In January 2009, the Office of the Legislative Inspector General launched the Ohio Lobbying Activity Center (OLAC). The OLAC is an online filing system that enables registered Agents/Lobbyists and their Employers to electronically register their lobbying engagements and file their tri-annual Activity and Expenditure Reports. This format allows all filers to receive near instantaneous confirmation that their filing requirements have been received by the OLIG.

Additionally, the new format allows public access to all disclosed information provided by lobbyists and their employers. One of the features of the OLAC is an ability to search and cross-reference this data in ways previously unavailable.

The implementation of the OLAC coincided with the statutory need to renew lobbying engagements. All current legislative engagements expired on 12/31/2008, followed by the executive agency and retirement system engagements expiring on 1/31/2009. AS PART OF THE TRANSITION FROM THE CURRENT “PRINT MY STATEMENTS” SYSTEM, ALL CURRENTLY REGISTERED AGENTS/LOBBYISTS SHOULD HAVE RENEWED THEIR LOBBYING ENGAGEMENTS FOR THE 2009 – 2010 CYCLE VIA THE OLAC BY FEBRUARY 02, 2009. The Office of the Legislative Inspector General will, at the outset, continue to accept initial registration statements on paper, but the filer will have to download the form from the Blank Lobbying Forms link. Any registration renewal filed either electronically or in paper format will be considered timely filed if received by February 02, 2009.

All currently registered agents/lobbyists will be automatically set up in the new OLAC with a User Account. The OLIG has mailed USERNAME and TEMPORARY PASSWORD account information to those individuals, allowing them to access the OLAC and the online Initial Registration Statements. Please confirm that your contact information on file with our office is correct by doing an agent search from the JLEC link on the home page of www.ohiolobby.org.

Throughout the transition phase, the OLIG will be holding weekly tutorial sessions, open to all interested parties, to explain and demonstrate the OLAC. Our office will announce the beginning of these workshops and the schedule of workshops to be held via email reminders and postings to our website.

If you are not signed up to receive reminders; please send an email to info@jlec-olig.state.oh.us and request to be added.

The new on-line filing system found within the OLAC DOES NOT affect any reporting requirements or expenditure limitations found in O.R.C. §101.70 – §101.79; §121.60 – §121.69; or §101.90 – §101.99.