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Legal Matters: Simple rules for grassroots lobbying |
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Written On: November/December 2006 |
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Written By: by Kris Tefft, AWB General Counsel |
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Say you’re a business owner, or perhaps a director for your area’s chamber of commerce. You hear about a hot issue that’s coming up before the Legislature and you’d like to get involved.
You call your chamber of commerce, AWB or your local representative. But what if you want to get more directly involved with the lawmakers in Olympia? That’s just for professional lobbyists, right? Wrong.
Small business owners, chamber of commerce executives, and others can and should get involved in the legislative process when issues pop up that affect them.
But what about the rules governing registering and reporting as lobbyists, including spending money for gifts or entertainment for legislators or public officials? It’s not all that hard.
It is possible for a business owner or chamber executive to get involved personally in the legislative process on a set of issues without having to register as a lobbyist or worry about filing reports to the Public Disclosure Commission. But the more time a person spends around Olympia, and the more money he or she makes or spends doing it, the more likely it will be that disclosure laws require registration and reporting.
A lobbyist is defined as any individual who attempts to influence state legislation or the legislative action of a state agency. So, in that respect, even the person who calls a legislator’s office to encourage the passage or defeat of a bill is a lobbyist; he or she has attempted to influence state legislation.
But that kind of lobbying, by itself, doesn’t require registering with the PDC or reporting anything. In fact, any individual may do the following without having to register or report:
• As a citizen, on their own time and without being paid, write letters, make phone calls, have personal visits with legislators or agency officials to express views on legislation and public policy so long as no money is spent on meals, drinks, gifts, or other entertainment for legislators or officials.
• Monitor legislation and observe public hearings and floor action of the Legislature.
• Appear and testify before public hearings of legislative committees or state agencies.
• Accept an invitation from a state agency to participate as a stakeholder in a rulemaking process.
• Lobby more extensively, but without compensation for being a lobbyist and without spending any money on any legislators or state employees.
• Lobby more extensively, and get paid for it, but for no more than four days during any three month period, and without spending more than $25 on legislators or state employees.
What triggers registration and reporting requirements for lobbyists is influencing legislation regularly, getting paid for it, and making expenditures for, or on behalf of, legislators and officials, and — typically — getting expenses reimbursed for it. That is when the citizen crosses the threshold from grassroots activist to registered lobbyist.
In that case, if an individual spends a total of more than $25 on one or more legislators — for instance, paying for a dinner meeting — it is a reportable expenditure.
If a person spends more than $25 on a legislator for a meal, entertainment, or gift, not only is the expenditure reportable to the PDC but a copy of the report must be sent to the legislator.
Special rules also come into play for groups traveling to Olympia. For example, if an entire chamber of commerce decides to spend a day in Olympia attending hearings, meeting with legislators, and having a reception, those are considered above and beyond casual or volunteer lobbying.
For questions on special cases or if you’re uncertain, call the PDC for guidance or visit their Web site at www.pdc.wa.gov.
The bottom line is there are ample opportunities for the small business owner or chamber of commerce executive to come to Olympia on an issue and get personally involved without going through the PDC process of registering and reporting. Not only is this kind of participation intellectually rewarding, it is vital assistance to those of us whose day-to-day work is before the Legislature on behalf of the business community.
Any legislator will tell you that the best lobbyist is a constituent back home.
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