Lobbying Disclosure Resources & Information
House/Senate Lobbying Disclosure Guidance (PDF)(Revised July 16, 2008)
Congressional Research Service Lobbying Law & Ethics Rules, 2007 Updates (PDF)
Lobbying Disclosure Act Definitions
2007 HLOGA Updates
The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (HLOGA), enacted on September 14, 2007 (P.L. 110-81), amends the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 in the
following eight areas.
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).
