All electronic filing systems will be down while we do maintenance
All electronic filing systems will be down while we do maintenance
This report captures all reportable lobbying expenses incurred during a calendar year and is required of all employers of lobbyists registered during any portion of the preceding year, whether or not there is any reportable activity to disclose. All reportable lobbying expenditures incurred during the year are disclosed, not simply those reported by the lobbyist(s). All expenditures reported by the lobbyist on monthly reports are disclosed as a lump sum. Any expenditures not reported by the lobbyist are itemized. Take care not to duplicate expenditures.
All L-3 submissions are required to be filed electronically using the online application available at the PDC website and are due each year by the last day of February, per RCW 42.17A.630(1).
File a "zero" L-3 report if no lobbying compensation and other reportable lobbying expenditures were paid or incurred during the year and the registration was in effect.
Include expenses that were incurred or earned, regardless of whether they have been paid.
Expenditures exempt from reporting:
* "Hearings of the legislature" means any regular or special session of the state legislature or any publicly announced meeting of a standing, conference, joint or special committee of either house of the legislature. Travel for other lobbying purposes, such as for meetings with individual legislators or staff, state agency hearings or to attend political fund raisers, etc., is reportable.
When completing reports, neither the lobbyist nor the employer should include any exempt expenses.
Remember, an annual report is due if the employer had a registration for any lobbyist/firm, for any period of the year, regardless of activity level.
Report compensation and expenses on an accrual basis. That is, report them for the year in which each was incurred, not necessarily when paid.
Identify the employer
Identify the reporting period
In the application you will now see a series of tabs which require completion. Below are details about each tab and the information contained on each.
Personal
On this tab, verify the contact name of the person completing the report. Enter the calendar year that the report covers.
Lobbyist
Listed on this tab are the total salary and fees reported by all registered lobbyists. These numbers are auto filled from the lobbyists/lobbyist firms monthly expense reports (L-2). The total amount you disclose for each lobbyist should closely approximate the total amount reported by the lobbyist as having been earned, received or due from you, assuming each of you is accurately disclosing only reportable compensation and expenditures.
It must also be noted, however, that the figures you report should not be a recapitulation of what the lobbyist reported; your records must support the amounts shown on your report. Verify that these numbers are correct and proceed to the next tab.
If the numbers are not correct, indicate that as well. You will then indicate the name of the lobbyist/firm with the incorrect information, using the dropdown as well as your revised compensation and expense figures. Once you have done so, the lobbyist will be contacted electronically to review the numbers you have provided so they may amend reports as necessary.
Contributions
Reportable employer contributions include:
The term "candidate for state office" includes a candidate for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor, state treasurer, superintendent of public instruction, commissioner of public lands, insurance commissioner, state senator, and state representative.
"State ballot proposition" means any initiative to the people, recall of a state elected official, referendum or other measure to be submitted to the voters of the entire state. Any ballot measure required to be filed with the Secretary of State and voted on by all voters of the state is a state ballot proposition.
(Note that lobbyists who deliver or transmit contributions from any source, including an employer affiliated political committee, must itemize those contributions on his or her L-2 report.)
Report the total amount of contributions -- not otherwise reported by your lobbyist -- made by the employer directly to a candidate for state office, or to political committees supporting or opposing candidates for state office or to political committees supporting or opposing statewide ballot propositions in the Political contributions field.
Include all other contributions previously reported on PDC Form L-3c. as an aggregate figure in the Aggregate total of all non-itemize political contributions field.
If the employer has an affiliated political committee which made contributions, answer "Yes" to this question and enter the name of the committee in the List the affiliated PACs that made contributions field. A PAC is connected, related to, or closely affiliated with a lobbyist employer if the employer provides a substantial portion of the funds used by the PAC; provides funds or personnel to establish, direct or administer the committee; assists in the solicitation and collection of contributions from PAC members; has as members of the PAC primarily employees, stockholders or members of the firm, association, union or organization; employs or controls activities of the PAC officers or directors; or similarly exercises control over the contributions received and expenditures made by the PAC.
If an employer merely belongs to an association, union or organization that has a PAC, and the employer makes contributions to that PAC, these facts alone do not make that PAC connected, related or closely affiliated with the employer.
Contributions made by a political committee associated, affiliated or closely connected with the employer are not reported on the L-3, but rather are shown on the PAC's campaign disclosure reports
Independent Expenditures
On this tab the employer will report independent expenditure activity in the following categories: independent expenditure expenses to support or oppose legislative or state executive candidates, and expenses supporting or opposing a statewide ballot proposition. You may need to also file a C-6 for these types of expenditures.
Expenditures
On this tab the employer will report the following, if applicable:
Other Compensation
On this tab, the employer will report the following, if applicable:employment compensation paid to state elected officials or successful candidates, and payments for professional services in which a state elected official, successful candidate for a state office or a member of the official's or candidate's immediate family holds an office or ownership interest of 10% or more. (Do not include the names of companies or organizations from which the employer purchased goods or tangible products in the normal course of business at fair market value).
Submitting the L3 report
Once all questions on each tab have been answered and the appropriate information supplied, the report may be submitted by clicking the Submit to PDC icon.
Although every effort should be made to file complete and accurate reports, mistakes do happen. If you discover an omission or mistake in a previous report that affects the computations on the L-3 report, file an amended report.
Amend the L-3 report as follows: Log into the lobbyist/lobbyist employer account. Under Employers I File For, find the employer name and click on it. When the home page for the employer displays, find the report in question under Submitted Annual Reports (L3) and click on Amend at right. Make the appropriate changes as needed and submit to PDC. Amended L-3 reports should be filed as soon as the error is discovered.