Steps to Complete
Information to prepare before you register
- Employer Information
- Client List and time period represented
- List of agencies lobbied or plan to lobby and time periods
- Professional quality color photograph (full face and shoulders)
Step 1: File a Registration Report
Contact lobbyists must register online with the Ethics Commission through its electronic filing system no later than five business days of qualifying as a contact lobbyist and prior to making any additional contacts with an officer of the City and County of San Francisco. A lobbyist may opt to have a representative or firm register and file the reports on his or her behalf.
To register, lobbyists must file Registration Reports that disclose information about their employers, clients, City agencies that they have lobbied or may lobby, and the lobbying period (date ranges) for each client and City agency. Lobbyists must also provide professional quality digital color photographs to be included in the Ethics Commission’s Lobbyist directory. The photographs must include the full face and shoulders of each lobbyist, squarely facing the camera.
Current and Returning lobbyists must file their Registration Reports from their existing account within five business days of qualifying activity, to remain active in the upcoming year. The registration process will require current lobbyists to provide lobbying period (date ranges) for their active clients as well as the names of City agencies they have lobbied or may lobby. A lobbyist who does not terminate their status by the end of the year and does not pay the Registration Fee by February 1 will be automatically terminated until a new Registration Report is filed and the Registration Fee is paid.
New lobbyists can initiate the registration process through the following link to create a new e-filing account and file a Registration Report.
Start a registration report
Step 2: Pay Registration Fees
A lobbyist must pay a $500 fee at the time of initial registration. After initial registration, lobbyists must pay $500 re-registration fee annually by February 1 to remain active. Failure to pay the annual fee by February 1 will automatically terminate a lobbyist’s registration with the Ethics Commission.
Pay fees online
The lobbyist registration fee may be paid on-line by using a debit/credit card or e-check, or by sending a check made payable to the City and County of San Francisco to: San Francisco Ethics Commission, ATTN: Lobbyist Administrator, 25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 220, San Francisco, CA 94102.
Registration Amendments
Any changes to a lobbyist’s registration information including contact information, information about a lobbyist’s employer, the lobbyist’s clients, the agencies lobbied or lobbying date ranges must be reported within five calendar days of any changed circumstances, by filing an amended Registration Report. Lobbyists should not wait until their next monthly disclosure report to submit any changes.
Failure to timely amend a Registration Report may result in late fees of $50 per day.
Late Fees
Registration reports filed late are subject to a late fee of $50 per day.