>Subject:    congressional reps
>Author: xxxxxx@runet.edu
>Date:       3/17/98 4:33 PM

>I have been instructed to write to two area congressional
>representatives, sending them an abstract of a proposal we recently
>submitted to a federal agency and asking for their endorsement.
> If we do that, is that considered lobbying?  If it is considered
>lobbying, what disclosure do I make?
>Janet M. Hahn
>Director, Research & Sponsored Programs
>Radford University
>Radford, VA 24142-6926
>tel: 540-831-5479
>xxxxxx@runet.edu

Janet:

Depends on whose definition you're using and your particular institution's
situation.  Lobbying regulations are, IMHO, pretty much of a mess, with
numerous overlapping regulations and definitions.  For example (briefly):

Under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (PL 104-65), the above instance
might be considered a "lobbying contact" since it involves a "written
communication to a covered official with regard to the administration or
execution of a Federal program or policy (including the negotiation, award,
or administration of a Federal contract, grant, loan, permit or license);
..."  Your institution may or may not need to register under the Lobbying
Disclosure Act, and therefore submit semiannual reports on such activities,
depending on how much of its budget it spends on such activities (among
other things - see below).  The apparent principle in operation here is
whether the institution has on its staff anyone who would be considered a
"lobbyist,"  the definition of which is based on how much money is spent on
that kind of activity.

Aside from the LDA, 501(c)(3) organizations need to complete Schedule A of
IRS  Form 990 on Lobbying Expenditures, but in this case the relevant term
is the more narrow "influencing legislation."  To further complicate
matters, such organizations then have an option to use the IRS definitions
of "lobbying activities" for their LDA reporting.  At any rate, 501(c)(3)
organizations must report lobbying expenditures on Form 990, so there
should be some sort of record-keeping system in place if such activities
exist.

In either case (LDA or IRS) the "registrant" is the institution, not the
individual.

The AAU did a substantial amount of investigation on this issue in 1995 and
1996.

You can get some useful information from the House of Representatives site at:
<http://clerkweb.house.gov/lrc/pd/lobby/lobby.htm>.

Randy.

============================
Randall Legeai
Assoc. Director, Institutional Program Development & Gov't/Agency Affairs
Tulane University, New Orleans LA 70118; (504) 865-5758; fax (504) 865-5274
http://www.tulane.edu/~govtaff/rlhome.htm