Termination of a Lobbyist

The LDA is not specific as to how far into the future the registrant should project an expectation that an individual will act as a lobbyist. It seems neither realistic nor necessary to expect registrants to make such projections beyond the next succeeding quarterly reporting period. Accordingly, if a registrant reasonably expects an individual to meet the definition of lobbyist in either the current or next quarterly period, the lobbyist should remain in an "active" status. If a registrant does not believe this to be the case, the lobbyist can be removed from the list of lobbyists for the registrant. Line 23 of LD-2 is used to delete names of employees who are no longer expected to act as lobbyists for the client, due to changed job duties, assignments, or employment status.

Example 1: Lobbying Firm "Y" registers for Client "Z" on March 15, 2008, listing employees "A," "B," "C," and "D" on line 10 of Form LD 1. For the first quarterly reporting period in 2008, "Y" will list "A," "B" and "C" on Line 18 of LD 2. "D" has no lobbying activities for that quarterly period, so he would not be listed. During the second quarter of 2008, "D" leaves firm "Y" to start his own lobbying business. For the second quarterly period, "Y" will report that "D" no longer meets the definition of "lobbyist" for Client "Z" on Line 23 of LD-2.

Example 2: Lobbying Firm "Y" registers for Client "Z" as above listing the aforementioned "A," "B," "C," and "D" as lobbyists on March 15, 2008. One month after registration, "C" and "D," who engaged in lobbying activities for "Z" as partners of "Y," decide to leave the partnership effective June 1, 2008. On the Q2 Report for 2008, "Y" would report any lobbying activity for "C" and "D" on Line 18 of LD-2. "Y" would also reflect "C" and "D's" departure by listing them on Line 23 of LD-2 in the same filing.

After January 1, 2008, lobbyists who have been terminated by their registrant/employer for every client they were registered to lobby on behalf of, do not have to file form LD-203 for any filing period subsequent to the one in which they were removed for the last remaining active client. The obligation to file LD-203 arises from being listed as meeting the statutory test of "lobbyist" - and not being terminated - by the registrant/employer. Thus, if a lobbyist has not been removed from the list of lobbyists on Line 23 of the LD-2 for every client for which the lobbyist was listed, the Secretary and Clerk will expect to receive a semi-annual report from him/her.

Example: Registrant "A" employs Lobbyist "C" who has lobbying activity on behalf of Client "R" in January and February 2008. In March Lobbyist "C" no longer expects to engage in lobbying activities for "R" or any other client in the firm, although "C" will continue to do non-lobbying consultation for numerous clients. "A" removes Lobbyist "C"as an active lobbyist by listing "C" on line 23 of the LD-2 form for the Q1 reporting period and not listed on subsequent quarterly LD-2 reports. However in July, Lobbyist "C" is required to file an LD-203 report due July 30 disclosing his activity from January 1 through the date of his termination.

Termination of a registrant/client relationship

Under Section 4(d) of the LDA, a lobbying firm may terminate a registration for a particular client when it is no longer employed or retained by that client to conduct lobbying activities and anticipates no further lobbying activities for that client. An organization employing in house lobbyists may terminate its registration when in house lobbying activities have ceased and are not expected to resume. Similarly, in situations in which a registration is filed in anticipation of meeting the registration threshold that subsequently is not met, a registrant also has the option of termination. Just as we have been interpreting that the obligation to report quarterly under the LDA arises from active status as a registrant, we believe that a report disclosing the final lobbying activity of a registrant is mandatory. In order to terminate the registration, the registrant must file Form LD 2 by the next quarterly filing date, checking the "Termination Report" box, and supplying the date that the lobbying activity terminated. A valid termination report discloses lobbying income or expenses and any lobbying activity by lobbyists during the period up to and including the termination date.

Source: Clerk of the House; U.S. House of Representatives