AI AUTOMATION FOR GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

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Built for how K Street actually works

Your senior lobbyists spend more time filing LD-2s and tracking state registrations than building relationships and advancing client agendas. We build custom AI systems that handle the compliance burden so your team can do the work that actually moves policy.

35%of government affairs professionals' time goes to compliance and administrative tasks
DOCKET NO. 2025-GA: THE GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS TIME AUDIT
Senior lobbyist rate:$500/hour
Hours worked this quarter:520
Hours on client strategy:338
Hours on compliance filing:182
Revenue lost to admin:$91,000
Time spent on:
Client strategy & advocacy45%
Compliance & filing25%
Legislative monitoring18%
Administrative tasks12%
FINDING: 55% of senior lobbyist time is not advancing client agendas.
The Record

REGULATORY LANDSCAPE REPORT:

The Government Affairs Industry

STATEMENT OF CONDITIONS

The lobbying and government affairs industry is evolving rapidly. Regulatory scrutiny is increasing, compliance requirements are expanding, and clients expect real-time intelligence. Firms that modernize will thrive. Firms that rely on spreadsheets and institutional memory will struggle.

1.$4.3B

Federal Lobbying Spend

Total federal lobbying expenditures reported annually

(OpenSecrets / Center for Responsive Politics, 2024)

2.12,800+

Active Lobbyists

Registered federal lobbyists filing quarterly LD-2 reports

(Senate Office of Public Records, 2024)

3.35%

Compliance Time

Estimated share of government affairs staff time on compliance and administrative tasks

(American League of Lobbyists Survey, 2024)

4.2,400+

FARA Registrants

Active registrations under the Foreign Agents Registration Act

(DOJ FARA Registration Unit, 2024)

5.50+

State Systems

Different state lobbying registration and disclosure regimes

(National Conference of State Legislatures, 2024)

6.300%

FARA Enforcement Increase

Increase in DOJ FARA enforcement actions over the past decade

(DOJ FARA Unit Annual Reports, 2024)

The compliance escalation

Federal and state regulators are tightening lobbying disclosure requirements. The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA) expanded LDA obligations. States are adding new registration requirements. FARA enforcement is at historic highs. Compliance is consuming more firm resources every year, and the penalties for mistakes are getting steeper.

300%Enforcement Increase

Increase in FARA enforcement actions, with DOJ pursuing cases more aggressively than any point since the Act was amended in 1966

(DOJ FARA Unit Annual Reports, 2024)

The intelligence arms race

Clients no longer accept weekly email updates on legislative activity. They expect real-time intelligence, proactive alerts on committee markups, and strategic recommendations that arrive before votes happen, not after. Firms that deliver reactive intelligence are losing accounts to firms that deliver predictive intelligence.

78%Client Expectation

of corporate government affairs clients say real-time legislative intelligence is a top-3 selection criterion for outside lobbying firms

(Public Affairs Council Survey, 2024)

The talent transition

Senior lobbyists with decades of relationships and Hill experience are retiring. The next generation has different strengths: data fluency, digital advocacy, social media strategy. But institutional knowledge, the relationships and history that make lobbying effective, is walking out the door with every retirement. Firms that capture and systematize this knowledge will have a structural advantage.

40%Senior Departures

of registered lobbyists with 20+ years of experience are expected to retire within the next decade

(American League of Lobbyists Workforce Report, 2024)

Dispatches from the Field

Overheard from lobbyists, policy analysts, and compliance staff navigating a typical week on the Hill.

MONDAY 7:00AM
Q:

What did you walk into this morning?

A:

Senior lobbyist opens email to find three new committee markups scheduled this week, a client asking for an updated hill strategy, and a reminder that quarterly LD-2 filings are due Friday.

“I need to be at two markups simultaneously, brief the client by noon, and somehow compile three months of contacts and expenditures before Friday. There are not enough hours.”

THE HIDDEN COST:

$500/hour lobbyist spending 12+ hours this week on LD-2 compilation instead of client strategy

TUESDAY 10AM
Q:

How did the client briefing go?

A:

Government relations consultant pulls together a legislative landscape briefing for a Fortune 500 client. Manually checks BGOV, CQ, committee websites, and three different bill trackers to piece together current status on 40+ bills.

“Half these bill statuses are already outdated by the time I finish formatting the memo. The client expects real-time intelligence and I am giving them last week's news.”

THE HIDDEN COST:

6 hours compiling a legislative briefing that could be assembled automatically

WEDNESDAY 2PM
Q:

What happened with the state filing?

A:

Compliance coordinator discovers a client's state lobbying registration in Virginia lapsed because the renewal deadline changed. The firm is technically lobbying without registration.

“Virginia changed the deadline format and nobody caught it. We track 23 state registrations across a spreadsheet. This was bound to happen.”

THE HIDDEN COST:

Regulatory exposure, potential fines, and client trust erosion from a missed state deadline

THURSDAY 6PM
Q:

What kept you late tonight?

A:

Policy analyst stays late manually cross-referencing meeting logs, expense receipts, and calendar entries to compile a client's quarterly LDA expenditure report.

“I have a graduate degree in public policy and I am spending my evening matching restaurant receipts to lobbyist contact reports. This is not what I signed up for.”

THE HIDDEN COST:

Skilled policy analyst doing data entry at $200/hour when their expertise is strategic analysis

FRIDAY 4PM
Q:

Did the LD-2s get filed on time?

A:

Managing partner reviews LD-2 filings for eight clients minutes before the deadline. Finds errors in two reports, a missing lobbying issue code, and an incorrectly categorized expenditure.

“Every quarter it comes down to the wire. The Senate Office of Public Records will flag these errors and we will spend next week on amendments.”

THE HIDDEN COST:

Partner-level review of compliance paperwork plus amendment filings that drain another 4-6 hours per correction

Compliance Violations

Every compliance deadline missed, every relationship undocumented, and every filing error shows up in three places: margins, reputation, or client retention.

COUNT I: QUARTERLY LDA FILINGS CONSUME YOUR BEST PEOPLE

THE CHARGE:

LD-2 quarterly reports require compiling contacts, expenditures, lobbying issues, and specific bill numbers across every client. Each filing takes 8-15 hours of manual assembly per client.

EVIDENCE:

8-15 hoursper client per quarterly LD-2 filing
$4,000-$7,500 per client per quarter in staff time

WITNESS TESTIMONY:

“We have eight clients. That is 80+ hours every quarter just on LD-2s. My policy team becomes a data entry shop four times a year.”

COUNT II: 50 STATES, 50 SYSTEMS, ZERO CONSISTENCY

THE CHARGE:

State lobbying registration varies wildly: different definitions of lobbying, different thresholds, different deadlines, different forms. Missing a registration is a compliance violation.

EVIDENCE:

50+different state registration systems to track
$10,000-$50,000 in potential fines per missed registration

WITNESS TESTIMONY:

“Virginia changed their registration deadline and we did not catch it for three weeks. We were technically lobbying unregistered. That is the kind of exposure that keeps you up at night.”

COUNT III: BILL MONITORING IS A FULL-TIME JOB THAT NOBODY HAS TIME FOR

THE CHARGE:

Tracking hundreds of bills across federal and state legislatures, monitoring committee actions, floor votes, and amendment language. Most firms rely on a patchwork of tools and manual checks.

EVIDENCE:

200-500bills monitored per session for a mid-size practice
$3,000/month in staff time for manual legislative monitoring

WITNESS TESTIMONY:

“Our client called asking about an amendment that passed subcommittee yesterday. I did not even know it had been marked up. That cannot happen.”

COUNT IV: YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSET LIVES IN PEOPLE'S HEADS

THE CHARGE:

Who met with which staffer, what was discussed, who has influence on which issues. This institutional knowledge disappears when a lobbyist leaves or retires.

EVIDENCE:

40+ yearsof relationship intelligence at risk when senior lobbyists depart
$200,000+ in client relationships at risk per senior departure

WITNESS TESTIMONY:

“Our founding partner retired last year. He took 30 years of relationships with him. Our junior lobbyists are starting from scratch with offices he had been walking into for decades.”

COUNT V: GIFT RULE TRACKING IS A LIABILITY MINEFIELD

THE CHARGE:

Federal gift rules (House Rule 25, Senate Rule 35) and state gift laws set different thresholds for meals, events, and gifts. Tracking cumulative totals per official across multiple events requires precision that spreadsheets cannot deliver.

EVIDENCE:

$50-$250gift thresholds that vary by jurisdiction and recipient type
Career-ending compliance violations from a $15 miscalculation

WITNESS TESTIMONY:

“We track gift totals in a spreadsheet. One associate forgot to log a lunch and we were $12 over the Senate gift limit for a staffer. Twelve dollars nearly became front-page news.”

COUNT VI: FARA REPORTING IS COMPLEX, HIGH-STAKES, AND UNFORGIVING

THE CHARGE:

Foreign Agents Registration Act requires detailed reporting of activities, disbursements, and informational materials on behalf of foreign principals. Errors or late filings invite DOJ scrutiny.

EVIDENCE:

6 monthsFARA supplemental statement filing cycle
Criminal penalties up to $250,000 and 5 years imprisonment per violation

WITNESS TESTIMONY:

“FARA is not like LDA. The DOJ FARA unit reviews every filing. An error is not an amendment, it is an investigation. The stakes are categorically different.”

AI automation by practice area

Every sub-vertical within government affairs has unique workflows, compliance requirements, and automation opportunities. Here is how AI transforms work across the most common specialties.

Federal and state lobbying firms focused on direct advocacy, coalition building, and client representation before legislative bodies. LDA compliance is the primary regulatory burden.

Federal LobbyingState LobbyingCoalition ManagementAppropriations

Workflows

Quarterly LD-2 Filing8-15 hrs/client

Contact compilation, expenditure aggregation, issue coding, filing

Automation
85%
LD-1 Registration2-4 hrs/registration

New client registration, lobbyist designation, issue area selection

Automation
70%
Congressional Meeting Prep2-4 hrs/meeting

Member research, bill status, talking points, leave-behind materials

Automation
60%
Client Reporting4-8 hrs/month/client

Activity reports, legislative updates, strategic recommendations

Automation
75%

Benchmarks

Avg hours/engagement40-80 hours/quarter per client
Avg cost/engagement$25,000-$75,000/quarter retainer
SourceOpenSecrets Lobbying Data Analysis 2024

Priority Opportunities

Automated LD-2 Compilationcritical
Time savings80-90%
Cost savings$4k-$7.5k per client per quarter
high
Client Reporting Automationhigh
Time savings60-75%
Cost savings$3k-$6k per client per month
high
Meeting Prep Intelligencemedium
Time savings50-65%
Cost savings$1k-$2k per meeting
medium

Findings of Fact

What this looks like in practice

Example scenarios based on common government affairs challenges. Numbers reflect industry benchmarks.

Eight clients. Eighty hours. Four days to the LD-2 deadline.

12 professionals|Bipartisan federal lobbying firm|Washington, D.C.

Challenge

Every quarter, the firm's policy team drops everything for LD-2 filings. Eight registered lobbying clients means eight detailed reports compiling three months of contacts, expenditures, lobbying issues, and specific bill numbers. The data lives in Outlook calendars, expense reports, handwritten meeting notes, and the lobbyists' memories. The compliance coordinator spends 10+ hours per client assembling the reports. Lobbyists are pulled off client work to reconstruct who they met, what they discussed, and what they spent.

Clients8
Hours per quarterly cycle80+
Staff pulled from client work5
Annual compliance cost$160k+

Outcome

AI-powered LD-2 compilation pulled contact data from calendar integrations, matched expenditures from the accounting system, and auto-assigned Senate lobbying issue codes based on meeting context. Draft LD-2s generated in minutes per client. The compliance coordinator reviewed and corrected edge cases. Total quarterly filing time dropped from 80+ hours to 12 hours. Lobbyists stayed on the Hill. The firm filed two days early for the first time in its history.

“We used to shut down the office for filing week. Now it is done before lunch on Wednesday and nobody missed a single Hill meeting.”

Lobbying unregistered in three states. Nobody knew until a client asked.

20 professionals|Multi-state government relations consultancy|D.C. metro

Challenge

The firm expanded from federal lobbying to multi-state advocacy for a new corporate client. The compliance team tracked registrations in a shared spreadsheet. When the client asked for a compliance audit, the firm discovered it was lobbying unregistered in three states: Illinois, Massachusetts, and Georgia. Each state defined lobbying differently: Illinois counted phone calls to legislators as lobbying, Massachusetts had expenditure thresholds the firm had exceeded, and Georgia required registration before any advocacy activity. The firm had been technically violating lobbying registration laws for months.

States with active advocacy23
States unregistered3
Potential fine exposure$75,000+
Client confidence impactSignificant

Outcome

State compliance monitoring system tracked registration requirements across all 50 states plus D.C. AI flagged when client activity in a new jurisdiction triggered registration obligations based on each state's specific definition of lobbying and expenditure thresholds. Proactive alerts triggered 60 days before renewal deadlines. The firm went from reactive spreadsheet tracking to proactive jurisdiction management. In the first quarter, the system identified two additional states where the firm needed to register before beginning planned advocacy.

“The system told us we needed to register in Colorado before we even started working there. The spreadsheet would have told us after we were already in violation.”

Founding lobbyist retiring. Thirty years of relationships about to walk out the door.

8 professionals|Federal affairs boutique|Washington, D.C.

Challenge

The firm's founding partner, a 30-year veteran of federal lobbying, announced his retirement. He maintained relationships with hundreds of congressional offices, committee staff, and agency officials. His meeting histories, strategic insights, and relationship nuances lived entirely in his memory and a personal notebook system. Junior lobbyists relied on walking into his office to ask "who should I talk to about this issue?" The firm was about to lose not just a rainmaker, but the institutional memory that made the entire practice effective.

Years of relationships30
Congressional relationships200+
Revenue at risk$2M+
Knowledge documentationZero

Outcome

Relationship intelligence system captured meeting histories, contact context, and strategic notes from the founding partner over a six-month structured knowledge transfer. AI indexed 30 years of correspondence and meeting records. The resulting system gave every lobbyist at the firm access to the complete relationship history with any congressional office. New associates could see who the firm had met with, what was discussed, and what outcomes resulted, all searchable by office, issue area, or time period.

“I spent 30 years building those relationships. Now every lobbyist at the firm can leverage them. That is a better legacy than a plaque on the wall.”

The Remedy

How we fix it

Four compliance and intelligence workflows, four custom-built AI systems. Each one addresses a specific pain point with measurable before-and-after results.

Quarterly LD-2 filings require 8-15 hours of manual compilation per client, pulling data from calendars, expense systems, and contact logs.

AI aggregates lobbying contacts, expenditures, and issue codes automatically from existing systems and drafts LD-2 reports for review and filing.

Before8-15 hrs/client

Policy staff become data entry clerks four times a year. Deadlines create week-long fire drills. Errors trigger amendment cycles.

After1-2 hrs/client

LD-2 drafts generate automatically. Staff review and approve. Quarterly filings become a half-day task, not a half-week crisis.

85% savings

“Eight clients, eight LD-2s, done by lunch instead of Friday at midnight. The system pulled everything we needed from our existing tools.”

Exhibit D

Qualifications of Expert Witness

Building AI for government affairs is not like building AI for other industries. Lobbying disclosure laws, FARA requirements, gift rules, and political sensitivities demand specialized understanding that generic technology firms cannot provide.

I. Regulatory Awareness

Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA)

Our systems support compliance with 2 USC §1601 et seq., including LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution disclosures, and the HLOGA amendments that expanded disclosure obligations.

Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)

We understand 22 USC §611 requirements for foreign principal representation, including supplemental statement filings, informational materials tracking, and the DOJ FARA Unit's review process.

Congressional Gift Rules

Our systems track cumulative gift values against House Rule 25 and Senate Rule 35 thresholds, including the widely attended gathering exception, campaign event exemption, and state-specific gift limitations.

State Lobbying Laws

We navigate the patchwork of state lobbying registration requirements, from Virginia Code §2.2-418 to Maryland State Government §15-701, each with different definitions, thresholds, and reporting obligations.

II. Platform Familiarity

Bloomberg Government

Legislative Intelligence

CQ Roll Call

Congressional Intelligence

FiscalNote

Policy Intelligence

Quorum

Public Affairs Platform

LobbyView

Lobbying Data

OpenSecrets

Political Data

LegiScan

Bill Tracking

BillTrack50

State Legislation

III. Data Sources & Research

  1. 1.Senate Office of Public Records (LDA filings)
  2. 2.DOJ FARA Registration Unit
  3. 3.OpenSecrets / Center for Responsive Politics
  4. 4.National Conference of State Legislatures
  5. 5.Public Affairs Council
  6. 6.American League of Lobbyists
  7. 7.Federal Election Commission

IV. Regulatory Context

Federal Lobbying Disclosure

LDA (2 USC §1601), HLOGA amendments, LD-1 registration, LD-2 quarterly reports, and LD-203 contribution disclosures govern all federal lobbying activity and reporting.

Foreign Agent Registration

FARA (22 USC §611) requires registration and detailed reporting for agents of foreign principals, with DOJ oversight and criminal penalties for non-compliance.

Ethics & Gift Rules

House Rule 25, Senate Rule 35, the Ethics in Government Act, and state-specific gift and ethics laws set the boundaries for permissible interactions with government officials.

Exhibit E

Damages Calculation

Expert Witness Report on Potential Recovery

Firm Parameters

8

Registered lobbying clients requiring LD-2 filings

10

Current average hours to compile one LD-2 report

15

Number of states where you track lobbying registrations

200

Total bills tracked across all clients and jurisdictions

$400

Blended hourly rate for government affairs professionals

Potential Recovery

LDA Filing Savings

$108,800

Clients x 4 quarters x (Filing Hours x 85%) x Hourly Rate

Legislative Monitoring Savings

$160,000

(Bills / 100) x 2 hrs/day x 250 days x Rate x 40%

State Compliance Savings

$108,000

Jurisdictions x 4 hrs/month x 12 months x $150 staff rate

Compliance Risk Avoidance

$375,000

$25,000 per jurisdiction in annual penalty exposure reduction

Total Annual Savings

$751,800

Sum of all recovery categories

ROI Multiple

6.3x

Total Annual Savings / Annual Partnership Investment

Assumptions & Sources

Assumptions

  • 1.LDA filing automation assumes 85% reduction in compilation time (review still required)
  • 2.Legislative monitoring savings assume 2 hours/day saved per 100 bills tracked
  • 3.State compliance savings assume 4 hours/month per jurisdiction currently tracked
  • 4.Risk avoidance estimates $25,000 per jurisdiction in annual penalty exposure reduction
  • 5.ROI calculated against Growth Partnership tier
  • 6.Actual results vary based on practice scope, client mix, and current efficiency

Sources

  • [1]Senate Office of Public Records Filing Data
  • [2]DOJ FARA Enforcement Reports
  • [3]National Conference of State Legislatures
  • [4]OpenSecrets Lobbying Industry Analysis

Exhibit F

Stipulated Facts

I. Field Reports

Quarterly filings used to shut down the office for a week. Now they are done by Wednesday lunch. My lobbyists are back on the Hill where they belong.

— Managing Partner, Bipartisan lobbying firm, 15 professionals, Example scenario

We caught a state registration gap in Illinois before it became a problem. The old spreadsheet would not have flagged it until after the deadline.

— Compliance Director, Multi-state government relations consultancy, Example scenario

A new hire pulled up our complete interaction history with a House subcommittee in under a minute. It would have taken me a week to reconstruct.

— Senior Lobbyist, Federal affairs boutique, Example scenario

The gift tracking system flagged that our planned dinner would put us $8 over the Senate limit for a particular staffer. Eight dollars that could have been a career-ending headline.

— Government Relations VP, Corporate government affairs department, Example scenario

II. Before & After

Senior Lobbyists

Before:

12+ hours/quarter on LD-2 compilation, manually tracking contacts and expenditures

After:

LD-2 drafts auto-generated from existing data. Review and file in under 2 hours per client.

85% reduction in filing time

Policy Analysts

Before:

Hours daily piecing together legislative updates from multiple platforms

After:

AI surfaces relevant bill changes, committee actions, and amendment language automatically

80% more time on strategic analysis

Compliance Staff

Before:

Spreadsheet-based tracking of state registrations, gift limits, and filing deadlines

After:

Automated deadline monitoring, jurisdiction alerts, and pre-event compliance checks

Zero missed deadlines

The Firm

Before:

Competing on relationships alone, risking compliance exposure, losing institutional knowledge

After:

Competing on intelligence, speed, and compliance certainty while retaining institutional memory

Higher client retention, lower compliance risk
Rules of Engagement

How we work with government affairs firms

We understand lobbying economics, compliance obligations, and the reality of legislative timelines. We build custom AI systems for firms like yours.

AI Opportunity Assessment

Fixed scope, discussed during consultation
What:

We audit your compliance workflows, legislative tracking processes, and relationship management practices to identify the 3-4 highest-ROI automation opportunities.

Deliverable:

Prioritized opportunity roadmap with compliance-specific economics

2–4 weeks
Learn more

Compliance Automation Pilot

Standalone or as part of partnership
What:

Prove the value on a single compliance workflow: one quarterly LD-2 cycle, one state registration audit, or one gift tracking implementation.

Deliverable:

Working automation with before/after metrics comparison

2–4 weeks
Learn more
Most Popular

Growth Partnership

Monthly partnership, scoped to your needs
What:

Embedded engineering partner building custom compliance and intelligence systems for your firm. Most popular tier for mid-size government affairs practices.

Deliverable:

Production AI systems, ongoing enhancement, priority support

Ongoing monthly engagement
Learn more
In the matter of operational efficiency

Petition for Relief

COMES NOW the undersigned firm, by and through its managing partner, and respectfully petitions for immediate relief from compliance burden, intelligence gaps, and regulatory exposure.

Talk to someone who understands government affairs operations

LDA filings, FARA compliance, state registration, gift rule tracking. We speak your language.

Prayer for Relief
  1. 1.That senior lobbyists spend their time on client strategy, not LD-2 data entry
  2. 2.That state registration deadlines are never missed again
  3. 3.That 30 years of institutional relationships survive partner transitions
No commitment required
30-minute conversation
Confidential

Or email hello@scalewerk.net directly

Respectfully submitted,

SCALEWERK CONSULTING LLC

Counsel for Operational Excellence