Many are the people who hold on to the notion that lobbying and non-profit organizations are incompatible. According to the Lobbying Disclosures Act of 1995, a lobbyist is an individual who spends at least 20 percent of their time for a particular client on lobbying practices and has multiple contacts with legislative staff, member of Congress or high-level executive branch official. For this, lobbying can be defined as the attempt of impelling government official or business organization legislations on certain practices with the purpose of helping a particular organization. Most people think that lobbying and nonprofits never mix because of the extreme propagation of vague perception that most of the nonprofits are illegal. It is essential to have a deeper understanding and a clear picture of the lobbying laws. Although many people think that lobbying activities are illegal, this is not true because the United States has legal requirements that highlight and regulates the actions of the nonprofit organization to ensure there is no any form of exploitation
The United States law dictates that every professional lobbyist must register before taking part in lobbying activities. The requirements of some States conditions that organizations or individuals who employ lobbyist are the ones to file registration paperwork, in most states, the lobbyists are the ones who present their registrant paper (NCSL, 2019).
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Additionally, the fee to register as a lobby ranges from zero hundred dollars depending on the organization. An organization that employs in -house lobbyists has to record the moment its expenses exceed $20,500 for a semiannual period (NCSL, 2019). Most importantly, the person registered as a lobbyist has to disclose information including; the filer contact and address, client personal or organizational information and the purpose of the lobby (NCSL, 2019). The later may not apply to all states since some may have a different way of acquiring information. Since all standards have to meet, some individuals who make money from lobbying often avoid registering.
Furthermore, every lobbyist has to file returns of their activities at least twice a year. A mid-year report, due in mid-August, covers January 1 through June 30 (NCSL, 2019). A year-end report, due in mid-February of the following year, covers July 1 through December 31. The report filing is in the office of the Senate of Public Records and the Clerk of the House Legislative Resources center (NCSL, 2019). The purpose of filling the returns twice a year is to ensure that all the lobby organizations activities are in line with the specification of the law.
There are are many activities that the nonprofit organization is permitted to practice, and equally, some events are not encouraged. Some of the accomplishments and practices that the organizations are allowed to take part in are.; educating the public about the political process and even offer training on the same, they can provide research, commentaries, and analyst to the public, they are inundated to castigate the incumbent Politian’s, and the can raise funds for the people (Chari, 2010). Also, the lobbyist can have a chance to secure federal funds in running their activities. However, the nonprofit organization is not permitted to criticize and attack the personal life of the sited political officials or any person in his/her statuses. The regulations maintain the serenity of the state.
In conclusion, it is now clear that the lobbying activities are legal and can be regulated by the of the government legislation. Every nonprofit organization is required to undergo scrupulous registration by the government. Moreover, every nonprofit organization needs to file returns twice a year for the government to keep up with its activities and ensure the organization is in line with the laws. Nevertheless, the nonprofit organization is permitted to take part in activities that may be of benefit to the states and not acts that may compromise the serenity of the country.
References
Chari, R. (2010). Regulating Lobbying: A Global Comparison (European Policy Research Unit Series Mup).
LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1995 1. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.senate.gov/legislative/Lobbying/Lobby_Disclosure_Act/compilation.pdf
NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATES LEGISLATION . (2019, March 18). Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/research/ethics/50-state-chart-lobbyist-registration-requirements.aspx
