A registered lobbyist in New York State must submit an activity report to the Commission twice yearly. To do this, you can use JCOPE's Electronic Lobbying Filing System. Lobbyists are required to register and file if they expect, for any calendar year during the biennial period, to spend, receive, or incur more than $5,000 in total reportable Compensation and Expenses for State and/or local Lobbying Activity.

Whoever makes, or is paid or retained to make, lobbying contacts must register under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA). As long as the individual is engaged in "government affairs," "advocacy," or "lobbying" in some capacity, they are subject to the Act.

The LD-1 registration form requires the applicant to declare whether or not they are lobbyists. Any lobbying contacts made by the Lobbyist with this individual during the reporting period must be included in the Lobbyist's quarterly activity report (LD-2).

Similarly, any updates to the Lobbyist's registration information must be reported by the Registrant on its next quarterly activity report (LD-2). If the Lobbyist has served as a covered executive branch official or covered legislative branch official within the preceding twenty (20) years, the Registrant must note this on the next quarterly activity report (LD-2).

If a trade group is a Client of a registered Lobbyist, then the Lobbyist must disclose on the Group's Registration (LD-1) that the President of the trade group has been appointed to an unpaid position on a State commission.

Lobbying costs can include things like paying lobbying firms to represent your interests or paying for office supplies and utilities.

The Registrant must select the most specific government entity from the list provided in the online filing system when filling out the quarterly activity report (LD-2) and include any contacts made with the Houses of Congress and Federal agencies during the reporting period. The "No Agencies Lobbied" box must be checked off if no contacts were made between the Registrant and the agency.

Foreign entities that hold at least 20% of the equity in the client are required to be reported or that directly or indirectly, in whole or in major part, plans, supervises, controls, directs, finances, or subsidizes the client's lobbying activities, must also be registered by the Registrant. The registration must also include the foreign entity's name and the percentage of client ownership that the entity holds.

All contributions made by a lobbyist to a client of the Registrant or the Registrant's employees, agents, or representatives that exceed $5,000 must be reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA). The Registrant is obligated to document this gift on the LD-1 and Q1 and Q3 activity reports (LD-2).

In order to comply with 2 U.S.C. SS 1604(b)(2), a registrant must detail the issues and bills that were the subject of lobbying efforts by any lobbyists employed by the Registrant. Unfortunately, not all registrants have provided enough detail about their clients' lobbying activities to fully inform the public.

Some registrants have even gone as far as to list actual bill numbers in both the House and the Senate as "issues" for their clients without providing any additional context for why this is the case. Although the bill number may reveal enough about a client's interest in particular provisions within broader bills, it does not reveal the specific lobbying issues for which a registrant hired a lobbyist.

The Secretary and the Clerk expect all registrants to take their responsibilities seriously and exercise caution when completing and submitting registrations (LD-1), quarterly activity reports (LD-2), and semiannual contribution reports (LD-203). The Registrant is also responsible for ensuring that each Lobbyist included in the Registrant's registrations and quarterly activity reports have their own unique user identification number and password in order to electronically file the semiannual lobbyist contribution reports with the Secretary and Clerk.

To travel is to move from one location to another, typically by means of transportation such as a car or airplane. Transportation can be on foot, by bicycle, car, bus, train, or plane, and it can be either a round trip or a one-way journey.

Daily, people travel to and from work, either as part of their commute or on the road for other reasons. Staff and faculty members frequently travel to other parts of the country for business and academic meetings and conferences, as well as to visit colleagues. No matter the motivation, workers should seize the chance to brush up on traffic law. In particular, they should understand what constitutes a reportable business relationship and how the Lobbying Disclosure Act works. In order to comply with the letter of the law, one must master the many nuances of the LDA, which is part of a complex federal regulatory scheme. The key point to keep in mind is that there is no wiggle room in this web of regulations.