Q. My company is running ads in several states asking the public to contact their legislators in favor of pending legislation, so-called grassroots lobbying. My team member insists we do not need to worry about disclosing this activity. Is that correct?

A. As is often my response when talking about state lobbying, the answer is, “It depends on the state.” Your colleague is correct in a number of states. Alabama, Oklahoma, and Utah are among the states that do not require registration or reporting for solely engaging in grassroots lobbying.

Many states consider grassroots activities to be lobbying, and they will therefore count towards lobbyist registration. Rhode Island includes a good example of this, providing in its statute that lobbying includes soliciting others to act for the purpose of promoting any action by any member of the legislative branch of state government. In Pennsylvania, lobbying includes an effort to influence legislative action through indirect communications. You should know the definition of lobbying in the affected states so you can determine if lobbyist registration is required for your ads.

The expenses for these advertisements may need to be disclosed. If your company is not registered as a lobbyist employer or principal, special reporting may be required. California requires entities expending $5,000 or more in a calendar quarter in connection with soliciting or urging others to enter into direct communications with any elective state official or legislative official to file Form 645 according to the same quarterly schedule for lobbyist reports. Washington requires a company who has made expenditures, not reported by a registered lobbyist, exceeding $3,000 in the aggregate within any three-month period or $1,500 in the aggregate within any one-month period in presenting a campaign to the public, a substantial portion of which is intended to solicit the public to influence legislation, to register and file monthly reports as a sponsor of a grassroots lobbying campaign. Keep in mind that California and Washington are like a number of states, requiring grassroots lobbying expenses to be disclosed if you company is already registered.

We are seeing increasing regulation of grassroots lobbying in the states. You should be aware of your disclosure requirements before running any such campaigns.

The information from this response can easily be found on our website in the Lobbying Compliance section of the United States Lobbying Compliance Guidebook. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions.

Gov. Jay Inslee signed House Bill 1317 and Senate Bill 5152, updating campaign and lobbying rules in response to current technologies and practices involving online activity and social media. House Bill 1317 was designed to shed light on special interest “astroturfing” in grassroots lobbying. The new law expedites registration of sponsors of grassroots lobbying campaigns and increases the disclosures that must be made in the registration and any advertisements made by the lobbying campaign.

Senate Bill 5152 seeks to combat the advent of “synthetic media” political ads. These ads are created when, via artificial intelligence or other such programs, media is manipulated to cause a person (in this case a politician) to say or act in a way that did not happen. Senate Bill 5152 gives a target of synthetic media a course of action to force a sponsor or media platform to terminate the synthetic media campaign. The bill also gives the sponsor the ability to add a disclosure to the synthetic ad stating the ad or image is a synthetic media post. Both bills become effective July 23.

Q: I heard New York City requires registration and reporting for grassroots lobbying? Who is required to register and how do I comply with all the reporting requirements?

A: Yes, if an individual’s compensation or expenditures for grassroots lobbying exceeds $5,000 in the aggregate during a calendar year. Lobbying is considered any attempt to influence city officials, therefore all grassroots campaigns would be considered lobbying. The city law reflects the existing state law requiring registration and reporting for state lobbyists.

Once a grassroots campaign reaches the $5,000 lobbying threshold, bi-monthly periodic reports, an annual report, and fundraising and political consulting reports must be filed. Fundraising and political consulting reports are filed on the same bi-monthly schedule as the periodic reports.

For the bi-monthly periodic reports and the annual report, make sure you keep track of compensation, expenses, subjects lobbied, and names of the person and agencies lobbied. For the fundraising and political consulting reports, you will need to track compensation paid for fundraising and/or political consulting activities, a list of all persons or entities contracted for the purpose of providing fundraising and/or political consulting services, and the total dollar amount raised for each candidate for which such activities were performed.

Don’t forget when it comes to websites, a social media communication constitutes a grassroots lobbying communication when:

1. References otherwise implicate an action covered by the term lobbying or lobbying activities;
2. Takes a clear position on the action question; and
3. Includes a call to action (i.e., solicits or exhorts the public, or a segment of the public, to contact a public official).

When grassroots lobbying through a social media communication is undertaken by an organization, through the organization’s social media account, this activity is reportable lobbying activity by the organization. When grassroots lobbying through a social media communication is undertaken by an individual, through their personal social media account, this activity is not reportable lobbying activity unless such individual is specifically retained by a client for such social media activity. Any expenses incurred to create, promote, place, or otherwise highlight an individual’s personal social media activity are reportable by the party incurring the expenses. A consultant’s activity on a grassroots campaign may be considered reportable lobbying if the consultant controlled the delivery and had input into the content of the message.

I heard the city of Seattle requires reporting and registration for grassroots lobbying? Who is required to register and how do I comply with all reporting requirements?

Yes, any person who spends $1,500 or more within three months or $750 or more within one month to present a program to the public primarily to influence legislation is considered a grassroots lobbying campaign sponsor and must register within 30 days after becoming an indirect lobbyist. The city law is modeled on existing state law requiring similar registration and reporting requirements for state lobbyists.

Every sponsor required to register must also file monthly reports by the 10th day of the month for activity during the preceding month. The report must update the information contained in the registration statement and must report any contributions and expenditures made during the previous month. When the campaign has been terminated, the sponsor must file a notice of termination with the final monthly report.

Registration statements and reports must include the following: (1) information about the sponsor: including name, address, business or occupation, and if the sponsor is not an individual, the names, addresses, and titles of the controlling sponsors; (2) information about the campaign organizers, managers, and anyone hired to assist the campaign: including name, address, business or occupation, and terms of compensation; (3) information about contributors: including the name, address, and the aggregate amount of each person contributing $25 or more; (4) purpose of the campaign: including specific legislation, rates, standards or proposals that are the subject matter of the campaign; and (5) the total expenditures made or incurred to date segregated by category.

While the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission (SEEC) is working on an updated lobbying reporting application that will allow for online reporting of indirect aka grassroots lobbying sponsorships, it is not yet complete. Registrations and reports may be accomplished with the same form template found on our website and can be emailed back to the commission at ethicsandelections@seattle.gov.

The Maine Ethics Commission has drafted a proposal to mandate lobbying reports from any group spending over $2,000 in a month on grassroots activism, including television or digital advertising, aimed at pending legislation.

The current threshold to trigger a report is $15,000, and even then only if the group first employs a traditional lobbyist.

The commission’s proposal is partly a response to the environmental organization Stop the Corridor, which ran advertisements last year opposing a proposed transmission line while lawmakers were considering bills pertaining to the project.

Ethics Commission proposals go to the state Legislature, which decides if it will craft them into legislation.

Does your advocacy work include grassroots lobbying? Do you know what actions are considered grassroots lobbying?

Generally, Grassroots Lobbying is defined as the act of encouraging the public to contact lawmakers and administrative officials for the purpose of influencing legislation or other official action.

These actions may trigger registration requirements.  And if your organization already has registered lobbyists, these actions may have to be reported.

State and Federal Communications is here to help you. Our newest tip sheet on Grassroots Lobbying will provide you with guidance on how to ensure you can stay compliant with all your grassroots advocacy efforts.

This tip sheet will provide you with the key information to keep in mind as you begin your efforts, including knowing what activities trigger registration and when you have to register.

Click here to get this FREE tip sheet today – and ensure you and your team can say “I Comply!”

Public Affairs Council Advocacy Conference, here we come! We can’t wait to see everyone. If you’ll be attending, come on by and say hello at our Resource Marketplace Booth.

State and Federal Communications is excited to be a sponsor of the 2016 National Grassroots Conference next week.

We  believe in the great value of this gathering! Elizabeth Bartz, president and CEO of the company, will be bringing a team to Alexandria, VA to participate in the program. We never miss it.

You can follow the conversations from the conference on Twitter @PACouncil #2016GRC.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics has released an Advisory Opinion regarding what constitutes lobbying activity when it comes to political consultants and grassroots communications. Advisory Opinion 16-01 requires public relations consultants to register their efforts to influence government through public campaigns, which includes any contact with editorial boards aimed at publishing communications involving a political issue.

The Advisory Opinion is meant to encompass grassroots communications, an action the public relations community is calling an unconstitutional restraint on free speech. With the Opinion taking effect, grassroots communication is considered lobbying if it references, suggests, or otherwise implicates activity covered by the Lobbying act; takes a clear position on the issue in question; or is an attempt to influence a public official through a call to action. If a consultant had control over the delivery of the message and had input into its content, registration and reporting will now be required.

What grassroots activities are you involved in? Did you know that reporting your grassroots activities in one state or municipality doesn’t mean that you are required to do so in another? Failure to report if it is required could cause major problems for you and your company. Are you registered as a lobbyist? Could your activities trigger registration and reporting? These are just a few of the items that require your attention when it comes to your government compliance.

Take the opportunity to sit down during the 2016 PAC Grassroots Conference and come have lunch on us! State and Federal Communications is hosting a luncheon on Wednesday, January 27th where you can discuss government compliance and more.

All attendees will be entered into a drawing to win a Fitbit Surge for attending. Seats are limited and are going fast, so check out our video for luncheon details and R.S.V.P. here!

See you in Orlando!

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics is seeking public comment on a proposed advisory opinion. The advisory opinion is in regards to the applicability of New York’s Lobbying Act to the activities of consultants when they are taking part in direct and grassroots lobbying, and whether they are subject to registration and reporting requirements.

The advisory opinion seeks to articulate when the Lobbying Act covers the services of consultants, and to clarify the test used to determine when grassroots advocacy constitutes reportable activity.

Comments will be taken by the Committee until December 4, 2015.

On February 2, 2015, the commissioners of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) issued a report to the governor and the Legislature outlining requested changes to existing ethics and lobbying laws. Among their recommendations are mandatory electronic filing for lobbyists and lobbyist employers, disclosure of political consulting or fundraising activities undertaken by lobbyists, assessment of financial penalties for non-compliance with audits, and barring individuals or entities from acting as lobbyists if they have repeat violations of the Lobbying Act.

The report also notes the need for a review of the Lobbying Act to ensure all forms of government advocacy, including grassroots lobbying and strategic consulting, are being captured for reporting purposes.

According to the Times Union, Gov. Cuomo said he is willing to delay budget negotiations in exchange for an ethics reform package from the Legislature, incorporating the recommendations of the JCOPE.

The entire report is available here.

 

What grassroots activities are you involved in? Are you registered as a lobbyist? Could your activities trigger registration and reporting? What doesn’t require reporting in one state or municipality could easily require it in another and failure to do so could cause major problems for you and your company.

Don’t get caught with your head in the sand! Come have lunch on us and sit down with State and Federal Communications before the start of the PAC Grassroots Conference to discuss government compliance and more.

As a special thank you, all attendees will receive a Starbucks gift card.

Check out our video for luncheon details and R.S.V.P. here!

 

State and Federal Communications is excited to be attending the 2015 National Grassroots Conference on February 3-6. Elizabeth Bartz, president and CEO of the company, and a team of three of the staff, will be heading to Key West to participate in the program.

We  believe in the great value of this gathering and so we are proud to be the sponsor of the Live Twitter Board at the conference. You can follow the conversations on Twitter @PACouncil #GRC15.