Lobbying happens when you try to influence government action. For example, if you call your legislators to ask them to change a law, that’s lobbying. It’s also lobbying when you call high level people in the executive branch to try and get them to take an action.

• Click here for information about how our law defines “lobbying”.

Both the U.S. Constitution and the North Carolina Constitution include provisions that make lobbying okay. For example, the NC Constitution says that citizens have a right to:

• Contact their representatives and
• To apply to the General Assembly for redress of grievances.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has provisions about:

• Freedom of speech
• Petitioning the government for redress of grievances.

No. We only regulate a portion of lobbying. We regulate paid lobbyists who lobby “designated individuals” in State government. Generally, designated individuals are:

• Legislators and legislative employees
• Policy making employees in the executive branch

The Ethics Commission keeps a list of designated individuals. Click here for its website.

A lobbyist principal is the one who pays the lobbyist to lobby. A lobbyist principal can be an individual or a group or a company.

No. You only have to register if:

• You are paid to lobby and
• You lobby certain people called “designated individuals”. See Chapter 138A.

We have all the registration information about people who are registered to lobby on the website.

• Click here to search for the lobbying division database

Yes. When a lobbyist registers there’s a place on the form to check which subjects he or she will be lobbying on. To find that out, you need to find the lobbyist’s registration form on our website. Look on the 2nd page of the form for “General Subjects on Which the Lobbyist Intends to Lobby”.

• Click here to search for the lobbying division database

Lobbyists are not required to file a document saying who they are lobbying. If you look at the lobbyists’ reports, you may find names of individuals or groups that the lobbyist has spent money on. That is a clue to whom the lobbyist is lobbying.

State agencies cannot pay outside lobbyists. They can make lobbying part of their employees’ duties. Those employees have to register as liaisons.

You can always talk to your legislator. The main official source of information is the General Assembly’s website. It has lots of information such as the text of bills.

General Assembly’s website. If you don’t know who represents you, click on “Who represents me? If you already know who represents you, click on “View member info” and select the name of your legislator.

You can look them up in our Directory of State and Local Government Officials:

You can download our complaint form.

Yes, you can file an anonymous complaint. However, if you file an anonymous complaint, we may not open an investigation because we can’t contact you to get information we need.

Yes. Chapter 120C requires that a complaint is kept confidential unless a court orders disclosure.

Your registration is only good for the calendar year in which you register.

Yes, you can register even if you are not required to. But, if you do register, you will have to comply with all the laws and rules that apply to other lobbyists.

We do not keep those records. You can search for federal government lobbyists on the Federal Lobbying Disclosure website.

You do not have to register with us. You may have to register with the federal government.