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President Bush was expected to sign the lobbying and ethics reform bill Friday, giving Democrats another item to check off their “Six in ’06” legislative agenda and a major talking point heading into next year’s election. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democrats have scheduled a conference call this afternoon to tout their legislative accomplishments. While a few Republican critics complained the bill did not do enough to stop the practice of earmarking, the process by which senators and representatives target spending, the legislation passed with broad bipartisan support and government watchdogs lauded the end result for its efforts to break the cozy bonds between lawmakers and lobbyists. “The legislation is extremely significant,” said Craig Holman of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch. “This is the most sweeping lobbying and ethics reform we’ve seen in decades.” Much of the new law will require lobbyists to disclose more about their work. It requires lobbyists, for example, to report direct campaign contributions and fundraising activities on documents known as LDA reports, for the Lobbying Disclosure Act, that heretofore had been limited to their lobbying activity. Those reports will now have to be filed quarterly, rather than semi-annually, as now required. Members and candidates for office also have a host of new restrictions. The law requires campaigns to list the lobbyists who have bundled at least $15,000 in contributions on Federal Election Commission financial reports. The new law will also extend the “cooling off” period that prevents lawmakers and senior executive personnel to lobby from one to two years. The measure also prohibits members in most cases from accepting privately financed travel from lobbyists or an entity that employs a lobbyist. |
