planning, supervision, or control of such lobbying activities.

Source: U.S. House/Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act Guidance (revised July 16, 2008).

July 21, 2008
Quarterly reports (April 1 - June 30, 2008)

July 30, 2008
LD 203 Contributions Report (January 1 – June 30, 2008)

October 20, 2008
Quarterly reports (July 1 - September 30, 2008)

January 21, 2009
Quarterly reports (October 1 - December 31, 2008)

January 30, 2009
LD 203 Contributions Report (July 1 – December 31, 2008)

When you subscribe to LDAFile, all of your 2008 quarterly reports will be entered into your account. Lobbyists, clients (and client IDs), and registrant information is all stored and filled in for you when you complete new reports.

Then, completing new reports is as simple as selecting the client from th drop-down list, selecting the issue area codes, adding your lobbyists from the drop-down list, and selected the agencies lobbied.

Here’s how LDAFile saves you even more time. If your new quarterly report includes the same issue area codes as the previous quarter, you can simply clone the previous report and the information will be filled in for you. Then just review and file.

Reports can also be saved as Drafts. With Drafts, your lobbyists can log into your LDAFile account, review and edit the reports, and you can file them when you are ready.

Consider this scenario:
Your firm employs six lobbyists and has 20 clients. Each quarter you are required to file 20 lobbying activity reports (one for each client). On average each lobbyist works on eight client accounts.

At the start of each quarter, you create a new quarterly report for each client in LDAFile. You save the reports as Drafts, so they can be edited any time.

A profile is created for each lobbyist to log in to LDAFile. During the quarter, each lobbyist periodically views the Draft reports. Selecting only the required client reports, the lobbyist reviews and updates any lobbying activity they have done on behalf of their clients.

At the end of quarter, rather than circulate copies of 20 draft reports to your lobbyists, you review the saved reports on LDAFile, click File, and you’re done. 

LDAFile offers these advantages:

• LDAFile stores all of your lobbying disclosure report information - lobbyists, clients, House and Senate IDs - and fills it in for you. This prevents typos and other errors. And it makes managing multiple quarterly reports easy - no need to open your old forms and copy information.
• LDAFile validates your information as you enter it, reducing common error.
• LDAFIle provides step-by-step help text and definitions in convenient pop-up boxes to guide you.
• LDAFile gives you quick access to lobbying disclosure instructions, guidance, answers to frequently asked questions, and a community of lobbying disclosure filers.
• Using multiple profiles within your LDAFile account, your lobbyists can review and edit your reports before they are filed.No more circulating printouts around your office.

Lobbying firms are required to file a separate registration for each client. Organizations employing in-house lobbyists file a single registration.

Note: A lobbyist is not the registrant unless he/she is self-employed. In that case, the self-employed lobbyist is treated as a lobbying firm.

Form LD-1 is used for new lobbying registration and to register a new client. Form LD-2 is used for quarterly activilty reports (due 20 days after the close of the quarter), including amendments to quarterly reports, termination reports, and reporting no lobbying activity. Form LD-203 is used for the semiannual disclosure of certain contributions.

Registration Thresholds

• A lobbying firm whose total income for matters related to lobbying activities on behalf of a client does not exceed or is not expected to exceed $2,500 in the quarterly period during which the registration would be made is not required to be registered with respect to such client.

• An organization employing in-house lobbyists whose total expenses in connection with lobbying activities do not exceed and are not expected to exceed $10,000 in the quarterly period during which the registration would be made is not required to be registered.

Section 4(a)(3) further provides that the dollar amounts be adjusted every four years based upon changes in the Consumer Price Index. The last adjustment was made on January 1, 2005. The next adjustment will be made on January 1, 2009.

Definition of Lobbyist

A Lobbyist is any individual (1) who is either employed or retained by a client for financial or other compensation (2) whose services include more than one lobbying contact; and (3) whose lobbying activities constitute 20 percent or more of his or her services’ time on behalf of that client during any three-month period.

“Lobbying activities” are lobbying contacts and any efforts in support of such contacts, including preparation or planning activities, research and other background work that is intended, at the time of its preparation, for use in contacts and coordination with the lobbying activities of others. A “lobbying contact” is any oral, written or electronic communication to a covered official that is made on behalf of a client with regard to the enumerated subjects at 2 U.S.C. §1602(8)(A) (legislation, government programs, policy or positions, federal contracts or the nomination or confirmation of anyone to federal office). Note that certain contacts are exempt, such as congressional testimony and inquiries about government proceedings and actions.

Covered Legislative Branch officials are:

1. A Member of Congress
2. An elected Officer of either the House or the Senate
3. An employee, or any other individual functioning in the capacity of an employee, who works for a Member, committee, leadership staff of either the Senate or House, a joint committee of Congress, a working group or caucus organized to provide services to Members, and any other Legislative Branch employee serving in a position described under section 109(13) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.

1. The President
2. The Vice President
3. Officers and employees of the Executive Office of the President
4. Any official serving in an Executive Level I through V position
5. Any member of the uniformed services serving at grade 0 7 or above
6. Schedule C employees.

More Than One Lobbying Contact

“More than one lobbying contact” means more than one communication to a covered official. Note that an individual falls within the definition of “lobbyist” by making more than one lobbying contact over the course of services provided for a particular client (even if the second contact occurs in a later quarterly period).

When to File

The registration requirement is triggered at the earlier of the date a lobbyist is employed or retained to make one lobbying contact on behalf of a client, or the date a lobbyist in fact makes a second lobbying contact. In either case, registration is required within 45 days.

Source: United States Senate web site, U.S. House/Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act Guidance (revised July 16, 2008).

With LDAFile, your registrant, lobbyist, and client information is stored with your account. Reports can be completed more quickly and accurately than using the congressional forms. And LDAFile files the forms for you.

LDAFile stores all of your previously-filed reports. Report information can be copied directly into a new report with one click. And House/Senate IDs are automatically filled in for you. No more rejected filings due to typing or copying errors!

LDAFile also provides help text, definitions, Lobbying Disclosure Act guidance, and answers to frequently asked questions.

LDAFile even notifies you of filing deadlines and LDA updates and news.