Briefing Document: Federal Lobbying at UK

Public Law 110-81: Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007  imposes stringent requirements on universities and other organizations engaged in lobbying. The University of Kentucky, as a registered lobbying entity, must exercise comprehensive oversight over all lobbying activities undertaken on behalf of the University and must file quarterly disclosure reports with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives. There are severe civil and criminal penalties for individuals or organizations that violate the Lobbying Disclosure Act.

Only individuals approved by the Vice President for Research are authorized to lobby the federal government on behalf of the University of Kentucky. Those authorized must accurately track their lobbying activities and report each lobbying effort to the Director of Federal Relations, who compiles and files the university’s disclosures to Congress.  All lobbying contacts should be coordinated with the Director of Federal Relations prior to the lobbying effort and reported in a timely manner.

The web-based UK Lobbying Disclosure Reporting system is available at: http://www.research.uky.edu/vpresearch/fedrelations/report.html.

This system allows you to add a new lobbying activity record for yourself or someone else. It also allows you to view your records by last modification date or by bill number. After each lobbying contact, all employees must report the activity using this system.

We do not want to discourage faculty from working with Congress, but we must comply with the law.  The UK reporting system is designed to minimize the substantial administrative burden of complying with the law.

The definition of what constitutes a lobbying contact has greatly expanded.  Recently, a number of UK faculty have made un authorized contacts in Congress as UK employees and have not known that they should report their activity.  If anyone is making contact with Congress, they should discuss it with the Director of Federal Relations first to insure that they are in compliance.

What is lobbying?

The federal definition of lobbying includes both lobbying contacts and lobbying activities.   A lobbying contact includes any oral, written or electronic communication to a covered official regarding the formulation, modification, or adoption of federal legislation; the administration or execution of a federal program or policy; or formulation, modification, or adoption of a federal rule, executive order, policy, or position of the U.S. Government. 

Lobbying activity includes lobbying contacts and efforts in support of such contacts, including preparation or planning activities, research and other background work that is intended, at the time of its preparation, for use in contacts and coordination with the lobbying activities of others. 

Who is a covered official? 

Covered officials include certain members of the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. 

A Covered Legislative Branch Official includes (a) a Member of Congress; (b) an elected officer of either the House or Senate; (c) an employee, or any other individual functioning in the capacity of an employee, who works for a Member, committee, leadership staff of either House or Senate, a joint committee of Congress, a working group or caucus organized to provide services to Members, and certain other legislative branch employees. 

A Covered Executive Branch Official includes the President, Vice-President, Cabinet Officers, senior agency officials, and any member of the uniformed services serving at pay grade O-7 (“one star”) or above. For example, any officer or employee in the Executive Office of the President, including all employees of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) are included. In other federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or the National Science Foundation (NSF), only the Director and Deputy Director(s) are covered officials. 

May I contact a covered official regarding a bill, program, policy or executive order unrelated to my university duties?

Acting as a private citizen, you are free to lobby the federal government on any issue of interest to you. You must do this on your own time, and you may not use university resources to do so. For example, you should not use your university e-mail account or telephone to make such a lobbying contact. If you mention your place of employment, you should state explicitly that you are not representing the University of Kentucky and that your views are not those of the university. 

What are “university resources” and when can they be used for lobbying activities?

University of Kentucky resources include, but are not limited to, stationery (letterhead and business cards) and IT resources (e-mail, telephones and fax machines). University resources may be used for authorized lobbying activities. They may not be used for unsanctioned or private lobbying activities. 

If I am only “providing information” to a covered official about pending legislation, administration of a federal program, or adoption of a federal rule to a covered federal official, is this lobbying?  If you initiate the contact, you should assume that you have engaged in lobbying regardless of your intent.  

May I respond to a notice in the Federal Register or similar publication soliciting public comment on a certain bill, federal regulation or policy?

Yes. Communications made in response to a notice soliciting public comments are allowed, and do not need to be reported as lobbying. 

What if I make a lobbying contact on behalf of the university that is not officially sanctioned?

The university will not track or report lobbying contacts made by a member of the university community, who has not previously been approved to do so by the Vice President for Research. If asked, the university will state explicitly that the individual making the contact is not authorized to do so and that the views expressed are not those of the University of Kentucky. Moreover, the university will not defend such an individual, if he or she is charged with violating the Lobbying Disclosure Act. 

May I contact a covered official regarding a bill, program, policy or executive order unrelated to my university duties?

Acting as a private citizen, you are free to lobby the federal government on any issue of interest to you. You must do this on your own time, and you may not use university resources to do so. For example, you should not use your university e-mail account or telephone to make such a lobbying contact. If you mention your place of employment, you should state explicitly that you are not representing the University of Kentucky and that your views are not those of the university. 

May I engage in lobbying on behalf of non-university organizations?

Yes. Lobbying activities undertaken on behalf of your church, school, community, charitable or other similar organization that are unrelated to your university employment are not reportable through the university. You may not use university resources for this sort of lobbying activity. 

Be aware that even as a private citizen, you may not use any federal funds for your lobbying activities. This includes federal support for travel or lodging. For example, if you travel to Washington, D.C. to serve on a federal advisory panel (e.g. NIH, NSF, USDA), you should not make private lobbying contacts during that trip because your travel and lodging were paid for by a federal agency.  Contact the Director of Federal Relations to work on an alternative approach. 

Examples:

A professional association asked that a UK employee make hill visits while attending a professional meeting in DC.  During the visit a number of UK issues were discussed.  This must be reported by UK.  If the employee had made it clear that they were representing only the association and had not raised UK issues, they would not have needed to report through UK.

A Kentucky congressman invited a UK faculty member to testify before congress.  That is not reported because the contact was initiated by the member of Congress.  This is also true when a Staff member contacts a faculty member and asks for an expert opinion.

A third party invites a UK faculty member to give expert testimony before Congress.  The third party initiated the contact, therefore it is reportable.

Professional associations frequently ask members to contact their members about an issue.  We encourage them to respond as private individuals not using UK email or UK stationary unless authorized to do so.