Skip to content

Expenditure Lobbyist Registration

English

How to Register

Expenditure lobbyists must register online with the Ethics Commission through its electronic filing system no later than five business days of qualifying as an expenditure lobbyist, and prior to making any additional payments to influence local legislation or administrative action. An expenditure lobbyist may opt to have a representative or firm register and file the reports on its behalf.

To register, expenditure lobbyists must file Registration Reports that disclose information about their business activities, City agencies that they have lobbied or may lobby, and the lobbying period (date ranges) for each City agency.

If an individual, the expenditure lobbyist must also provide a professional quality digital color photograph to be include in the Ethics Commission’s Expenditure Lobbyist directory. The photographs must include the full face and shoulders of each lobbyist, squarely facing the camera.

Registration Fee

Each expenditure lobbyist must pay a fee of $500 at the time of registration. After initial registration, expenditure 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 an expenditure lobbyist’s registration with the Ethics Commission.

The Ethics Commission shall waive the $500 registration fee and the $500 annual re-registration fee for 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that file or reasonably intend to file an IRS Form 990-EZ or IRS Form 990-N or otherwise demonstrate that their annual budget is $500,000 or less. The Ethics Commission will also waive the $500 registration fee and the $500 re-registration fee of a person who qualifies as an expenditure lobbyist if he or she is a full-time employee of a tax-exempt 501(c)3 or 501(c)4 nonprofit organization.

This fee may be paid on-line by using a debit or e-check, or by sending a check made payable to the “City and County of San Francisco” to: San Francisco Ethics Commission, ATT: Lobbyist Administrator, 25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 220, San Francisco, CA 94102.

Registration Amendments

Any changes to an expenditure lobbyist’s registration information, including contact information, the agencies lobbied or lobbying date ranges, must be reported within five calendar days of any changed circumstances, by filing an amended Registration Report. Expenditure 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.

Termination

A registered expenditure lobbyist may terminate registration and monthly reporting obligations by filing a final monthly statement, indicating the report is a termination statement. An expenditure lobbyist can only terminate after it ceases all expenditure lobbyist activity. The Ethics Commission will automatically terminate the registration of an expenditure lobbyist that fails to pay the annual registration fee by February 1.

Reporting

We are continuously increasing the number of translated pages on this site. Materials on this website that are not currently translated may be translated upon request. Contact us to provide feedback on this page.

Estamos aumentando continuamente el número de páginas traducidas en este sitio. Los materiales de este sitio web que no están traducidos actualmente pueden traducirse previa solicitud. Contáctenos para proporcionar comentarios sobre esta página o solicitar traducciones.

我們正在不斷增加本網站翻譯頁面的數量。本網站上目前未翻譯的資料可根據要求進行翻譯。聯絡我們以在此頁面上提供回饋或要求翻譯。

Patuloy naming dinaragdagan ang bilang ng mga isinalin na pahina sa site na ito. Ang mga materyal sa website na ito na hindi kasalukuyang isinasalin ay maaaring isalin kapag hiniling. Makipag-ugnayan sa amin para magbigay ng feedback sa page na ito o humiling ng mga pagsasalin.