Federal requirements tend to be less stringent than most state regulations.
In Washington, for example, lobbyists are not required to wear badges or other forms of identification that enable members of congress or their staff to know when they are dealing with a lobbyist. Nor are congressional lobbyist registration records open to the public at large. There is no statutory requirement to reveal to the general public who is influencing federal legislation on behalf of whom. Those who wish to view official federal lobbyist registrations, must physically be in Washington and view the list on the Clerk's computer. Privately published listings do exist and the National Lobbyist Directory sincerely hopes that Congress has not failed to open the lobbyist registrations to the public for the purpose of protecting these private publications.