Important: New Requirements
What Lobbyists Must Know
1. The Office of the City Clerk has created a new form for registering as a lobbyist, submitting quarterly activity reports, and terminating registration as a lobbyist. It is called the “Lobbyist Reporting Form” and can be downloaded using the link below.
2. The Lobbyist Reporting Form MUST be submitted to the Clerk’s Office in electronic format, either by coming to the Clerk’s Office with the completed form on a USB drive, or emailing the completed form to lobbyists@austintexas.gov.
3. Email submissions will be accepted ONLY if the lobbyist has filed a signed “Lobbyist Contact Information Form” with the Clerk’s Office. This Contact Form can be downloaded using the link below.
4. Each registered lobbyist must submit a quarterly activity report to the Clerk’s Office using the new Lobbyist Reporting Form no later than 5:00pm, Monday, July 10.
5. Organizations that are registered as a business entity must submit a quarterly activity report for EACH of their lobbyist employees PLUS an “Entity Reporting Cover Sheet.” For example, a registered business entity that employs five lobbyists must submit five quarterly activity reports to the Clerk’s Office using the new Lobbyist Reporting Form, PLUS an Entity Reporting Cover Sheet. All forms must be submitted to the Clerk’s Office using the new forms no later than 5:00pm, Monday, July 10.
6. The Lobbyist Reporting Form will NOT be accepted in paper form and must NOT be printed out and delivered or mailed to the Clerk’s Office.
7. The Lobbyist Reporting Form must be submitted to the Clerk’s Office in its original fillable PDF form and must NOT be printed out and scanned.
8. After the Lobbyist Reporting Form(s) have been received by the Clerk’s Office, notification of acceptance or rejection of the submitted information will be sent to a designated contact within 30 days.
The data provided on the Lobbyist Reporting Form and Entity Reporting Cover Sheet will be published on the City's Open Data Portal beginning in July 2017
Training and General Information
Individual Lobbyist Registration and Reporting
These forms apply to individual lobbyists who are required to register and report their activity according to City Code Chapter 4-8.
Please Note: the new PDF forms are available as fillable PDF forms and will not open in your browser. To fill out the form, right click the link and select "Save Link as..." to download the file directly to your computer. The forms must be filled out using Adobe Acrobat or an Acrobat Reader product, which can be downloaded for free.
Trouble downloading the forms?
Trouble understanding how to submit an activity report?
- Lobbyist Contact Information Form: (Updated 05/15/2017) Optional: use this form to provide a designated email address and contact information to the Clerk's Office. Submission of this form permits lobbyists and entities to submit their required forms via e-mail.
- Lobbyist Reporting Form: (Updated 06/30/2017) Required: use this form to submit both your registration and quarterly activity reports
- Lobbyist Reporting Form Instructions: (Updated 05/19/2017) an instruction guide on filling out the Lobbyist Reporting Form
Although the forms will continue to be updated, the City Clerk will still accept earlier versions of the new Interactive PDF forms.
Entity Registration and Reporting
City Code §4-8-4(B)(1) permits a business entity to register and report the activity of each of their individual employee lobbyists, provided they register as a business entity and report the individual activity of each employee lobbyist. The forms below apply to entities that have elected to register and report as a business entity per §4-8-4(B)(1). Entities are still required to complete the Lobbyist Reporting Form for each employee lobbyist.
Trouble downloading the forms?
Trouble understanding how to submit an activity report?
- Lobbyist Contact Information Form: (Updated 05/15/2017) Optional: use this form to provide a designated email address and contact information to the Clerk's Office. Submission of this form permits lobbyists and entities to submit their required forms via e-mail.
- Entity Reporting Cover Sheet: (Updated 05/24/2017) Required: use this cover sheet to report your lobbyist employees. This form must be filed with the necessary Lobbyist Reporting Forms for each individual employee lobbyist
- Lobbyist Reporting Form: (Updated 06/30/2017) Required: use this form to file ac tivity and registration reports for your registered lobbyist employees
- Entity Reporting Instructions: (Updated 05/19/2017) an instruction guide on filling out the Entity Reporting Cover Sheet and Lobbyist Reporting Form
Please Note: Although the forms will continue to be updated, the City Clerk will still accept earlier versions of the new Interactive PDF forms.
Department Visitor Log
City Code §4-8-8(C) now requires departments to obtain written disclosure of specific information when engaging in face-to-face, scheduled meetings with visitors who meet specific criteria. Below is a template sign-in sheet provided by the City Clerk to departments - please note City departments may opt to obtain this information by other means and this sign-in sheet is only a template.
Additional Information
On September 22, 2016, the Austin City Council passed Ordinance No. 20160922-005, which amended Chapter 4.8 (Regulation of Lobbyists) of the City Code. City Code Chapter 4-8 requires a person to register as a lobbyist if the person meets the requirements outlined in §4-8-3. In addition, a person who meets the registration requirements must file quarterly activity reports, pay the appropriate registration fee(s), and file a Notice of Termination upon ceasing lobbying activities. The new requirements are effective on June 1, 2017, with the first quarterly report due in July using the new filing requirements.
New interactive PDF forms for lobbyist registration, quarterly activity reports and instructions have been created. Beginning June 1, 2017, the PDF forms below must be used to Register and file Quarterly Activity Reports. As part of the new Ordinance effective June 1, 2017, paper submissions of the Lobbyist Reporting Forms are no longer accepted by the Clerk’s Office. Forms may be submitted by bringing a USB drive to the Clerk’s Office with copies of the filled out forms, or you can submit a signed Lobbyist Contact Information form declaring an email address, which allows us to accept e-mail submissions of the form.
If you have questions, please email the Lobbyist Coordinator or contact the Office of the City Clerk at 512-974-2210.
City Data
Austin Notes