Lobbyists also are required to register with the Secretary of the Senate. Lobbyists who lobby the Texas State Legislature must register with the Texas Ethics Commission. They also must inform the Commission about themselves and about the party they intend to represent to the legislature, and must provide the Commission with a monthly report following every month the legislature is in session. These monthly reports must detail how much money was spent in efforts to persuade elected officials, how that money was raised, and exactly how that money was spent. Supervision and enforcement of these regulations have become tighter in recent years.
Many law firms have attorneys who specialize in lobbying.
In addition, there are non-legal political consulting firms available to perform lobbying services. Their employees are often experts at influencing government. When the average person imagines how the government makes decisions, he or she may envision the elected officials deliberating in session or the Chief Executive sitting in his or her office poring over papers. While it might be nice to have direct input into these decisions, few business managers will ever be asked to testify before Congress or to personally advise the President. Instead, the decisions that most directly affect the average business usually are made by government administrative agencies set up to formulate rules and oversee their implementation.