States Adjust Compliance Deadlines and Procedures in Wake of COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic presents massive challenges for state and local governments. As cases continue to increase, governments are taking action to combat the spread of the new virus, from mounting massive public health responses to ensuring that small business and residents’ financial needs are met amid virus-related shutdowns of public life. 

Under current circumstances, lobbying compliance is not the top priority for state and local governments. While many jurisdictions already utilize online filing of lobbying registration and reports, and social distancing decreases lobbying activity in the short-term, state and local governments have begun adjusting their compliance deadlines and procedures. We detail a sample of such adjustments below.

• New York State and New York City  have delayed their bi-monthly lobbying report deadlines from March 15 to March 31.

• The Illinois Secretary of State’s office is closed to the public until at least March 31. They have extended all statutorily required deadlines (including those for lobbying) for thirty days.

• The City of Austin, Texas, postponed its quarterly lobbying report deadline from April 10 to May 1.

• The District of Columbia’s quarterly report deadline of April 15 remains unchanged; however, they are waiving late fees for reports whose filing is delayed by COVID-19.

• Connecticut is also not delaying their monthly reporting deadline of April 10, but providing a thirty-day grace period for reports delayed due to the pandemic. 

• Jurisdictions such as Miami-Dade County are canceling in-person ethics training required for lobbyists.

• The Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission is allowing new registrations to be processed via email while their office indefinitely works from home. 

This situation is fast-moving, and other jurisdictions are likely to follow the above agencies in adjusting lobbying report deadlines and procedures due to “stay-at-home” orders issued throughout the country.  We will keep you posted as further developments occur. 

For all of our COVID-19 coverage, please visit MultiState’s dedicated COVID-19 Policy Tracker.