1. If you will be contacting any person associated with a state agency or a state board on behalf of your company or any other person, you may be an Executive Branch Lobbyist. Contacting any staff members to advocate anything related to the agency is lobbying. Certain activities by healthcare professionals are not considered lobbying. Additionally, (i) contributions to the cost of certain social functions in connection with meetings of national or regional organizations of executive branch officials and (ii) the cost of meals and refreshment consumed by an executive branch official which is incidental to a speech or panel discussion involving the official are exempt from the Executive Branch Lobbying law.
2. If you pay for anything related to the contact with any person associated with an executive branch agency or a state board (i.e. cup of coffee, lunch, gifts no matter how small, including pens, thumb drives, etc.) you are probably an Executive Branch Lobbyist.
3. If you are an Executive Branch Lobbyist, you must register with the Louisiana Board of Ethics annually and within five days of new engagements. You must also file termination reports if you stop lobbying for someone or if you stop lobbying all together.
4. As an Executive Branch Lobbyist, you must report personal income thresholds associated with lobbying.
5. As an Executive Branch Lobbyist, you must disclose any for profit relationships that you have with statewide elected officials and department heads.
6. As an Executive Brach Lobbyist, you must file monthly expenditure reports with the Louisiana Board of Ethics even if you have no expenditures.
7. If the person that you lobby for makes an expenditure in your presence (e.g. picks up the check for lunch), you must report the expenditure on your expenditure report.
8. If the person that you lobby for makes a direct reportable expenditure, that person must provide reporting information to you within two days after the close of the reporting period and you must report the expenditure on your report.
9. If the person that you lobby for makes a direct reportable expenditure and fails to timely inform you, that person must register as a lobbyist and will be liable for penalties for late registration, etc.
10. The person that you lobby for may elect to be the party responsible for reporting your expenditures. That person must notify the Louisiana Board of Ethics by January 31 of each year and the election will be effective for reporting all expenditures made during the calendar year.