Semi-Annual Lobbying Activity Report Form Instructions
Reporting Periods: Each year, there are two reporting periods for which reports are required, January 1 through June 30 and July 1 through December 31. A lobbying activity report covering January 1 through June 30 must be filed with the Ethics Commission by July 31 of that year. A lobbying activity report covering July 1 through December 31 must be filed with the Ethics Commission by January 31 of the subsequent year. An activity report must be filed for each reporting period during which a lobbyist is registered, even if the lobbyist engages in no lobbying activities and has no reportable compensation or expenses in that period.
Required Reporting: Each semi-annual lobbying activity report must include total expenditures on lobbying in each of the following categories:
- Office expenses;
- Professional and technical research and assistance;
- Publications that expressly encourage persons to communicate with public employees;
- Names of witnesses and the fees and expenses paid to each;
- Meals and beverages for public employees and their immediate families;
- Special events, including parties, dinners, athletic events, entertainment, and other functions, to which all members of the Council or the governing body of an agency are invited;
- Expenses for food, lodging, and scheduled entertainment of public employees given in return for participation in a panel or speaking engagement at a meeting;
- Other gifts to or for public employees or their immediate families;
- Other expenses;
- Total compensation paid to the lobbyist, or a prorated amount based on the time spent on lobbying, if lobbying is only one portion of the lobbyist’s employment activities;
The semi-annual activity report must include all costs and expenses associated with a registration during the semi-annual period. Please ensure that all salaries, compensation and reimbursed expenses for staffers are factored into each semi-annual activity report.
Form Completion Instructions:
- If there is no activity to report for a semi-annual reporting period, check the No Activity box at the top of the report, electronically sign the bottom of the document, and click Submit Activity Report.
- Otherwise, insert totals for each section, rounding up to the nearest whole dollar. For Section 1 (Office Expenses) and Section 9 (Other Expenses), please describe the expenses you are including in the space provided. While certain expenses or compensation could potentially fall into more than one category, please be sure to account for any and all expenses/compensation only once per form. For Section 10 (Total compensation paid for lobbying), the amount reported should only relate to this particular registration.
- A grand total will be automatically generated, based on the values you assign to each section of the Activity Reporting Form.
- List individual public employees who were beneficiaries of gifts with a cumulative value of equal to or greater than $50 during the year.
- Check the Oath box.
- The Lobbying Activity Reporting form must be electronically signed by the Lobbyist. If the Lobbyist is not an individual, an authorized officer or agent can sign. A telephone number and email address for the signer must be provided.
- Click Submit Activity Report. You will then receive an email confirmation from the Ethics Commission acknowledging the Lobbying Activity Report submission.
- If you wish to print a copy of your submitted Lobbying Activity Report, click Activity Report Home, and click View under the specific semi-annual report you wish to retrieve. Click Print at the bottom of the report page.
Questions may be referred to the Ethics Commission by e-mail to:
Ethics.Commission@montgomerycountymd.gov
Ethics Commission Lobby Registration and Activity Reporting Annual Reports are available in Portable Document Format (PDF).
In order to view and print PDF files, you may need to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader Software 