Follow
these steps to look at the reports filed by a lobbyist or
the principal (lobbyist’s client) in
STEP 1:
Go directly to:
www.secretary.state.nc.us/lobbyists/
OR
go to the Secretary of State’s home page at:
Scroll
down and click on
Lobbyist Registration Section
STEP 2: In the left hand
section, under “Lobbyist Registration,” choose “Search for a Lobbyist” or
“Search for a Principal.” Principals are the lobbyists’ clients. You can also
get a list of “Legislative Liaison” – staff members of state government
agencies that lobby on behalf of their agency.
STEP 3: Choose the
two-year legislative session (TERM) of interest to you. Then type in just ONE
key word in the name of the lobbyist or principal you want to research.
STEP 4: This will bring
up options with that name. Choose the one you want and click.
STEP 5: After clicking
on a specific name, you get options for terms, lobbyists, and principals. Click
on the Yellow Icon that corresponds to the combination you want. (If you are on
the screen for a lobbyist, you can click on a principal’s name in the list to
look up other lobbyists for that principal and to look up the principal’s
disclosure reports.) If there is no Yellow Icon, then no reports are available
on-line. You’ll have to get them from the Secretary of State’s office.
STEP 6: The Yellow Icon
takes you to a screen with options for disclosure reports. Prior to Jan. 2007,
there are 4 reports in the biennium term of the General Assembly, i.e., 2
reports per year. The lobbyist and the principal each file disclosure reports.
One report is filed 60 days after the session ends for that year, and the other
covers the rest of the year. After Jan. 2007, there are quarterly reports, with
monthly reporting during the session if expenditures are made for the benefit
of, or on behalf of, a covered state public official. There are also
Registration and Authorization forms for each lobbyist and lobbyist’s
principal, which give information about what general topics the lobbyist will
work on, name and address of contact people, and date when lobbying begins.
Click on the Icon for the report you want. Sometimes information on the
lobbyist’s report is repeated on the principal’s report, so don’t double count
these items. The compensation paid lobbyists is only on the principal’s report,
at the very end.
For questions,
call the Secretary of State at 919-807-2000 and ask for the
Lobbyist
Registration Section or call direct, 919-807-2268.
Prepared by
Democracy