Lobbyist Insight

Methodology

What the numbers mean, and what they cannot mean.

Sources

Every figure comes from the state's own disclosure system — a secretary of state, ethics commission or legislature. Nothing comes from an aggregator.

What each state discloses

StateCompensationBill positions
AlaskaContract rate per clientBills, free text
ColoradoExact compensation, monthlyBill positions with dates
DelawareNot collected by statuteBills, with deep links
IowaCompensation per clientFor / Against / Undecided per bill
IndianaCompensation, half-yearlyTopics only
KentuckyCompensation, monthlyBills, in filings
LouisianaCompensation in bandsNot disclosed
MaineCompensation, monthlyBills (LD numbers)
MinnesotaAggregate per principalSubject, June filing only
North DakotaNot collected by statuteNot disclosed
NebraskaCompensation, quarterlyPositions by bill
New YorkContract rate per clientBill and rule identifiers
OhioNot collected by statuteBills lobbied, no side
OregonCompensation, quarterlySubject only
South CarolinaIncome per lobbyist-principalNot in the published report
WashingtonExact compensation, monthlyNot disclosed

Compensation is not one thing

Firms and people are different

Some states name the firm, some name only the individual, and some do both. We keep them apart: a firm page lists the people who filed under it, and a person's page lists the firms they have filed under. Where a state records only an individual, that individual is the registrant and there is no firm to show.

Names

Filings spell the same firm several ways. We fold case, punctuation and legal suffixes such as LLC, and group colleagues who represent substantially the same clients — but we never merge names that merely look alike. Showing one firm twice is a smaller error than merging two real businesses.

Corrections

Filings get amended and we make mistakes. Write to corrections@lobbyistinsight.com and we will fix it.