The Evil “L” Word.

Lobbyist have become something of a cross between the boogie man and an easy, kill-the-man-with-the-ball style target in elections over the last decade. Hardly a campaign season goes by without attack ads from both sides claiming that their opponents are “in bed” with government relations professionals. Yet at its heart lobbying is just a matter of voicing an individual’s or a group’s opinion to elected officials. And doing so is kind of a key component to representative democracy, right?

Even at the “high paid” and “professional” level, lobbyists are primarily just conduits and advocates (albeit often slick ones) for their clients. To the extent that a small minority have undue influence over government officials, this is more of a generalized problem of ethics and corruption in government than anything else.

None the less, as part of the ever growing witch hunt against contacting elected officials…wait, “lobbying”…many states have enacted “grassroots lobbying restrictions.” These restrictions place obtrusive reporting requirements and severe penalties on any citizen who dares to influence the public debate without permission.

Fortunately, The Institute for Justice has filed suit to challenge such a restriction in Washington state and is looking into challenges in other jurisdictions.

Washingtonians from both sides of the political spectrum filed a lawsuit today to stop their state from monitoring, collecting and publicly disseminating information about the political activities of private citizens who do nothing more than urge their fellow citizens to take political action. They seek to vindicate the belief that if the First Amendment protects anything, it protects the right of all Americans to speak to one another about the issues affecting their lives without having to first register with the government.

There are few things more distinctly American than grassroots political activism. From town hall meetings and statehouse rallies to talk radio, blogs and “meet ups,” Americans are constantly finding new and innovative ways to participate in
politics. Through such activities, people can alert elected officials to constituents’ preferences, educate fellow citizens about how to make their voices heard, and even persuade the public to adopt new views. In fact, it’s hard to imagine our system of government working without an active and engaged populace of grassroots activists.

But little-known laws existing in a majority of states threaten to strangle this kind of political participation with red tape, ensuring that the public square is occupied by only those established voices that have enough resources to overcome the immense burdens imposed by so-called “grassroots lobbying” laws. These laws require groups to register with the state and file frequent and detailed reports about their contributions, expenditures and activities.

Under Washington’s “grassroots lobbying” law, if you urge your fellow citizens to contact government officials and spend more than the state’s arbitrarily low ceiling (only $500 in one month or $1,000 in three months), the government forces you to register with it and report your name, address, business and occupation, as well as the names and addresses of anyone with whom you are working to spread your message. The state also demands to know the names and addresses of each person who contributes more than $25 to your efforts.

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