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Senate ethics language could curb’08 convention festivities |
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By Ian Swanson
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Posted: 06/26/07 06:51 PM [ET] |
A debate is opening up on whether legislation moving through Congress will affect the expensive parties thrown by corporations and trade associations at national political conventions.
While several lawyers said they did not think the lobbying reform bills would have a major impact on these festivities, two advocates for lobbying reform said language included in a bill approved by the Senate would make a difference.
Political conventions no longer determine the presidential nominating process, but they remain a great opportunity to party with elected officials, usually on a lobbyist’s dime. At the 2004 conventions in Boston and New York, there were a slew of lavish receptions honoring individual lawmakers and featuring sushi bars, lobster rolls and fine wines, according to those who enjoyed them.
“These events have come to symbolize both the excess and the access of some lobbyist-lawmaker relationships,” according to a letter penned by several reform-minded senators, including Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and presidential candidate Barack Obama (D-Ill.), sent to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) at the beginning of the year.
This led the Senate to include language in its reform bill that forbids senators from participating in national political convention events held in their honor that are paid for by a lobbyist or an entity that employs lobbyists. Guidance to the Senate bill also forbids such parties from being “lavish,” but does not offer a definition.
The House bill, however, did not include this language, and some observers are skeptical that a final conference report will reflect the tougher Senate bill. Even if the Senate language does survive, several attorneys said it would be easy for lawmakers and lobbyists to get around.
“There may be a sufficiently large loophole that it won’t bother anybody,” said Thomas Susman of Ropes and Gray LLP. For example, Susman said, the Senate language could still allow parties honoring a state or supporters of a specific sector such as steel.
Kenneth Gross of Skadden Arps has begun to receive calls from groups asking for advice on how to plan convention parties or receptions in light of tougher lobbying rules. As he sees it, the Senate language, if approved, could still allow receptions honoring groups like the Congressional Black Caucus. “I don’t think it will be that big of a deal,” Gross said.
Some might interpret the language as applying only to events that are actually held at the location of the convention. Groups might be able to avoid the new rule by having a reception at a hotel or other facility not connected to the center hosting the convention, sources said.
Fred Wertheimer of Democracy 21, however, insists it will be difficult for members to get around the Senate language if it survives a conference. He said he did not think parties honoring a congressional delegation would be allowed under the Senate language.
“We think the provision is clear in terms of what it’s intended to stop,” Wertheimer said. Members who go to parties at conventions will have to decide whether they want to risk being brought up on ethics charges, he added.
Public Citizen’s Craig Holman said elected officials who seek to get around the language could be punished by public opinion, especially since the thousands of reporters looking for stories at the convention are likely to zero in on any lawmakers attending parties feting them.
“Any member showing up at an event like that would be ridiculed,” Holman insisted.
Democracy 21 had pushed for language that would have prevented lobbyists from paying for parties at conventions, but Wertheimer said that the Senate language puts the onus on members not to attend them.
Events honoring members are commonplace at conventions, and several attorneys predicted they would be a part of the Republican convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul and the Democratic convention in Denver.
Mike Johnson, vice president for federal affairs at the National Beer Wholesalers, said his organization plans to have a “very strong presence” at both conventions, just as it has in the past. He noted that the events represent a unique opportunity to meet with state and federal officials as well as delegates.
Johnson also emphasized that his group’s events will be tailored to fit whichever rules exist. For example, receptions with finger food are likely to be more common at next year’s conventions, just as they are becoming more common in Washington, since the new rules still allow lobbyists to serve finger food at receptions.
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