The 508(c)(1)(a) Initiative Workshop

lobbyists involved with raising campaign monies for the election of Barack Obama, and
whether Obama had broken his own pledge not to receive money from lobbyists. The
legal ramifications of lobbying are further intertangled with aspects of campaign finance
reform, since lobbyists often spend time seeking donations for the reelection efforts of
congresspersons; sorting out these issues can pose ethical challenges.
There are numerous regulations governing the practice of lobbying, often ones requiring
transparency and disclosure. People paid to lobby must register with the secretary of
the Senate and the clerk of the House of Representatives within 45 days of contacting a
legislator for the first time, or 45 days after being employed. An exception is that
lobbyists who earn less than $3,000 per client for each fiscal quarter, or whose total
lobbying expenses are less than $11,500 each quarter, do not need to register. Parttime
lobbyists are exempt from registering unless they spend more than 20% of their
working hours doing lobbying activities in any quarter. If lobbyists have two or more
contacts with a legislator as a lobbyist, then they must register. Requirements for
registering also apply to companies that specialize in lobbying, or ones that have an inhouse
lobbyist, particularly if they spend more than $11,500 on lobbying. Generally,
nonprofit organizations, other than churches, are exempt from registering if they hire an
outside lobbying firm. Filing must be made each quarter, and a separate file is needed
for each of the lobbyist's clients, and include information such as the name and title of
the client, an estimate of lobbying expenses, and an estimate of income the lobbyist
achieved after doing the lobbying.
States, in addition, are moving in the direction of greater disclosure and transparency
regarding lobbying activities. California has an online database called Cal-Access
although there were reports that it has been underfunded. Money collected from
registration fees are often used to pay for the disclosure services such as Cal-Access.
There were complaints in Illinois that the disclosure requirements were often not
rigorous enough and allowed lobbyists to work "without public notice" and with possible
"conflicts of interest". Many local municipalities are requiring legislative agents register
as lobbyists to represent the interests of clients to local city council members such as in
the swing state of Ohio cities such as Columbus and Cincinnati.
Laws requiring disclosure have been more prevalent in the twentieth century. In 1946,
there was a so-called "sunshine law" requiring lobbyists to disclose what they were
doing, on whose behalf, and how much they received in payment. The resulting Federal
Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946 governed lobbying rules up until 1995 when the
Lobbying Disclosure Act replaced it. The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, later
amended in 2002 as the McCain Feingold Act, had rules governing campaign
contributions. Each branch of Congress has rules as well. Legislation generally requires
reports containing an accounting of major expenditures as well as legislation that was
influenced; the wording of some of the pertinent laws can be found in 2 U.S.C. ch. 26.
Lobbying law is a constantly evolving field; the American Bar Association published a
book of guidelines in 2009 with over 800 pages. The laws are often rather specific, and
when not observed, can lead to serious trouble. Failing to file a quarterly report, or
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