From the issue dated October 22, 2004
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Colleges Lobbying the Federal Govermment, 2003Colleges and Universities
Notes: Organizations, including colleges and universities, that pay people to lobby the federal government are required by law to report those expenditures to Congress every six months. But because of the way the federal disclosure law defines lobbying, not every dollar that universities spend needs to be reported. The law generally defines lobbying as contacting members of Congress or their staff members, or senior officials in the executive branch, to try to persuade them to support specific legislation or projects. The definition exempts some efforts, like contacting federal agencies to gather information about opportunities to compete for grants. Also, employees who spend less than 20 percent of their time on lobbying for any single employer are not required to report this portion of their salaries in the disclosure report for that client. For example, college presidents, deans, and professors who fly to Washington once or twice a year tend not to trigger the reporting requirement. But their plane fares must be reported. And the spending amounts cited in the lobbying reports are approximations. In particular, the law encourages filers to round expenses to the nearest increment of $20,000, although some colleges provided actual, not rounded, amounts. Expenses below $10,000 need not be specified. For the purpose of ranking institutions by total amount spent, The Chronicle counted as zero any spending reported to be below $10,000. Amounts shown for In House lobbyists refer to spending by colleges on their employees who lobby. These sums exclude amounts paid to lobbying firms. |
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Copyright © 2004 by The Chronicle of Higher Education