Lobbying and Ethics

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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Conferees Tied to Party Spending Issue

Jun 28, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

As already noted, Republicans will only go along with naming conferees for the ethics and lobbying bill if the Senate takes up the Senate electronic filing bill along with an unspecified amendment. According to BNA Money and Politics, ($$) that amendment likely deals with lifting controls on political party coordinated spending to help candidates.

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GOP Sen. on WH Earmarks: "Hypocrisy? No, Duplicity"

Jun 28, 2007 by Dana Chasin

An article in The Hill this morning quotes GOP Sen. Larry Craig (ID), responding to a question about whether President Bush was being hypocritical for requesting hundreds of earmarks even while criticizing them and vowing to cut the number of earmarks in half this year: "Hypocrisy? No, but one might call that duplicity."

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The Long and Winding Road ... to Conference

Jun 27, 2007 by Dana Chasin

On May 24, the House adopted H.R. 2316, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (aka, the lobbying and ethics bill), in a lop-sided 396-22 vote. The Senate passed S. 1, its own version of the bill back on January 18 almost unanimously, 96-2.

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The Long and Winding Road ... to Conference

Jun 27, 2007 by Dana Chasin

On May 24, the House adopted H.R. 2316, the lobbying and ethics bill (aka, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, in a lop-sided 396-22 vote. The Senate passed S. 1, its own version of the bill back on January 18 almost unanimously, 96-2.

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Fate of Lobbying and Ethics Bill Uncertain

Jun 26, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

CQ ($$) reports that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, (R-KY) has blocked the appointment of Senate conferees on the lobbying and ethics bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) tried to name conferees Tuesday afternoon, but Republicans objected at McConnell's request, saying they would only allow action if promised a vote on a bill to require electronic filing of campaign finance reports (S. 223).

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Means-Tested Exemption from Lobbying Ban?

Jun 26, 2007 by Dana Chasin

True or False: Whether the laws of the United States governing the cooling-off period (currently one year) restrictions for former Congressional staffers to lobby their erstwhile offices apply depends upon the salary of these staffers. Answer: True (per Public Law 101-194). Now -- and no cheating -- staffers are exempt from these revolving door restrictions if they:

A. Were at no point one of the top-two paid staffers in a Congressional office
B. Received a total of $200,000 or more during their tenure as Congressional staffers

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Means-Tested Exemption from Lobbying Ban?

Jun 26, 2007 by Dana Chasin

True or False: Whether the laws of the United States governing the cooling-off period (currently one year) restrictions for former Congressional staffers to lobby their erstwhile offices apply depends upon the salary of these staffers. Answer: True (per Public Law 101-194). Now -- and no cheating -- staffers are exempt from these revolving door restrictions if they:

A. Were at no point one of the top-two paid staffers in a Congressional office
B. Received a total of $200,000 or more during their tenure as Congressional staffers

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Lobbying Language Must Stay Strong

Jun 21, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) received a letter yesterday from reform groups on her leadership involving recent House Lobby and Ethics reform legislation. A similar letter was sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). The letter calls on the Democratic leaders to keep the strong provisions in their respective bills intact so that numerous changes do not weaken the bill during the upcoming conference report. The groups express concern for the bundling provision, maintaining the disclosure by lobbyists of their fund-raising events, and disclosure of lobbyists bundling contributions.

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Next Step for Lobbying and Ethics Bill: House-Senate Conference Committee

Jun 6, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

BNA Money and Politics ($$) reports that the even though House-Senate conferees have yet to be named, the process is proceeding towards completing a final lobbying and ethics bill. The House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Rules Committee are working on comparing the two bills, focusing on the differences that need to be resolved. There are a few important differences, such as the absence in the House version of a provision to double from one to two years the ban on lobbying by lawmakers.

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Lobby Reform Bill Passes House without Grassroots Lobbying Disclosure

By a vote of 396-22, the House approved new lobbying reform legislation on May 24 when it passed the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (H.R. 2316). The bill increases the reporting requirements for registered lobbyists, establishes a new electronic disclosure system, imposes new penalties for violating lobbying laws, and includes the controversial proposal to require registered lobbyists to report their bundled campaign contributions (H.R. 2317). The bill will now go to conference committee with a similar Senate bill that was passed in January.

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