Lobbyists contract out reporting obligations

Congressional efforts to rein in lobbyists are helping to create a cottage industry in Washington: businesses that help them comply with a raft of new regulations.

As the required reports to Congress on lobbying activities become more complex, lobbyists are contracting out more of their report preparation to outside firms.

At least two of them have started operating in Washington since the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 imposed more recordkeeping on lobbyists, beginning Jan. 1.

“It’s similar to why you would go to a tax counselor to prepare your IRS forms,” said Roseanna Haley, owner of Capitol Filings, a lobbying form-preparation service that opened March 24 at 101 Constitution Ave. NW. “It’s an administrative burden.”

Until this year, lobbyists were required to file to the House and Senate semiannual reports that described how much they are paid, their clients and the issues on which they lobbied.

As of Jan. 1, lobbyists are required to file six reports per year and list more information about their clients.

Four of the reports must be filed quarterly to report lobbying activities. Two additional reports must be filed semi-annually to report their donations to political campaigns, charities controlled by members of Congress and political action committees.

Lobbyists must file one report for each client, which can reach into the hundreds for some firms.

Support firms say they typically charge half as much as law firms that prepare quarterly reports. Prices from the support firms can range from as little as about $100 to several thousand dollars, depending on the complexity of the report.

The lobbying firm where Mrs. Haley worked previously has “upward of 280 clients, so each quarter more than 280 of these reports have to be filed,” she said.

The new requirements are a response by Congress to a scandal involving former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty in 2006 to fraud and conspiring to bribe public officials.

Abramoff is serving six years in a Maryland prison for his involvement in a Florida casino deal. He has not yet been sentenced in an influence-peddling case in which he was hired to lobby against a bill that would place Guam’s territorial trial court under the authority of the Guam Supreme Court.

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 gave Mark Ward the incentive he needed to open his business Feb. 1, handling the paperwork lobbyists shun.

“We are signing one to two clients a week and we get calls daily,” said Mr. Ward, a partner in the new lobbyist support firm Ward and Lawless. “It’s been a good thing for us.”

More than 16,000 active lobbyists are registered with Congress. Their first filing deadline under the new law is April 21.

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