Supporting Documentation Varied Based on Reporting Requirements

While no specific requirements exist for lobbyists to create or maintain  documentation, GAO’s review showed that lobbyists could provide  documentation to varying degrees for the reporting elements in their  disclosure reports. We  estimate that lobbyists could provide some form of written documentation  for income or expenses for approximately 99 percent of disclosure reports  for the first three quarters of 2008. Overall, lobbyists could provide  documentation for all seven reporting elements we reviewed on about 35  percent of the disclosure reports (34 of 98) in GAO’s sample. We estimate that lobbyists were  unable to provide documentation for one or more elements on about 65  percent of the lobbying activity disclosure reports (64 of 98) we  reviewed. As of March 18, 2009, lobbyists had amended 12 disclosure reports  included in our sample to correct income or expenses, information on the  entities lobbied, lobbyists listed, or other information. In  the 2 other cases, the lobbyists said they realized that they had failed to  report covered positions and plan to amend their disclosure reports. Most Contributions Reports Could Be Supported by FEC Data or Documentation

Reports of federal campaign and other political contributions are required  to be reported under the Act. In addition, we estimate  that 16 percent of the reports had errors or omissions, or failed to disclose  required contributions. Newly Registered Lobbyists Generally Met Reporting Requirements

New registrations filed in the first three quarters of 2008 were largely  followed by disclosure reports for the filing period as required. However, we could not identify corresponding reports  of lobbying activity for 518 (approximately 13 percent) of the 4,134 new  registrations. We were  able to match approximately 88 percent of newly registered lobbyists to  disclosure reports filed during the second quarter. In addition, our review of contributions reports identified some small  firms and sole proprietors that did not understand the requirement for  both firms and individual lobbyists to file contributions reports. In our last report on lobbying disclosure, we  stated that we believe that the lobbying community could benefit from  creating an organization to    share examples of best practices of the types of records maintained to  support filings and use this information gathered over an initial period to  formulate minimum standards for recordkeeping;    provide training for the lobbying community on reporting and disclosure  requirements, intended to help the community comply with the Act; and  report annually to the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House  on opportunities to clarify existing guidance and ways to minimize sources  of potential confusion for the lobbying community. U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia Is Making Progress on Its Approach to Focusing Resources on Lobbyists Who Fail to Comply

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (the Office) is  responsible for the enforcement of the Act. Since September 2008, the Office has assigned  an additional staff member to assist with lobbying compliance issues. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Consistent with the requirements of the Honest Leadership and Open  Government Act (HLOGA), our objectives were to:    determine the extent to which lobbyists can demonstrate compliance by  providing support for information on registrations and reports filed in  response to requirements of the amended Lobbying Disclosure Act (the  Act);  identify the challenges lobbyists cite in complying with the Act and  suggestions for improving compliance; and    describe the resources and authorities available to effectively enforce the  Act including the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia’s  efforts to focus resources on lobbyists who continually fail to comply with  the Act. We contacted each lobbyist in our sample and asked them to provide  support for key elements in their reports, including:  the amount of income reported for lobbying activities;  the amount of expenses reported on lobbying activities;  the names of lobbyists who had held covered official positions;  the houses of Congress and federal agencies that they lobbied;  the names of foreign entities with interest in the client;  the names of individuals no longer acting as a lobbyist for the client; and  the names of any member organizations of a coalition or association that  actively participated in lobbying activities on behalf of the client. We then selected a systematic random sample of 100 LD-203  reports from the approximately 6,048 LD-203 reports that contain  contributions.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA) of 2007 amended the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 by doubling the frequency of lobbyists' reporting and increasing criminal and civil penalties. This is GAO's second report in response to the Act's requirement for GAO to annually (1) determine the extent to which lobbyists can demonstrate compliance with the Act by providing support for information on their registrations and reports, (2) describe challenges identified by lobbyists to complying with the Act, and (3) describe the resources and authorities available to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia's efforts to enforce the Act. For this report, GAO placed increased emphasis on written documentation to support disclosure reports. GAO reviewed a random sample of 100 lobbyist disclosure reports filed during the first three quarters of calendar year 2008. GAO also selected a random sample of 100 reports of federal political contributions, filed for the first time, for mid-calendar-year 2008. This methodology allowed GAO to generalize the sample results to the populations of 40,169 lobbying activity disclosure reports and 6,048 reports with contributions filed. GAO met with lobbyists regarding their filings and with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia regarding resources, authorities, and efforts to focus resources on lobbyists who fail to comply with the Act.

What GAO Found

While there are no specific requirements for lobbyists to create or maintain documentation related to disclosure reports they file under HLOGA, GAO's review showed that lobbyists were generally able to provide documentation, although in varying degrees, to support items in their disclosure reports. For income and expenses, two key elements of the disclosure reports, lobbyists could provide written documentation for an estimated 99 percent of the reports. However, in approximately 14 percent of cases, the documentation provided either was incomplete or contradicted the reported amount of income or expense. In addition to income and expenses, GAO reviewed five other data elements in the disclosure reports, and lobbyists who were required to report on these elements could provide documented support for all items in an estimated 35 percent of the reports. As of March 18, 2009, lobbyists had amended 12 disclosure reports included in GAO's sample to make corrections on one or more data elements. For political contribution reports, filed for the first time in 2008, GAO estimates that 65 percent of the reports could be supported by FEC data or documentation provided by lobbyists. An estimated 16 percent of the reports contained erroneous entries or failed to disclose required contributions. The majority of lobbyists who newly registered with the Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House in the first three quarters of 2008 filed required disclosure reports for the period. However, for about 13 percent of the registrants, GAO could not identify a corresponding report on file for their lobbying activity, likely because either a report was not filed or reports that were filed contained information, such as client names, that did not match. Similar to GAO's findings in the first review of lobbying disclosure, most lobbyists felt that existing guidance for filing required registrations and reports was sufficient. However, GAO's review of documentation and lobbyists' statements indicates some opportunities to strengthen lobbyists' understanding of the requirements. Some small firms and sole proprietors indicated they did not understand the requirement for both firms and individual lobbyists to file reports on financial contributions. GAO continues to believe, as noted in its first report, that the lobbying community could benefit from creating an organization to focus on sharing best practices, providing training, and reporting on opportunities to minimize potential confusion. In response to an earlier GAO recommendation, in April 2009 the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia (the Office) plans to put in place a system to better track, analyze, and report on its enforcement activities. The Office also has assigned an additional staff member to assist with lobbying compliance issues.