New Lobbyist Portal:
Click here for instructions on how to use the new lobbyist portal. Please email Kateland with any questions at kateland.j.cantrell@wv.gov. If you participated in the old reporting system, your username and password will be the same as it was with the old system.
To register as a lobbyist, or register a new lobbyist affiliation (employer), please click here. The preferred method for registering as a lobbyist is via the lobbyist portal. All data entered is populated into the next cycle.
To register by paper, the lobbyist must submit:
- A completed, signed Lobbyist Registration Statement, with a registration fee of $100.
- A completed, signed Employer Representation/Authorization for each employer/organization represented by the lobbyist, with a fee of $100 per employer/organization represented. A separate Employer Representation/ Authorization form for each employer/organization must be filed.
- Fees are payable either by check or money order, made payable to the West Virginia Ethics Commission or by credit card (NO CASH)
- To pay by credit card, please complete the Lobbyist Payment Cover Sheet
- A passport-type 2"x 2" recent photo submitted via U.S. mail or email. (The photo is for publication in the Lobbyist Directory.)
- A completed signed Verification of Training. Click here for more information on training requirements.
Paper forms may be submitted via email to kateland.j.cantrell@wv.gov, U.S. mail, or hand delivered. Faxed copies are not accepted.
Incomplete or incorrect applications will be returned to the filer. Lobbying privileges will not be granted until an application is complete.
To terminate a lobbyist registration or terminate an employer(s):
Who must register as a lobbyist?
Persons who lobby the Legislature or state regulatory agencies must register as lobbyists with the Ethics Commission if they:
(1) receive compensation for lobbying, or
(2) spend money on a public servant in furtherance of their lobbying activities.
Revolving Door
The revolving door prohibits certain people from lobbying.
W. Va. Code § 6B-3-2 states:
(e) The following public officers or employees may not, during or up to one year after the termination of their public employment or service, be allowed to register as lobbyists:
(1) Members of the Legislature;
(2) Members of the Executive Department as referenced in article VII, section one of the Constitution of West Virginia;
(3) Will and pleasure professional employees of the legislature under the direct supervision of a member of the legislature;
(4) Will and pleasure professional employees of members of the Executive Department under the direct supervision of the Executive Department officer and who regularly, personally and substantially participates in a decision-making or advisory capacity regarding agency or department policy;
(5) Members of the Supreme Court of Appeals;
(6) Any department secretary of an executive branch department created by the provisions of section two, article one, chapter five-f of this code; and,
(7) Heads of any state departments or agencies.
Exemptions from registration
The following persons are exempt from registration and reporting (unless they engage in activities that would otherwise require them to register as lobbyists):
(1) Persons who limit their lobbying activities to attending receptions, dinners, parties or other group functions and make no expenditures in connection with such activities.
(2) Persons who lobby without compensation or other consideration for acting as lobbyists and whose total expenditures in connection with such lobbying do not exceed $150 during any calendar year.
(3) Persons who limit their lobbying activities to appearing before public sessions of committees of the Legislature or public hearings of state agencies
.
(4) Persons who lobby without compensation for a nonprofit organization and who restrict their lobbying activities to no more than 20 days, or parts thereof, during any regular session of the Legislature and make no expenditures.
When to register
Registration must be completed before engaging in any lobbying activity, or within thirty (30) days after being employed as a lobbyist, whichever occurs first. Lobbyist registration cycles consist of two-year periods, and all lobbyist registrations expire at the end of each even-numbered year.