(a) Each registrant shall file with the Director of Government Ethics between the 1st and 15th day of January, April, July, and October of each year a report signed under oath concerning the registrant's lobbying activities during the previous quarter. If the registrant is not an individual, an authorized officer or agent of the registrant shall sign the form. A registrant shall file a separate activity report for each person from whom he or she receives compensation. The reports shall be public documents and shall be on a form prescribed by the Director of Government Ethics and shall include the following:
(1) A complete and current statement of the information required to be supplied pursuant to § 1-1162.29;
(2)(A) Total expenditures on lobbying broken down into the following categories:
(i) Office expenses;
(ii) Advertising and publications;
(iii) Compensation to others;
(iv) Personal sustenance, lodging, and travel, if compensated;
(v) Other expenses;
(B) Each expenditure of $50 or more shall also be itemized by the date, name, and address of the recipient, and the amount and purpose of the expenditure;
(3) Each political expenditure, loan, gift, honorarium, or contribution of $50 or more made by the registrant or anyone acting on behalf of the registrant to benefit an official in the legislative or executive branch, a member of his or her staff or household, or a political committee or political action committee established for the benefit of the official, be itemized by date, beneficiary, amount, and circumstances of the transaction; including the aggregate of all expenditures that are less than $50;
(4) Each official in the executive or legislative branch and any member of the official’s staff, including personal and committee staff, who has a business relationship or a professional services relationship with the registrant shall be identified by name and the nature of the business relationship with the registrant;
(5) The name, position, and agency or office of each official in the executive or legislative branch and member of the official's staff with whom the registrant has had written or oral communications during the reporting period related to lobbying activities conducted by the registrant;
(5A) A precise description of the subject matter, including the title of any bill, proposed resolution, contract, reprogramming, or other legislation, of all written or oral communications related to lobbying activities conducted by the registrant with any official in the executive or legislative branch or member of the official's staff during the reporting period;
(6) Each person whom the registrant has given compensation to lobby on his or her behalf; and
(7) All bundled contributions in accordance with rules promulgated by the Board.
(a-1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, during a period of time for which the Mayor has declared a public health emergency pursuant to § 7-2304.01, the Board may change the dates by which reports required by subsection (a) of this section shall be filed.
(b) Each registrant shall obtain and preserve all accounts, bills, receipts, books, papers, and documents necessary to substantiate the activity reports required to be made pursuant to this section for 5 years from the date of filing of the report containing these items. These materials shall be made available for inspection upon requests by the Director of Government Ethics after reasonable notice.
(c) Each registrant who does not file a report required by this section for a given period is presumed not to be receiving or expending funds that are required to be reported under this part.
(d) The Board shall make the information reported under this section available to the public on its website and sortable by various fields, including by:
(1) Reporting period;
(2) Registrant name;
(3) Name of each person who lobbies on the registrant's behalf;
(4) Name of each official lobbied;
(5) The agency or office of each official lobbied;
(6) The subject of the communications (such as a specific administrative decision, bill, proposed resolution, contract, reprogramming, or other legislative action); and
(7) A listing of each political expenditure, loan, gift, honorarium, or contribution of $50 or more required to be reported by subsection (a)(3) of this section.
(Apr. 27, 2012, D.C. Law 19-124, § 230, 59 DCR 1862; Feb. 22, 2014, D.C. Law 20-79, § 2(b), 61 DCR 153; Oct. 30, 2018, D.C. Law 22-168, § 1083(dd), 65 DCR 9388; Mar. 16, 2021, D.C. Law 23-192, § 3(c), 68 DCR 001073.)
This section is referenced in § 1-1162.28.
The 2014 amendment by D.C. Law 20-79 substituted “political committee or political action committee” for “campaign or testimonial committee” in (a)(3); deleted “and” from the end of (a)(5); substituted “; and” for “shall also be listed in the report” in (a)(6); and added (a)(7).
Section 1086(b) of D.C. D.C. Law 22-168 provided that the amendments made to this section by 1083(dd)(1)(B) and (C) of D.C. D.C. Law 22-168 shall apply as of January 1, 2019.
Section 7009 of D.C. Law 21-160 repealed § 3 of D.C. Law 20-79. Therefore the changes made to this section by D.C. Law 20-79 have been given effect.
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 803(a)(3) of Coronavirus Support Second Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2020 (D.C. Act 23-405, Aug. 19, 2020, 67 DCR 10235).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 803(a)(3) of Coronavirus Support Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2020 (D.C. Act 23-328, June 8, 2020, 67 DCR 7598).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 803(a)(3) of Coronavirus Support Emergency Amendment Act of 2020 (D.C. Act 23-326, May 27, 2020, 67 DCR 7045).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 1083(dd) of Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2018 (D.C. Act 22-458, Oct. 3, 2018, 65 DCR 11212).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 1083(dd) of Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2018 (D.C. Act 22-434, July 30, 2018, 65 DCR 8200).
For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 803(a)(3) of Coronavirus Support Temporary Amendment Act of 2020 (D.C. Law 23-130, Oct. 9, 2020, 67 DCR 8622).
Applicability of D.C. Law 20-79: Section 3 of D.C. Law 20-79 provided that the act shall apply upon the latest of: (1) The inclusion of the fiscal effect of the act in an approved budget and financial plan, as certified by the Chief Financial Officer to the Budget Director of the Council in a certification published by the Council in the District of Columbia Register; or (2) January 31, 2015.
A certification dated February 4, 2015, that the fiscal effect of the Campaign Finance Reform and Transparency Amendment Act of 2013, D.C. Law 20-79, has been included in an approved budget and financial plan was published in the D.C. Register on March 13, 2015 (62 DCR 2988).
Structure District of Columbia Code