The Illinois Society of Association Executives (ISAE) has withdrawn its lawsuit in Sangamon County requesting a temporary restraining order preventing the implementation of Public Act 96-0555, the Lobby Registration Act. ISAE agreed to withdraw its suit after being contacted by the Illinois Attorney General on behalf of the Secretary of State.
"ISAE is very pleased with the action of Secretary of State White to suspend the reporting registration requirements of the new Lobbyist Registration Act. Based on our review of the Secretary's statement, we have authorized counsel for ISAE to postpone any further litigation on our injunction request, for the simple reason that the Secretary has voluntarily provided us the injunctive relief we sought," said Pamela Tolson, ISAE executive director.
PA 96-0555 would have increased the Illinois lobbying registration fee from $150 for charitable organizations and $350 for all other organizations, including not-for-profit membership organizations, to $1,000 per organization and lobbyist. Other provisions included moving from bi-annual reporting to weekly reporting, even when there is no advocacy activity to report. Forty-one out of 50 states charge annual lobbyist registration fees of $150 or less or have no lobbyist registration fee. Only two states have annual registration fees exceeding $350. Texas charges $500 for for-profit organizations and $100 for not-for-profit organizations, and Massachusetts charges $1,000 for for-profit organizations and $150 for not-for-profit organizations.??
PA 96-0555 was considered by many associations to be unconstitutional. Advocating on behalf of members or the public is an exercise of the First Amendment right to free speech. Licensing fees that infringe on the exercise of a First Amendment right are permissible only to the extent necessary to defray the cost of administering the licensing program.
Tolson emphasized that the association community is more than willing to register, pay a reasonable fee and report activity. "Illinois associations support transparency of lobbying activity via a reporting requirement, but it was apparent that the Registration Act as adopted would have meant less, not more, transparency. And the inconsistencies in the law almost guaranteed that reporting errors would occur."
Secretary of State White released a memo to all registered lobbyists that the registration process and reporting is suspended until further notice. According to ISAE, it is expected that registered lobbyists in 2009 will still file their regular end of the year report.