The Hawaii State Constitution requires the state, and each of the counties, to have a code of ethics that includes, among other provisions, the registration and regulation of lobbying. Public disclosure of lobbying activities is a key part of regulating the activities of lobbyists.

Honolulu, by far the largest city in the state, has a notoriously lax lobbyist registration and disclosure law. I was reminded of that by a story reported this past week by the news site Oregonlive.com, which reported on violations of the Portland’s lobbyist law by a prominent business organization (“City auditor upholds all 25 lobbying violations against Portland Business Alliance“).

The story left me with the realization that we can learn a thing or two about lobbyist regulation and public disclosure from Portland.

That city’s lobbying law at first seems pretty straight forward. It applies to Lobbying entities, those organizations that engage lobbyists, rather than to lobbyists, which Honolulu’s law focuses on. Lobbying entities are required to register with the city as soon as they estimate they have cumulatively spent 8 hours or $1,000 lobbying in any calendar quarter.

G. “Lobby” or “Lobbying” or “Lobbies” means attempting to influence the official action of City officials.  Lobbying includes time spent preparing emails and letters and preparing for oral communication with a City official….

H.  “Lobbying entity” means any individual, business association, corporation, partnership, association, club, company, business trust, organization or other group who lobbies either by employing or otherwise authorizing a lobbyist to lobby on that person’s behalf.

I.  “Lobbyist” means any individual who is authorized to lobby on behalf of a lobbying entity.

The registration statement is required to include:

1.  The name, address, email, website and telephone number of the lobbying entity;

2.  A general description of the trade, business, profession or area of endeavor of the lobbying entity;

3.  The names, addresses, email, website and telephone number of all lobbyists who are employed by or otherwise authorized to lobby on behalf of the lobbying entity. The list must include:

a.  Individuals who are paid to lobby for the interests of the lobbying entity.

b.  Other persons, including lobbying entity employees or volunteers, who are authorized to lobby on behalf of the lobbying entity.

c.  Previous City of Portland employment status of individuals who are paid or otherwise authorized to lobby on the entity’s behalf, the affiliated bureau(s) or office(s) of employment, and dates of employment.

4.  The subjects and any specific official actions of interest to the lobbying entity.

Honolulu requires lobbyists, rather than the entities that employ them, to register.

Such registration form shall be developed by the ethics commission and shall include the registrant’s full name and address; place of business; the full name and complete address of each person, whether or not an employee, who will lobby on behalf of the registrant; the full name of each person by whom the registrant is retained or employed or on whose behalf the registrant lobbies; duration of such person’s employment; and a description of the matters on which the registrant expects to lobby. If the registrant lobbies or purports to lobby on behalf of members, such registration form shall include a statement of the number of members, and a full and complete description of the methods by which the members develop and make decisions about positions on policy. In addition thereto, each registration form shall be accompanied by a written authorization from each person (as defined in Section 3-13.2) by whom the registrant is employed or authorized to lobby. In a situation where the “person” is other than a natural person, i.e., a corporation, association, partnership or any organization consisting of groups of individuals, written authorization shall be executed by the president or an officer delegated such power by the president or the organization’s board of directors. [Sec. 3-13.3(b) Revised Ordinances of Honolulu]

Honolulu requires lobbyists to file annual reports that primarily disclose what they have been paid, and any amounts spent, on lobbying. The reporting requirements are minimal, at best, and the result is that the public is provided very little information on the activities of professional lobbyists that are paid to bend public policy to their employer’s benefit.

Portland requires similar reporting of income and expenditures by groups that have lobbyists, but its detailed disclosure requirements are startling to anyone used to Honolulu’s (and the state’s) lackadaisical approach.

Portland requires quarterly lobbying reports, compared to Honolulu’s annual reporting. And, more importantly, all groups that are required to register–that is, those that spend eight hours or $1,000 lobbying during the quarter–must also filed detailed reports of their contacts with certain city officials in person, or by telephone, mail, or email.

A.  A lobbying entity registered with the City Auditor or required to register with the City Auditor shall file a report, if the lobbying entity has spent an estimated 8 hours or more or at least $1,000 during the preceding calendar quarter lobbying, with the City Auditor, by April 15, July 15, October 15, and January 15, showing:

1.  The specific subject or subjects of the official action of interest to the lobbying entity, including but not limited to the names of City officials a lobbying entity met with or contacted through direct mail, email or telephone regarding such subject or subjects, the name of the registered lobbyist representing the entity and the date of the contact.

These requirements apply to contacts with a range of Portland city officials:

“City official” means any City elected official; the at will staff of a City elected official; any City director as defined in this section; or appointee to the Portland Development Commission, the Planning and Sustainability Commission, the Design Commission, and the Fire and Police Disability and Retirement Board.

For example, here are the contacts reported by lobbying entities during the first quarter of 2021.

How well does Portland’s system of lobbyist disclosure actually work in practice? That will take some additional reporting, and hopefully I’ll have time to come back to that issue.

For those interested in going deeper, here is the auditor’s report referenced in the Oregon Live article, which includes examples of lobbying communications which should have been reported under Portland’s law but were not disclosed by the Portland Business Alliance.

I also noticed the list of lobbyists in Honolulu and Portland are quite different. Honolulu’s list of registered lobbyists shows the organization employing lobbyists is heavy on development interests, including developers and unions representing construction trades; hotels and visitor industry organizations; and Hawaii’s major utilities.

The list of currently registered lobbying groups in Portland is readily available on the city auditor’s website. While similar interests are represented on the list of lobbyists, my impression is they don’t dominate it as they do in Honolulu. But readers are invited to draw their own conclusions.