Annual GAO Report on Federal Lobbying Released - State and Federal Communications

March 30, 2016  •  

Annual GAO Report on Federal Lobbying Released

GAOThe U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its audit of federal lobbying compliance for 2015. For the audit, the GAO reviewed a random sample of 80 quarterly disclosure reports filed for the third and fourth quarters of calendar year 2014 and the first and second quarters of calendar year 2015. They also reviewed random samples of 160 LD-203 reports for the year-end 2014 and midyear 2015 reports.

Among its findings, the GAO concluded 93 percent of filers of lobbying disclosure reports were able to provide documentation to support reported income and expenses, 85 percent filed the required federal political campaign reports, and 69 percent of the reported income and expenses were properly rounded to the nearest $10,000. The audit estimates at least 21 percent of all lobbying disclosure reports did not properly disclose formerly held covered positions.

The 54 page report, released on March 25, 2016, is titled “2015 Lobbying Disclosure Observations on Lobbyists’ Compliance with Disclosure Requirements.”

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