Disclosure of Local Government Lobbyist Fees

According to an article in the Jacksonville Times-Union this week, former Jacksonville council member and current lobbyist Ginny Myrick said, in response to lobbying reforms suggested by Jacksonville ethics officer, and City Ethics' president, Carla Miller, that (not exact words) "it is important for exact payments from clients to remain protected because the information is proprietary. Under Miller’s proposals, lobbyists would have to disclose a range of payments they receive from clients, but not exact numbers."

Norm Ostrau, director of Florida Atlantic University’s Public Ethics Academy added, “I know of no municipality that has lobbyists report their fees.”

The idea that fees are proprietary information in the context of a regulated group was surprising to me, so I did some research. Here is what I found.

Chicago requires the periodic disclosure by lobbyists of their fees, to the nearest $1,000 (see page 4 of the disclosure form).

The District of Columbia requires "An enumeration and break down of total lobbying compensation receipts and expenditures" (§3102.2(b) of the lobbying ordinance).

Honolulu requires annual disclosure, for each entity, of the "total amount received as a lobbyist representing contributions, membership fees and other receipts related to lobbying activities."

Indianapolis/Marion County requires annual disclosure of "the total amount of payments received for each engagement during the previous calendar year." (§909-103(a)(4)).

King County, WA requires quarterly disclosure of "compensation earned from employer for lobbying this period (salary, wage, retainer)."

Los Angeles requires quarterly disclosure of "the amount of compensation earned for the compensated services." (§48.08(B)(10) of the Municipal Lobbying Ordinance)

New York City requires periodic disclosure of compensation paid or owed (see e-lobbyist users guide p. 75).

San Diego requires quarterly disclosure of "the total compensation that the lobbying firm became entitled to receive from that client during the reporting period for lobbying activities related to lobbying contacts." (§27.4017(a)(2)(A))

San Francisco requires monthly disclosure of "the amount of economic consideration received or expected by the lobbyist or the lobbyist's employer from each client during the reporting period." (§2.110(c)(6) of the Lobbying Ordinance)

Seattle requires periodic disclosure of "the total compensation paid to the lobbyist for lobbying purposes and any compensation for lobbying purposes provided to a lobbying entity for the lobbyist's services during the reporting period by each of the lobbyist's employer(s)." (§2.06.030(B)(3)).

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics

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