Lobby Trainings & Resources

Guide to Lobbying

OGEC provides a guide for lobbyists and the entities they represent which discusses how the provisions in ORS Chapter 171 apply to lobbying activities. This guide covers:

Oregon Lobby Law
Lobbyist registration requirements
How to register and terminate registration
Quarterly Expenditure Reports

In addition, the guide also discusses how certain provisions in ORS Chapter 244 apply to public officials and lobbyists.

Guide to Lobbying in Oregon

Available Trainings

Live Webinars

OGEC offers a monthly live webinar on Lobby Law. This session is designed specifically for new lobbyist and new client/employers but that should not deter seasoned lobbyists or deter their client/employers from attending. The course will cover Lobby Regulation Law found in ORS 171.725 - 171.785 and 171.992. We'll discuss thresholds for registering as a lobbyist and how to file quarterly expenditure reports. This session is 90 minutes. Registration for this webinar is available on the Live Webinars page.

Customized Training

Would you like OGEC to present on Lobby Law to your agency or organization? We offer customized trainings on Lobby Law and demonstrations on how to use the Electronic Filing System (EFS).

Lobby Regulation Law: Training topics include what is lobbying, who needs to register as a lobbyist, how to use the Electronic Filing System to register and file required reports. ORS 171.725 - 171.785, 171.792

Review of Lobby Regulation Law and EFS demonstration: 1.5 hours

Review of Lobby Regulation Law: 45 minutes

EFS Demonstration only: 45 minutes

Please complete the Customized Training Request Form and a trainer will follow-up with you.

Online Tutorials

OGEC provides short online tutorial videos for lobbyists and client/employers on how to set-up an account and register, and how to file an expenditure report.

Required Respectful Workplace Training

In 2019, Oregon Legislation passed HB3377 which requires all lobbyists that were active lobbyists for any period during a year to complete a two-hour training presented by the Oregon Legislative Equity Office (LEO). ORS 171.742 became effective on January 1, 2021 and requires all registered lobbyists to attend at least two hours of Respectful Workplace Training annually.

Please refer to the Legislative Equity Office for questions and additional information regarding this requirement.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What if I have no expenses to report?

You must complete and submit a report even if you had no expenditures for the reporting period.

If my registration was active for only a few days of the reporting period/quarter, do I still need to file a report?

Yes. If your registration was active for only one day during any calendar quarter, an expense report is required for that quarter, i.e. even if you were only registered for one day before the reporting period ended or even if your registration was terminated only one day into a new reporting period.

Please note: It is important to keep your profile account updated and terminate your registration timely to ensure you receive important updates/information and are not required to submit a quarterly expenditure report beyond the quarter in which you were no longer active as a lobbyist.

What if the client or employer I represent reimburses me for my expenditures?

You must report all expenditures for lobbying-related activities even though the client or employer you represent reimbursed you for the expenses. If the client or employer paid expenses incurred during a lobbying activity that you arranged and were a participant in, you must report those expenses as reimbursed. The client or employer providing reimbursement must be identified.

Do I have to report expenses if I use my client or employer’s credit card to pay for a lobbying related activity?

The use of a client or employer’s credit card, debit card or other such payment device is the equivalent of a reimbursed expense and is to be reported as such. The expenses paid by these methods should be included in the totals as expenses incurred and expenses reimbursed. [OAR 199-010-0075(1)(c)].

What kinds of expenditures/information must be reported?

Total Expended:

Enter the aggregate sum of all expenditures incurred for food, refreshments or entertainment as a result of your efforts to promote a desired legislative outcome or obtain the goodwill of a legislative official.

NOTE: All sections that follow are for the purpose of itemizing certain expenditures included in the “Total Expended". All sections are limited to reporting expenses for food, refreshments, and entertainment.

Reimbursed Expenses:

Click “+ Add an Expense" to enter information about each lobby expense that was reimbursed to you in the quarter (the names of the clients or employers who provided reimbursements and the amounts reimbursed). Click the “Check here for none" box if no expenses were reimbursed to you.

NOTE: The information you input for “Total Expended" and “Reimbursed Expenses" auto-calculates and fills the “Total Reimbursed" and “Net Expenditures" fields that follow.

Itemized Expenses:

Click to “+Add an Itemized Expense" only if more than $50 was expended on any single occasion, by one or more persons on a lobbying-related activity, for the benefit of a legislative or executive official. Expenditures for relatives are considered “for the benefit" of the official. If more than one person financially contributed on the occasion, you must list their name(s) in the next section (see “Additional Contributors" below). Click the “Check here for none" box if you have no itemized expenses to report.

Additional Contributors:

Click “+ Add a Contributor" to report the name of any person or entity that contributed to paying any expense(s) that you were required to report under “Itemized Expenses" [OAR 199-010-0075(2)(c)]. Click the “Check here for none" box if you have no additional contributors to report.

Supporting Documentation:

Some lobby-related expenditures require you to give the receiving public official written notice of the value of the expense within 10 days. Notice must be given if either: (a) the cost of food, lodging and/or travel spent on the public official to attend any single event defined in ORS 244.020(7)(b)(F) exceeds a combined total of $50; or (b) the full market value of honoraria given to the public official pursuant to ORS 244.042 is worth more than $15. Attach copies of such notices to this report [ORS 244.100].

Electronic Signature:

Once all required information is accurately entered, click the green “Submit" icon at the bottom of your screen. A pop-up box will appear – type your first and last name (i.e., as it appears in the upper right-hand corner of your screen, “Welcome, [NAME]") into the “Electronic Signature" field, check “Confirmed", and then click “File Report".

If unable to complete the report in one sitting, you can always click “Save and File Later" at the bottom of the screen. To continue working on a saved report, locate it in your “Reports" tab, and click the corresponding “+" symbol in the “Edit/Amend" column.

If our registration was active for only a few days of the reporting period/quarter, does a report still need to be filed?

Yes.
If a lobbyist was registered on your behalf for one day during any calendar quarter, an expense report is required for that quarter, i.e even if the lobbyist registered only one day before the reporting period ended, or even if the lobbyist’s registration was terminated only one day into a new reporting period.

Please note: It is important to keep your profile account updated and terminate your relationship with a lobbyist timely to ensure you receive important updates/information and are not required to submit a quarterly expenditure report beyond the quarter in which you were no longer a client/employer of a lobbyist.

What if I/we have no lobbyist or lobbying expenses to report?

A report must be completed and submited even if you had no lobbyist/lobbying expenditures for the reporting period.

What kinds of expenditures are exempt from reporting?

Do not list living and travel expenses incurred for a lobbyist performing lobbying services. Such as: the cost to the lobbyist for lodging, food or parking costs that result from a lobbyist performing lobbying services. [ORS 171.750(1)(c)].

Do not report political contributions or expenditures reported under ORS Chapter 260.

What kinds of expenditures must be reported?

Examples of reportable expenditures may include:

Compensation paid to lobbyists (if the lobbyist is your employee, prorate their salary for time lobbying).
Reimbursements paid to lobbyists (may include payment of credit card charges incurred by the lobbyist).
Prorated or estimated cost of support staff, telephone, postage, printing and overhead related to lobbying.
Expenses in an effort to promote a desired legislative outcome or obtain goodwill of a legislative official.

Total Expended:

Enter the aggregate sum of ALL expenditures incurred as a result of efforts to promote a desired legislative outcome or obtain the goodwill of a legislative official.

NOTE: All sections that follow are for the purpose of itemizing certain expenditures included in the “Total Expended".

Lobbyist/Organization Paid for Lobbying:

Click “+ Add an Expense" to individually enter the name of each lobbyist you compensated or reimbursed for lobby-related expenses during the reporting period. For each lobbyist listed, also enter the dollar amounts compensated and/or reimbursed to the lobbyist for lobbying during the reporting period. If you were represented by two or more registered lobbyists who work at the same firm, you may instead simply enter the firm's name and the sum totals of any compensation and/or reimbursement paid to the firm and/or its lobbyists (as opposed to entering each lobbyist individually). Do not use the “Check here for none" box on this section of the form; you must list a lobbyist.

NOTE: If the lobbyist is your employee, include the prorated portion of the salary attributable to lobbying.

Itemized Expenses:

Click to “+ Add an Itemized Expense" only if more than $50 was expended on any single occasion, by one or more persons on a lobbying-related activity, for the benefit of a legislative or executive official. Expenditures for relatives are considered “for the benefit" of the official. If more than one person financially contributed on the occasion, you must list their name(s) in the next section (see “Additional Contributors" below). Click the “Check here for none" box if you have no itemized expenses to report.

Additional Contributors:

Click “+ Add a Contributor" to report the name of any person or entity that contributed to paying any expense(s) that you were required to report under “Itemized Expenses" [OAR 199-010-0075(2)(c)]. Click the “Check here for none" box if you have no additional contributors to report.

Supporting Documentation:

Some lobby-related expenditures require you to give the receiving public official written notice of the value of the expense within 10 days. Notice must be given if either: (a) the cost of food, lodging and/or travel spent on the public official to attend any single event defined in ORS 244.020(7)(b)(F) exceeds a combined total of $50; or (b) the full market value of honoraria given to the public official pursuant to ORS 244.042 is worth more than $15. Drag and drop copies of such notices into this report [ORS 244.100].

Electronic Signature:

Once all required information is accurately entered, click the green “Submit" icon at the bottom of your screen. A pop-up box will appear – type your first and last name (i.e., as it appears in the upper right-hand corner of your screen, “Welcome, [NAME]") into the “Electronic Signature" field, check “Confirmed", and then click “File Report".

NOTE: If unable to complete the report in one sitting, you can always click “Save and file later" at the bottom of the screen. To continue working on a saved report, locate it in your “Reports" tab, and click the corresponding “+" symbol in the “Edit/Amend" column.

Additional Resources

Lobbying Flowchart

AG Lobby Opinion 8259

Oregon Legislative Equity Office

Contact Us

If you have specific questions, please contact the Oregon Government Ethics Commission (OGEC) by telephone at 503-378-5105, or by email to mail@ogec.oregon.gov .