Compliance Tips: Common Mistakes To Avoid When Preparing LDA Reports –

With the first LD-2 reporting deadline of 2023 less than two
weeks away (April 20), registrants should begin to compile their
organization’s federal lobbying activity for disclosure on
their quarterly reports. The U.S. Government Accountability Office
(GAO) recently released its annual report summarizing registrants’ and
lobbyists’ compliance with disclosure obligations during 2022.
As part of its annual review, the GAO surveyed 100 quarterly LD-2
reports and 160 semi-annual LD-203 contribution reports. GAO’s
report details where filers complied—and failed to
comply—with their obligations under the Lobbying Disclosure
Act of 1995, as amended (LDA). Below is a list of the most common
errors made by filers on LD-2 and LD-203 reports:

• When reporting lobbying income and expenses on lines 12 and 13
  of your LD-2, the total amounts are required to be rounded to the
  nearest $10,000. The GAO estimated that 14% of reports filed in
  2022 contained easily-avoidable rounding errors.




• When disclosing a new lobbyist on line 18 of your LD-2 for the
  first time, be sure to include their complete list of covered
  positions for the past 20 years. According to the GAO’s report,
  27% of LD-2 reports filed in 2022 disclosed new lobbyists without
  accurately reporting their previous positions in the executive or
  legislative branches of the federal government.




• If your organization reports lobbying activity and expenses
  using the Internal Revenue Code definitions (i.e., you file using
  “Method C”), confirm that the executive branch officials
  with whom your lobbyists had contacts are actually included in the
  limited number of covered executive branch officials under the
  federal tax code.




• As registrants and individual lobbyists compile their
  contributions for disclosure on their semi-annual LD-203 reports,
  remember to cross-reference contributions with the Federal Election
  Commission (FEC) database. The GAO will verify that contributions
  disclosed by the FEC match those reported by lobbyists and
  registrants on their LD-203s. According to the GAO, 7% of LD-203s
  failed to include reportable contributions in 2022. The next LD-203
  reporting deadline is July 31.

Between 2013 and 2022, the Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of
the House of Representatives have made over 11,000 referrals to the
United States Attorney’s Office for failure to comply with LD-2
and LD-203 reporting requirements. Generally, notices of
noncompliance can be resolved by filing amendments. However, more
serious violations can result in fines.

As the April 20 deadline to file LD-2 reports covering the first
quarter of 2023 quickly approaches, don’t hesitate to reach out
to the Akin Political Law Team to assist with your reporting needs
and answer any LDA compliance questions. For your reference, the
LD-2 reporting website can be found here. We are also available to assist with
lobbying compliance at the state and local levels.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.