Lobbying Disclosure Compliance

Are lobbying organizations filing required federal disclosures on time and completely?

Updated QuarterlyAs of 2024-07-01Medium data quality

Historical Trend

Data sourced from official government APIs

What It Measures

The percentage of required Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) reports filed on time per quarterly period, total lobbying expenditure reported, and the number of late-filing or non-filing enforcement actions. Also tracks the revolving door between Congress and lobbying firms.

Formula

Compliance Rate (%) = On-Time LDA Filings ÷ Required LDA Filings × 100

Why It Matters

Lobbying disclosure is a transparency mechanism that allows the public to understand who is seeking to influence legislation and how much they are spending. High non-compliance rates or weak enforcement reduce the accountability value of disclosure requirements.

Data Caveats

LDA thresholds exempt many part-time lobbyists and some advocacy organizations.
"Grassroots lobbying" and issue advertising are not captured under current LDA definitions.
Foreign lobbying is governed by FARA (different statute); data is in a separate DOJ database.
Penalties for non-compliance are rarely enforced vigorously.

Drill-Down Options

By industry sector
By lobbying firm
By client
Total expenditure trend
Revolving door hires

Suggested Dashboard Layout

Example Visualization

Quarterly compliance rate line chart. Total lobbying expenditure by year stacked by sector. Top 20 spenders table. Enforcement actions per year bar chart.

Suggested Chart Types

Bar ChartLine ChartData Table

Related KPIs

📜Legislative BranchOversight Activity

Congressional Oversight Effectiveness

Is Congress effectively exercising its oversight authority over the executive branch?

78%

% GAO recs implemented

vs. prior year

Updated AnnualMedium data quality