Indiana Amends Lobbying Laws by Adjusting Registration Deadlines, Making Other Changes

Earlier this year, Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed into law a number of changes to Indiana's lobbying statutes. A number of these changes took effect on July 1, although most of the important changes will not materialize until either later this year or in 2014. Some of the highlights include:

• Adjusting the legislative lobbying registration deadline so that it now syncs up with the reporting periods. (In past years, the re-registration deadline would occur during the middle of the reporting period.) Now, the legislative lobbying registrations for both principals and individual lobbyists expire on November 1 and must be renewed by that time. Importantly, for those individuals and entities that are currently registered, this means that registrations will need to be renewed by November 1, 2013, rather than by January 15, 2014;
• Raising the registration fee for legislative branch lobbying from $100 to $200 for most individuals and organizations (this change is effective November 1, 2013); and
• Requiring all registrations and reports to be filed electronically. (The Indiana Lobby Registration Commission delayed the effective date of this requirement until the registration year beginning on November 1, 2014.)

Additional details about other changes in the law are available to Wiley Rein 50-State Lobbying & Gifts Survey subscribers or can be found out by contacting a Wiley Rein attorney.