Instant Disclosure: Expands With Florida

Political Compliance Tip – The Florida House of Representatives recently adopted new rules, which require registered lobbyists to file reports before lobbying on bills and other matters before the legislative body.

Source: Florida House of Representatives

Billed as an effort to increase accountability and openness, this pre-meeting notice adds a new mandate to the growing list of compliance obligations that lobbyists must juggle. Florida’s experiment with “instant reporting” is new to the House, but this concept of instant reporting of matters lobbied is already required in other jurisdictions. At the local level of government in Florida, the City of Tampa requires that lobbyists file a Lobbyist Disclosure Form for each meeting with city officials and Hillsborough County maintains meetings logs for contacts with County Commissioners.

Other states that require instant reporting of matters lobbied include Delaware and Wisconsin. Unlike Florida, both states permit a lobbyist to file the report after engaging with the public officials and employees.

Throughout the U.S., the political compliance landscape for lobbyists continues to intensify. Lobbyists are increasingly facing demanding deadlines and expanded reporting requirements. In states like Georgia and Illinois, lobbying can trigger reporting obligations up to twice a month. In states like Massachusetts, lobbyists must now closely track and monitor all expenditures to satisfy the state’s detailed reporting requirements.

For lobbyists who are active in multiple states, these national compliance obligations can be overwhelming. It is increasingly important for lobbyists to work with compliance professionals to ensure that reporting obligations are satisfied and deadlines are met to avoid fines, penalties and reputational risk.

Politicom Law assists large companies with lobbyists who are active throughout the country. Based in California, the Politicom Law team, led by Darrin Lim and Jennie Skelton, delivers “empowered compliance” solutions to assist filers with the patchwork of federal, state and local political law mandates, including Florida’s new instant reporting requirement.