How the Feds stack up

Introduction

Though federal laws are often considered more stringent than state laws, this is not the case with the federal lobby disclosure law. The Center for Public Integrity survey shows that only three states—New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wyoming—have lobby disclosure rules that are as weak as or weaker than those applying to the hired guns registered to lobby Congress. See Federal Lobby Disclosure Report Card below.

More than 25,500 lobbyists spent at least $1.6 billion lobbying Congress in 2002, according to PoliticalMoneyLine, a Washington, D.C., research and consulting organization. That is 48 lobbyists and more than $3 million per legislator. With 4,269 bills and resolutions introduced and 241 public laws enacted last year, the power lobbyists have in helping to interpret—and thereby enact—legislation cannot be overestimated.

The Center survey included 48 questions with weighted points totaling 100. It focused on eight areas of lobby disclosure regulation: definition of lobbyist; individual registration; individual spending disclosure; employer spending disclosure; electronic filing; public access; enforcement; and revolving door provision. The federal laws received 36 points.

On the whole, federal law demands much less than state law because it lacks many basic elements that most states possess:

• A federal lobbyist is not required to register until 45 days after they begin performing activities that constitute lobbying or have been contracted to perform lobbying activities. Lobbyists in 20 states are required to register before performing any activities constituting lobbying; in another 17 states lobbyists must register within one to 5 days of lobbying.
• A federal lobbyist files spending reports only twice a year. Lobbyists in 12 states file monthly spending reports.
• The spending report does not require aggregate totals categorized by type of spending, unlike the spending reports in 31 states that do sum up expenses by gifts, postage, meals, entertainment, etc.
• The spending report does not require any detailed itemization of spending, unlike the spending reports in 37 states which require some individual information for each expense.
• Though there is a $100 cap limiting lobbyists’ gifts to public officials, none of the gifts below that amount is required to be reported. Twenty-two states limit lobbyists’ gift giving and require disclosure of what is spent.
• Unlike 34 states, the agency overseeing federal lobbyists lacks the authority to audit filings.

Federal Lobby Disclosure Report Card:

Federal Government

Score: 36

State Lobby Disclosure Report Card: