Lobbying Registry and Regulations Act 2025

This matter has been repealed, voided, or is otherwise out of date

Repealed by the Senate on August 10, 2025, and approved by the President on the same day.

Lobbying Registry & Regulations Act

Passed by the Senate on 12 July 2025, vetoed by the President on 13 July 2025, and overridden by the Senate on 14 July 2025.

Author: anaphase_andy

Sponsored by: budo_1

Preamble

Whereas

lobbying has become a pillar of the policy creation process;

Whereas

the industry of lobbying has proven to be the most consistently lucrative and influential;

Whereas

the conduct that composes the lobbying industry and profession is prime for corruption and back-room dealings;

Article 1: Definitions

§1. “Lobbying,” or “to lobby” shall be defined as the act of knowingly influencing, changing, pursuing, creating, preventing or otherwise altering the policy or action of the government of SimDemocracy or the political agents therein, on behalf of a client, in exchange for financial compensation, usually tau or other assets of value.

§2. A “lobbyist” shall be any individual or entity that engages in the practice of lobbying.

§3. For the purposes of this bill alone, a “person/entity of interest” shall be defined as an individual or entity that seeks to influence, change, pursue, create, prevent, or otherwise alter the policy or action of the government of SimDemocracy or the political agents therein, not in exchange for financial compensation, but for a separate and distinct non-financial benefit.

§3.1. Non-financial benefits can include but are not limited to: actions related to beliefs in policy or enjoyment of political benefits within SimDemocracy.

§4. Solely for the purposes of this act and any subsequent criminal codes, “public office” shall be defined as any position within the government that is either elected by the general public or a subset thereof (i.e the bar and its members), appointed by the President of SimDemocracy, or any position that requires the confirmation of the senate.

§5. Solely for the purposes of this act and any subsequent criminal codes, a “public official” shall be defined as any person who holds a public office.

§6. A “client” shall be defined as any person(s) or entities financially compensating a person or entity to engage in the practice of lobbying.

§7. “Mutually exclusive interests” shall be defined as when the desires or needs of two or more individuals directly contradict one another and cannot both be achieved simultaneously to their full effect.

Article 2: Lobbying Registry

§1.If an individual wishes to lobby, they must register with the Senate Clerk’s office Department of the Treasury<ref name="lrramend">LR&R Amendment passed by the Senate on 18 July 2025 and not vetoed by the President within 72 hours</ref>. In the aforementioned registration, the following information must be provided:

§1.1 What person(s) or entity is registering as a lobbyist?

§1.2 (If the registering party is a corporation/non-person entity) Who within the registering entity will be lobbying (as of registration)?

§1.3 (If applicable) who are the owners of the registering entity?

§2. It shall be up to the discretion of the Speaker of the Senate Secretary of the Treasury<ref name="lrramend" /> to determine in what manner and method the Lobbyist Registration process should be conducted.

§3. The only grounds on which a lobbyist registration may be rejected is if the submitted information is insufficient pursuant to this act or any subsequent or superseding law.

§4. When a lobbyist registration is accepted, the lobbyist(s) listed on the registration shall be given the role of “lobbyist.”

§5. It shall be the duty of the lobbyist to register with the Senate Clerk Department of the Treasury<ref name="lrramend" /> under the threat of criminal penalty.

§6. No person(s) or entity may engage in the practice of lobbying without being registered with the Senate Clerk’s office Department of the Treasury<ref name="lrramend" /> in pursuance with this act.

Article 3: Lobbying Regulations

§1. No person(s) holding public office may engage in lobbying, nor may they be registered as a lobbyist.

§2. In the event that a registered lobbyist wishes to seek or obtain public office, they must first notify the Senate Clerk’s office Department of the Treasury<ref name="lrramend" /> so that the registration of the aforementioned individual may be revoked prior to the individual taking public office.

§3. No knowing employee of the Department of Justice may engage in lobbying.

§4. No knowing employee of the treasury may engage in lobbying.

§5. No lobbyist nor person/entity of interest may offer jobs, financial benefits, tau, or any other offers of value (financial or otherwise) in their practice of lobbying or knowingly influencing, changing, pursuing, creating, preventing or otherwise altering the policy or action of the government of SimDemocracy or the political agents therein.

§6. No lobbyist may take on two or more clients with mutually exclusive interests.

§7. No lobbyist may act in an otherwise illegal manner in their practice of lobbying.

Article 4: Enforcement

§1. The Criminal Code 2020 shall be amended to add “Unlawful Lobbying” as Article 35a which shall read:

    Ҥ1. Any violation of any provision(s) of Articles 2 or 3 of the Lobbying Registry and Regulations Act where the offending party knowingly engaged in an act within the definition of lobbying as defined in Article 1 of the Lobbying Registry and Regulations Act 2025 shall constitute the crime of Unlawful Lobbying.
    §2. A party does not need to be aware that their actions were included in the Lobbying Registry and Regulations Act 2025, just that they engaged in said actions.
    §3. The crime of Unlawful Lobbying may be punished with: 
         a. A fine of up to 10,000 tau.
         b. Removal from all or some Public Offices as defined in Lobbying Registry and Regulations Act 2025.
         c. Prohibition from holding any Public Offices as defined in Lobbying Registry and Regulations Act 2025 for a specified period of time.”