Electronic Reporting Required
State law requires public agency lobbying reports to be submitted electronically. You can find the filing application online. You will need to establish an account if you have never used the system. Please contact the PDC for assistance.
Report Due Dates
The quarterly agency lobbying report is due by the end of the month following the end of any calendar quarter during which reportable lobbying activity occurred. No report is required if no reportable lobbying occurred.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Completing the Report
Agency Name & Address
Supply the full agency name and complete mailing address. Also include the name of the person responsible for completing the report. Use the term "Agency Contact" followed by that person's name. The agency head is ultimately accountable for the report's accuracy, but we need to know whom to contact initially in case questions arise.
County
Local agencies supply the name of the county in which they are located.
Calendar Quarter
Specify the the calendar quarter and year being reported.
Persons Who Lobbied This Quarter
Use one of the blocks provided to identify each employee who lobbied on behalf of the agency during the quarter being reported. Supply all the information requested: name, job title, annual salary, percentage of time spent lobbying during the quarter, and a description of the issues concerning which the person lobbied. Include bill and WAC numbers when appropriate. A statement to the effect that the person lobbied on all matters of interest to the agency is NOT sufficient. Be brief, but as specific as possible.
If any employee who lobbied spent over $25 of non-public funds in connection with lobbying - for gifts, entertainment, meals, or refreshments for public officials or employees - supply the name of the person making the expenditure, the source of the funds, the date, amount, purpose, and name of person benefited by each expenditure. Include the same information for any elected official who lobbied on behalf of the agency and spent over $25 of non-public funds for lobbying related expenses.
Salaries of Person Who Lobbied
For each person who lobbied during the quarter, divide his/her annual salary by four and multiply that number by the percentage of time that person spent lobbying during the quarter. For example, lobbyist A earns $40,000 per year and spent 10 percent of his/her time lobbying. Lobbyist A's salary for lobbying during the quarter equals $1,000 ($40,000 divided by 4 = $10,000 x .10 = $1,000). Put the sum of the lobbying salaries of all persons who lobbied during the quarter in the space provided. (If ten employees lobbied during the quarter, the figure shown will be the sum of the lobbying salaries -- determined in each case by using the formula shown above -- of all ten employees.)
Travel
Add together the amount of lobbying related travel expenditures incurred during the calendar quarter (that have been or will be paid with agency funds) for food, lodging, per diem and transportation by agency employees who lobbied for the agency. Put the total figure in the space provided.
If, in conjunction with the agency's lobbying program, the agency paid for similar travel related expenses of legislators, their staff members (and, in the case of local agencies, travel related expenditures of state officials or employees), also include those costs in the "Manage details of lobbying travel by non-agency officials paid by the agency" field. Report each non-employee expenditure, giving the date, name of person on whose behalf the expenditure was made, name of vendor, amount and purpose.
Do not include travel expenses of agency officials and employees that are unrelated to lobbying.
Brochures and Other Publications Used for Lobbying
If the agency incurred expenses during the calendar quarter to develop brochures or other publications for use primarily in connection with its lobbying effort, all the expenses associated with producing and distributing the literature are reportable. The total amount of any such expenditures should be shown in the space provided.
Do not report the costs associated with publications developed primarily for another purpose but distributed incidentally as part of lobbying. Agencies do, from time-to-time, produce lobbying sales pieces from information contained in the agency's budget request or other documents. The costs associated with these kinds of sales pieces would be reportable.
Consultants or Other Contractual Services
If the agency incurred lobbying related expenses during the calendar quarter for consultants, outside expert witnesses, private sector lobbyists or other types of contractual lobbying services. Itemize each such expenditure by date, name of recipient, amount and purpose. Consider this section to be the "catch-all" for any other type of clearly identifiable lobbying expenditure that was not previously accounted for on the report.
Final Step
Submit by clicking "Send Completed Report to the PDC."