Those pesky differences in interpreting the law…and rules…and opinions…and informal advice…and common practice.

1. Exceptions to registration. 

You have to register if you communicate to influence legislation or administrative action, but you don’t have to register if you don’t spend at least 5% of your compensated time lobbying in that calendar quarter.

2. But don’t forget this little rule.

When you are trying to figure your 5% of your compensation that will trigger registration, you have to include all your meetings and planning sessions leading up to your communication in that time.

3. Goodwill counts.

In determining if you have communicated to influence for registration purposes, remember that any communication, even if it is strictly social and “goodwill,” counts as lobbying and toward the registration threshold.

4. Splitting.

The law on splitting expenditures allows any amount of food and beverage expenditures to be split, so long as the person making the expenditure reports them, and as long as any portion of the split expenditure made by a non-lobbyist gets reported by one of the lobbyist splitters.

5. More splitting.

The law and Commission rules prohibit splitting expenditures of more than $500 for entertainment, gifts or awards or mementos with a nonlobbyist, and further provides that any part of a split expenditure made by a non-lobbyist doesn’t get the penal code exceptions that lobbyists get for reporting.

6. Cash is verboten.

A lobbyist cannot assume or pay off a financial obligation incurred by a member. That would constitute a gift of cash, which is illegal.

7. Reporting charitable events.

If you provide a state official a seat at your table for a charitable event, you must report the prorata share of the cost of the seat at the table (not the IRS value), and any such charitable expenditure requires detailed reporting of the name of the state official(s) attending.

8. Calling the Commission for advice.

The Commission’s legal staff is available to give informal guidance on questions you may have on how to comply with the law. However, remember that if you call the Commission staff and seek informal advice on your question, that advice is not a defense to prosecution like reasonable reliance on a Commission advisory opinion or rule will provide.

9. Transportation ban.

The law says that a registered lobbyist is not allowed to provide transportation or lodging to a public official, except in limited situations specified in the statutes. However, you can provide incidental transportation to a state official or employee, like a ride from the airport or to a meeting in the same community. But remember, you still have to figure out a cost of that incidental transportation and report it.

10. Accepting reimbursements.

If you make an expenditure and the official/employee wants to reimburse you for it, the reimbursement must be less than $200, must be for the full amount of the expenditure, and must be made before the next reporting date.

11. Entity reporting.

The Commission staff has informally advised that if an entity is having someone report an expenditure on its behalf so it can avoid having to register, that expenditure cannot be split between multiple lobbyists, but must be reported by only one registrant. And, the lobbyist must be one registered for the entity that made the expenditure.

12. Annual expenditure limits.

Lobbyists must keep track of expenditures that have annual limits (entertainment and gifts), even if they were below detail reporting limits or were for events to which all legislators were invited. Once these and any other expenditures reach the annual limit ($500), you are prohibited from making further expenditures for that particular recipient for the remainder of the calendar year.

13. Report everything.

All expenditures have to be reported, regardless of whether they were expenditures that required detailed reporting. Expenditures of less than the detailed level may be accumulated together and reported in their appropriate category in bulk without detailing, but must be reported.