Washington, D.C., raises the lobbyist registration fee for nonprofits to $250, and New York moves to a yearly fee
Since Oct. 1, lobbyists who work only for 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) organizations pay $250 to register in the District, up from $100, and the standard fee is $500. New York now lists $250 a year per client in place of $200 for a two-year registration.
D.C. registration fee for lobbyists who work only for nonprofits
Washington. Nonprofits that hire lobbyists, or lobby with their own staff, face higher registration fees in Washington, D.C., where the reduced rate for nonprofits rose from $100 to $250 on Oct. 1, and in New York, which now charges $250 a year for each client instead of $200 for a two-year registration.
The District's Board of Ethics and Government Accountability announced the change on Sept. 1. Under the Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Support Act of 2026, the standard registration fee rose from $350 to $500. The reduced fee, which had applied to 501(c)(3) organizations and the lobbyists who work only for them, now covers 501(c)(4) organizations as well.
What changes in the District
The reduced rate applies only to nonprofits and to lobbyists whose clients are all nonprofits, the board says in its guidance. A lobbyist with nine nonprofit clients and one business pays $500 for each registration, the nonprofits included. Organizations exempt under other sections of the tax code pay the full fee.
Late filings now cost $200 a day, up from $100, for up to 60 days, or as much as $12,000. Registrations are due by Jan. 15 each year and activity reports four times a year.
The District's online code carries the new amounts as an emergency amendment, D.C. Act 26-416 of Aug. 13, which it notes will expire on Nov. 11; the code's permanent text still lists $350 and $100. The fees were last raised in October 2024, from $250 and $50.
New York and two local governments
New York's Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government lists a $250 annual fee for each client for whom a lobbyist expects to pass $5,000 in compensation and expenses. Its regulations had set $200 for the two-year registration period, or $100 for a registration covering only the second year. The commission called the increase a statutory change and took public comment through Sept. 13 on a matching amendment to its rules.
The new fee applies from the 2027 to 2028 registration cycle, so a full two-year registration will cost $500, according to MultiState, a company that handles lobbying registrations for clients and reported the changes on Nov. 2.
Palm Beach County, Fla., now charges $200 a year for each principal a lobbyist represents, replacing a one-time $25 fee that had not changed since 2009, and will adjust it each year for inflation. Houston's lobbyist fee has been $335.69 since Jan. 1, 2026; the city raises such fees each Jan. 1 by a regional consumer price index, MultiState said.
About this story
501c3.help wrote this story from the sources listed with it, not from material an organization sent. Our editors approved it on Nov. 4, 2026. Stories in The Nonprofit Herald are free, and nothing is asked in return. Editorial rules.
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