Lobbying and Speech Rights

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Court Upholds Stealth Lobbying Disclosure 04/29/2008
The National Association of Manufacturers' (NAM) legal challenge to the stealth lobbying disclosure provisions in the 2007 lobbying and ethics reform law was rejected by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on April 11. After the U.S. Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant a stay pending appeal, NAM announced it would comply with the law while its appeal proceeds by disclosing members who contributed more than $5,000 toward lobbying in a quarter and have supervision, control, or active participation in NAM's federal lobbying efforts. Read More

Robocall Regulation Debate Heats Up 04/15/2008
Controversy over S. 2624, the Robocall Privacy Act of 2008, has increased in recent weeks following a February Senate committee hearing. Labeled as an affront to First Amendment speech rights, an unwelcome infringement upon citizen-to-citizen communication, and unconstitutionally vague and overly broad, this bill has forced political pundits, consultants, and politicians to debate what constitutes "core political speech" and how best to utilize robocalls. Some consultants in the automated call industry are seeking donations for the Legal Defense Fund of the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC), and others are partnering with the National Political Do-Not-Contact Registry. Read More

Senate Bill Would Regulate Robocalls during Election Campaigns 02/20/2008
On Feb. 12, Senate Rules Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) introduced S. 2624, the Robocall Privacy Act of 2008. The bill would place restrictions on how and when prerecorded messages, known as robocalls, can be made 30 days before a primary and 60 days before a general election. The bill would only affect prerecorded calls, not calls made by volunteers at phone banks. Read More

FEC Approves Rule Exempting Issue Advocacy from Broadcast Ban 12/04/2007
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) approved a final rule exempting some issue-related broadcasts from the electioneering communications rule. The old rule banned corporations — including nonprofits — and unions from paying for such ads within 60 days of a federal general election or 30 days of a primary, if the ads referred to a federal candidate. The new rule is the FEC's response to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life case, which struck down the ban as applied to grassroots lobbying. The new rule does not provide a specific standard. Instead, there is a safe harbor for some grassroots lobbying broadcasts, and the rest of the rule lists criteria for the FEC to decide if a communication is allowable on a case-by-case basis. It also requires donor disclosure for these non-electoral messages. Read More

Lobbying and Ethics Reforms Being Implemented 11/06/2007
President Bush signed the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (HLOGA), S.1, on Sept. 14; revised House ethics rules took effect in March. The focus of these reforms has now shifted to implementation of the changes. Congressional officials have started developing the new forms and guidance that will be used by lobbyists to comply with the law. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has proposed new regulations to implement campaign contribution bundling disclosure requirements. From lobbyists to lawyers, nonprofits, and members of Congress themselves, all parties in Washington have begun preparing for these and other adjustments to their current practices. Read More

Conference Focuses on E-mail Frustration Felt by Congress and Advocacy Groups 10/10/2007
On Oct.1, the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF), a nonpartisan nonprofit organization working to improve the effectiveness of Congress, held a forum on constituent communications with Congress. The goal of the conference was to "identify ways to make it easier for citizens to express their views to Congress in an effective way and for congressional offices to manage and get value from the communications they receive." The massive amount of e-mail Congress receives from constituents was the main topic of discussion. Both nonprofit advocacy groups and congressional staffers agreed that the current approach to e-mail communications works for neither side, but they were unable to find common ground on solutions. CMF will release a draft report in early 2008 on the conference and its research on the topic, with the goal of fostering a new model of constituent communications with Congress. Read More

FEC Proposes Rulemaking on Elections and Issue Advocacy 09/11/2007
On Aug. 23, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) stating the agency's intent to make its regulations consistent with the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life (WRTL II). The FEC seeks public comment on two alternative proposals by Oct. 1. The FEC will hold a hearing on Oct. 17, and it plans to vote on a final rule by the end of November, in time for the presidential primaries. The difference between the alternative proposals is that one would require sponsors of grassroots, non-electoral broadcasts to file disclosure reports on their funding sources to the FEC; the other approach amends the definition of electioneering communications to allow issue advocacy and would not require disclosure to the FEC. Read More

Pressure to Pass Lobby Reform Grows 07/24/2007
No one is certain when Congress will leave for its summer recess. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has said the Senate will recess only when it has passed several high profile bills, including lobby reform. Progress on this legislation has stalled because Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) has used parliamentary procedure to stop Reid from appointing the Senate conferees. One solution to the problem may be that the House and Senate pass identical bills to avoid a conference. However, reform groups have raised concerns about this process, since it may result in weakened legislation. Read More

Stalled Lobby Reform Bills to be Resolved Before August Recess 07/10/2007
The House and Senate have now overwhelmingly passed their respective pieces of lobbying and ethics reform legislation, but a partisan impasse in the Senate has stalled progress. Before the Independence Day recess, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) was unable to reach an agreement with Republicans to go to conference. The House and Senate bills both increase current disclosure requirements for paid lobbying activities under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, but a few discrepancies between the two have to be worked out in conference. Reid promised to complete work on the lobbying and ethics bill before the August recess. Read More

Supreme Court Upholds Right to Run Genuine Issue Ads during Elections 06/26/2007
On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in Federal Election Commission vs. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc., ruling 5-4 that the federal electioneering communications ban is unconstitutional when applied to genuine issue ads. The case challenged a provision in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) that bars corporations, including nonprofits, from paying for broadcasts that mention federal candidates 60 days before a general election or 30 days before a primary (known as the blackout period). Though the Court ruled in favor of groups that run issue ads during elections, the debate will likely continue throughout the upcoming presidential election and beyond. Read More

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