The Supreme Court’s landmark 1976 ruling on campaign finance reform has been abbreviated to the terse, “money is speech,” enabling lobbyists to continue to spread their speech lavishly among politicians. When it comes to paying a fee for oversight of their trade, however, free speech takes on a whole new meaning for this industry.

Under the Maine Clean Election Act, passed by voters in the 1996 elections, lobbyists must pay $400 a year, half of which goes to the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, which is charged with keeping an eye on the lobbyists. The previous fee was $200. The Maine Campground Owners Association and the Maine Civil Liberties Union say the new charge is too high, calling it a tax on free speech and debate.

Their argument is based on the idea that the only constitutionally acceptable charge for lobbyists is one limited to the cost of their registration. Anything above that, they say, unjustly restricts the right to petition the government, even when the petitioning is done by proxy — a lobbyist.

That’s a fair point and if their reading is accurate, they may have a case. But surely registering lobbyists cannot be limited merely to keeping a list and filing it away. If it were so, any fee over $5 would be unreasonable, nearly every state in the nation would have an unconstitutional law on its books and, in fact, there would be little reason to assemble a list at all.

The commission puts together a list in order to do something with it. In this instance, to keep track of lobbyists in their dealings with lawmakers. Considering the many interesting ways the more than 300 lobbyists in Maine totaled $4 million in expenses last legislative session, the commission has a large job to do. (By comparison to the number of lobbyists, Maine has only 186 legislators.)

The $400 fee is not a large amount for most lobbyists, but it could discourage some single-issue groups. A lobbyist does not become a lobbyist until he or she devotes at least eight hours a month in the practice, which excuses people who spend a day at the State House to address a particular bill. But many pieces of legislation require hours and hours of attention before they are completed. Even the most incidental lobbyist could eaily burn up eight hours before getting a chance to present an argument. The law ought to make a greater distinction between the professional lobbyist and the fellow whose colleagues urged and compensated him to represent them in Augusta on a particular issue.

The Clean Election Act passed because voters were unhappy with the way money — often from lobbyists — had come to influence the political process. The commission’s added duties under the act and the added cost of carrying out those duties are the lobbyists’ own making. It is not surprising or unfair that they be asked to pick up some of the cost.