Seattle passes lobbyist disclosure requirements

Lobbyists seeking to influence Seattle politicians will soon be required to publicly report their efforts -- except for some on government payrolls.

King County, the state and most major West Coast cities already require lobbyist registration similar to the new requirements the City Council approved Monday, said Councilman Nick Licata, who sponsored the legislation.

"This is very good legislation. It's certainly much better than what we have now -- which is nothing," Licata said, noting it's been in the works for nearly a decade. "This legislation, without a doubt, will provide greater transparency in government. It will also preserve the integrity of the legislative process."

Such rules are meant to shed light on which interests, whether builders or nonprofit agencies, are spending money to influence the mayor and City Council members.

Still, Seattle's new rules would not apply to many seeking to influence Seattle elected officials on behalf of other government agencies, from public housing entities to the Port of Seattle, state departments to federal offices. Only government workers hired specifically to lobby would be required to report, exempting officials for whom lobbying is one element of their workload. All elected officials and Seattle employees would be exempted, too.

The Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission and civic activist Chris Leman unsuccessfully encouraged the council to expand the requirement to include intergovernmental influence-seeking. Such lobbying of state officials must be reported under Washington rules.

The exemption for government representatives keeps hidden most of the lobbying conducted at City Hall, Leman told the council again Monday.

"Why? Why do you not want the public to have that information," Leman said. "It is beyond me."

Licata dismissed the concerns Monday. In a previous committee meeting, some council members said broadening the requirements would impose an unreasonable burden for government workers and the Ethics and Elections Commission, which will oversee the registration.

Under the rules approved by the council Monday, lobbyists will be required to report quarterly on whom they work for, how much they're paid, what they lobbied about and how much they spent, including any contributions made to political officials.

Mayor Greg Nickels plans to sign the measure into law, his office said.

The commission predicts the requirements will apply to about 25 lobbyists. The law also exempts unpaid lobbyists, citizens advocating on their own or anyone lobbying no more than four days a quarter.

King County enacted a lobbyist registration requirement in 2002. The county similarly exempts many government employees. Today, two dozen lobbyists are on file there as representing more than three dozen businesses and nonprofits, from Woodland Park Zoo to Microsoft Corp.