{"53779":{"#nid":"53779","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Federal Relations Office Strives to Educate Campus on Lobbying Regulations","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAmid all the legalese and jargon-heavy language in regulations covering federal lobbying disclosure laws, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gov.gatech.edu\/federal\/index.html\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Office of Federal Relations\u003C\/a\u003E Director Robert Knotts wants administration, faculty and staff to remember one thing: his contact information.\u003C\/p\u003E\n                        \u003Cp\u003ETwo\nyears ago, Congress amended the laws and rules regarding disclosures of\nfederal lobbying and honoring certain groups of officials. One of the\nmain changes in the law is that it has more \u201cteeth,\u201d according to\nKnotts. Failure to comply could result in a maximum fine of $200,000\nand up to five years in prison. \u003C\/p\u003E\n                        \u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere\u2019s\na lot of misunderstanding\u2014it\u2019s complicated,\u201d said Knotts, who serves as\nthe Institute\u2019s in-house lobbyist in Washington, D.C. \u201cThis change is\nan attempt to increase governmental transparency. The problem is people\nhear the word lobbying, and they think, \u2018that\u2019s not what I\u2019m doing.\u2019\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n                        \u003Cp\u003ESince\nGeorgia Tech is registered as a federal lobbying entity, Knotts\nexplains that the Institute falls under the disclosure rules. \u003C\/p\u003E\n                        \u003Cp\u003EIf\nany member of the Institute\u2014on behalf of Georgia Tech\u2014works to\ninfluence legislation before Congress or seek funding from certain\ncovered federal officials, it is required that resources used to do so\nare documented by Federal Relations. \u003C\/p\u003E\n                        \u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019m\nrequired to report the cost involved for that meeting, from travel and\npresentation expenses to salary of those involved,\u201d he said. \u201cEach\nquarter, I make a good-faith effort to report how much Tech is\nspending.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n                        \u003Cp\u003EAmong\nits other responsibilities, the Office of Federal Relations files these\nquarterly reports disclosing any Institute lobby efforts before the\nfederal government, as well as semiannual disclosure reports on efforts\nto honor covered federal officials. Knotts points to a campus visit by\nalumnus and then\u2013Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology\nand Logistics John J. Young Jr. During his visit, Young was given a\nPresidential Citation and plaque from former Institute President Wayne\nClough. Knotts was required to capture the cost involved with the\nInstitute\u2019s honoring him, as the under secretary of Defense is\nconsidered a covered official.\u003C\/p\u003E\n                        \u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn\nthe executive branch, the bar is set much higher, usually meaning\npresidentially appointed officials,\u201d he said. \u201cIn Congress, everyone is\na \u2018covered official,\u2019 from the person who answers the phones to\nlegislators\u2019 assistants.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\n                        \u003Cp\u003EThe\nInstitute is also required to disclose state lobbying expenditures with\nthe State Ethics Commission. The state lobbying reporting obligation\nrests with the Office of Government and Community Relations.\u003C\/p\u003E\n                        \u003Cp\u003EVisit the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.compliance.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Office of Research Compliance\u003C\/a\u003E Web site for a link to download \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.compliance.gatech.edu\/federal-lobbying-disclosure-compliance-background\/\u0022\u003Eforms on reporting federal lobbying activities\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003C\/p\u003E\n                        \u003Cp\u003EKnotts is available to answer any questions a faculty or staff member may have. He is available at \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:knotts@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eknotts@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E or at 202-756-3670.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Office of Federal Relations a resource for lobbying regulations","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Office of Federal Relations a resource for lobbying regulations"}],"uid":"27191","created_gmt":"2010-02-18 16:13:35","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:05:33","author":"Robert Nesmith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-02-18T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2010-02-18T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gov.gatech.edu\/federal\/index.html","title":"Office of Federal Relations"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.compliance.gatech.edu\/federal-lobbying-disclosure-compliance-background\/","title":"Federal Lobbying Disclosure Compliance"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.compliance.gatech.edu\/federal-lobbying-guidelines\/","title":"Federal Lobbying Guidelines"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.compliance.gatech.edu\/forms\/Federal_Lobbying_Activities_Report_Form.doc","title":"Form to Report Lobbying Activities (Word Doc)"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"8749","name":"Georgia Tech Office of Federal Relations"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERobert Knotts\u003C\/strong\u003E, Director of Federal Relations\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E202-756-3670\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}