In the wake of allegations of violations of House rules, particularly about lobbyists paying for congressional travel by Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), two Democrats plan to introduce a bill to increase disclosure of federal lobbying and tighten other rules affecting the influence of lobbyists. At the same time, Republicans announced their own plans aimed at tightening and enforcing House ethics rules. However, the Democrats' bill appears to have picked up steam when House Administration Committee Chairman Robert Ney (R-OH) expressed interest in crafting a bipartisan approach to reform. Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA), lead sponsor of the Lobbying and Ethics Reform Act of 2005, and co-sponsor Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) described their bill, not yet filed, in a press conference May 4, saying their purpose is to restore public confidence in Congress. They noted the Lobbying Disclosure Act has not been changed since 1995, but during the past decade the lobbying industry "has grown exponentially, while disclosures have become more infrequent and incomplete." A decade ago the House, awash in scandal over banking violations and lavish travel junkets, reworked congressional gift and lobbying laws, which included passage of the Lobbying Disclosure Act. Many of the House rules and disclosure requirements were filled with loopholes and simply did not address various issues. The Meehan-Emanuel bill is an attempt to revisit the loopholes and gaps left from 10 years ago. The bill will cover four major areas: increasing federal lobbying disclosure, slowing the revolving door between working for Congress and lobbying firms, rules for congressional travel, and tougher enforcement and congressional oversight. More specifically on lobbying disclosure, the bill will:

• Change reporting under the Lobbying Disclosure Act from semi-annually to quarterly
• Require disclosure of grassroots lobbying expenditures
• Require coalitions to disclose lobbying activities and their funders
• Require disclosure of lobbying contacts with members of Congress and senior officials in the executive branch instead of simply reporting broad subject areas.
• Create a searchable electronic database so the public can easily access information in the lobbying disclosure reports

Nonprofits that lobby Congress and meet the registration requirements must report under the Lobbying Disclosure Act. Those charities that opt to use the lobbying expenditure test rather than the vague "substantial part" test can use the IRS Form 990 in lieu of the Lobbying Disclosure Act reporting forms. This was because the IRS Form 990 already requires charities to disclose direct and grassroots lobbying expenditures at the local, state and federal level -- far more than the Lobbying Disclosure Act. Although the Meehan-Emanuel bill is not expected to affect this provision, groups that remain under the substantial part test would need to comply with the new requirements. The provisions relating to grassroots lobbying and coalition membership disclosure are said to be similar to the Stealth Lobbying Disclosure Act of 2005 Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) introduced earlier this year. (See summary in the April 4 OMB Watcher.) It appears the sponsors do not intend the bill to require registration based on grassroots lobbying expenses, and the coalition disclosure provision will exempt 501(c)(3) organizations. Other 501(c) groups that have "substantial" activities other than lobbying on a specific issue would also be exempt, but the term "substantial" is not defined. Emanuel's participation in this bill heightens the political jockeying between Republicans and Democrats for political high ground on these ethical issues. Emanuel chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Republicans suspected Emanuel -- and Democrats generally -- were using this issue as a political sledgehammer to bash Republicans. They noted that the DCCC created the "Tom DeLay House of Scandal" on its website which ties Republicans to DeLay or his fundraising every week. Ney was the first Republican to be featured on the website. On May 10, Emanuel made a statement on the House floor explaining the need for the bill. He noted that federal lobbying expenditures have almost doubled in the past six years, reaching $3 billion annually, and that 210 of the 250 top lobbying firms have failed to file complete lobbying disclosure reports under the Lobbying Disclosure Act. Emanuel pointed to "nonexistent oversight and toothless penalties" as a key reason why compliance has been a problem. According to the Center for Public Integrity, almost 20 percent of lobbying forms were filed late and some were not filed at all. While Republicans reacted coolly to Emanuel's participation, Ney had already been expressing interest in pursuing a bipartisan bill. Emanuel said he would remove his name from the bill if that would help its chances of success. But even before that, Ney had said, "Despite having Rahm's name on the bill, I'm still going to consider it because of Marty Meehan. Everything that Marty Meehan says has credibility." This has given the bill new life in the House. Meehan filed a similar bill last year, which also included provisions relating to the rights of the minority party in the House. See July 16, 2004 OBM Watcher for details. We will post a copy and summary of the bill when it is filed.