Massachusetts. Lobbyist Section

Regulation of the activities of legislative agents in the Commonwealth began in 1890. St 1890, c 456 (amended by St 1891, c 223) divided these regulating duties between the sergeant-at-arms of the General Court and the secretary of the Commonwealth. Under the law's provisions, the responsibility for registering legislative agents was the duty of the sergeant-at-arms. He was required to prepare and keep legislative docket books containing the names, residences, occupations, and dates of employment and termination of agents, as well as the names and business addresses of their employers. Later legislation (St 1895, c 410; St 1896, c 342) required agents to file with the sergeant-at-arms written authority signed by their employers.

St 1890, c 456, s 6 placed the responsibility for keeping the records of expenses incurred by the employers of legislative agents under the jurisdiction of the secretary of the Commonwealth. Under St 1973, c 981, the agents themselves were also required to file such statements with the secretary. The same act removed the responsibility for registering legislative agents from the jurisdiction of the sergeant-at-arms, and placed it under the state secretary, thereby uniting all aspects of regulation of lobbyists under one office. There the activity has been delegated to the Public Records Division, and in the 1980s more specifically to the division's Lobbyist Section.