No specific requirements exist for  lobbyists to create or maintain documentation in support of the  registrations or reports they file. The registration and subsequent LD-2 reports  must disclose  the name of the organization, lobbying firm, or self-employed individual  that is lobbying on that client’s behalf;    a list of individuals who acted as lobbyists on behalf of the client  during the reporting period;    whether any lobbyists served as covered executive branch or  legislative branch officials in the previous 20 years;  the name of and further information about the client, including a  general description of its business or activities;  information on the general issue area and specific lobbying issues;    any foreign entities that have an interest in the client;  the client’s status as a state or local government;  information on which federal agencies and house(s) of Congress the  lobbyist contacted on behalf of the client during the reporting period;  the amount of income related to lobbying activities received from the  client (or expenses for organizations with in-house lobbyists) during  the quarter rounded to the nearest $10,000; and    a list of constituent organizations that contribute more than $5,000 for  lobbying in a quarter and actively participate in planning, supervising,  or controlling lobbying activities, if the client is a coalition or  association. For example, most lobbyists were able to provide documentation to  support income or expenses related elements of their reports. We estimate  that lobbyists could provide written documentation for income or  expenses for an estimated 88 percent of the disclosure reports for the  fourth quarter of 2008 and the first three quarters of 2009. Additionally, 15  lobbyists indicated that they planned to amend their disclosure reports  after our review. As of March 18, 2010, 7 of the 15 lobbyists had amended  their disclosure reports. Most Contribution Reports Could Be Supported by FEC Data or Documentation

Individual lobbyists and lobbying organizations are required to file federal  campaign and political contributions reports, even if they did not make  any contributions during the reporting period. All of the  lobbyists said that they did not report the information listed in the FEC  database because of an oversight and plan to amend the reports. We  could not readily identify corresponding reports of lobbying activity for  695 (approximately 11 percent) of the 6,184 new registrations, likely  because either a report was not filed or reports that were filed contained  information, such as client names, that did not match. The Clerk of the  House and Secretary of the Senate routinely review the completeness of  registrations and reports and follow up with lobbyists. The system allows officials from the Office to track referral  and enforcement actions and to monitor lobbyists who continually fail to  file the required disclosure reports. To enforce LDA compliance, the Office has primarily focused on sending  letters to lobbyists who have potentially violated the LDA by not filing  disclosure reports as required. Because there is a  time lapse between when the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the  House send the first contact letters and when they make referrals to the  Office, lobbyists may have responded to the contact letters from the  Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House after referrals have been  received by the Office. Since then  no additional settlements or civil actions have been pursued, although the  Office is following up on hundreds of referrals each year. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Consistent with the requirements of the Honest Leadership and Open  Government Act of 2007, 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  of 1995 (LDA);  identify the challenges and potential improvements to compliance by  lobbyists, lobbying firms, and registrants; and    describe the efforts the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of  Columbia (the Office) has made to improve its enforcement of the LDA,  including identifying trends in past lobbying disclosure compliance. While we determined that both the House and Senate  disclosure data were sufficiently reliable for identifying a sample of  quarterly disclosure reports (LD-2 reports) and for assessing whether  newly filed registrants also filed required reports, we chose to use data  from the Clerk of the House for sampling LD-2 reports from the last  quarter of 2008, first three quarters of 2009, as well as for year-end 2008  and midyear 2009 contributions reports (LD-203 reports), and finally for  matching quarterly registrations with filed reports. The first  sample contains 100 reports of the 10,928 reports with political  contributions and the second contains 100 reports from the 22,572 reports  listing no contributions.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 amended the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA). This is GAO's third report in response to the LDA's requirement for GAO to annually (1) determine the extent to which lobbyists can demonstrate compliance with the LDA by providing support for information on their registrations and reports, (2) identify challenges and potential improvements to compliance for registered lobbyists, and (3) describe the efforts the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia (the Office) has made to improve its enforcement of the LDA. GAO reviewed a random sample of 134 lobbying disclosure reports filed from the fourth quarter of calendar year 2008 through the third quarter of calendar year 2009. GAO also selected two random samples of federal political campaign contributions reports from year-end 2008 through midyear 2009. GAO sampled 100 reports listing contributions and 100 reports listing no contributions. This methodology allowed GAO to generalize to the population of 53,756 disclosure reports, 10,928 contributions reports, and 22,572 reports with no contributions. GAO also met with officials from the Office regarding efforts to focus resources on lobbyists who fail to comply with the LDA.

What GAO Found

While there are no specific requirements for lobbyists to create or maintain documentation related to disclosure reports they file under the LDA, GAO's review showed that lobbyists were generally able to provide documentation, although in varying degrees, to support items in their disclosure reports. This finding is similar to GAO's results from last year's review. For income and expenses, two key elements of the reports, GAO estimates that lobbyists could provide written documentation for approximately 89 percent of the disclosure reports. After GAO's review, 15 lobbyists stated that they planned to amend their disclosure reports to make corrections on one or more data elements. As of March 18, 2010, 7 of the 15 amended their disclosure reports to make these corrections. For political contribution reports, GAO estimates that 82 percent of the reports listing contributions could be supported by Federal Elections Commission (FEC) data or documentation provided by lobbyists. Among reports with no contributions listed, an estimated minimum of 3 percent of reports omitted one or more contributions that should have been reported. All of the lobbyists said that they did not report the information listed in the FEC database because of an oversight and plan to amend their reports. The majority of lobbyists who newly registered with the Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House of Representatives in the last quarter of 2008 and first three quarters of 2009 filed required disclosure reports for the period. GAO could not identify corresponding reports on file for lobbying activity for about 11 percent of the registrants, likely because either reports were not filed or the reports that were filed contained information, such as client names, that did not match the registrations. The Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House routinely review the completeness of registrations and reports and follow up with lobbyists. 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. The Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House update guidance periodically to respond to issues and comments as they arise. In response to an earlier GAO recommendation, the Office developed a system to help monitor and track enforcement efforts. The Office continues to refine the system to meet the requirements conveyed in GAO's recommendation. To enforce compliance, the Office primarily focuses on sending letters to lobbyists who potentially violated the LDA by not filing disclosure reports. No civil actions or settlements with lobbyists have been pursued by the Office since 2005, although it is following up on hundreds of referrals each year.