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Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Lobby Reform Passes Senate Without Inhofe Amendments
(But WITH grassroots lobby disclosure!)

Today, the Senate passed S. 2349, the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act, by a roll call vote of 90-8 — which did not include amendments introduced by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) to add a provision to the Lobby Disclosure Act stating that if a 501 (c) organization engages in lobbying activities with federal funds, an officer of the organization can be imprisoned for not more than 5 years and fined.

Click Here for More on Today's Lobby Reform Vote

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 05:46:56 PM

Feingold Amendment to Expand Definition of Lobbyist Tabled
The motion to table (kill) the Feingold amendment no. 2962 that would expand the definition of lobbyist as it relates to the underlying bill's gifts and meals ban. The expanded definition would include not only an organization or person that is required to register under the Lobbying Disclosure Act but also any employee of such a registrant.

Motion agreed to 68-30: R 49-6; D 18-24

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 01:12:11 PM

In the House - Lobby Reform
Every time you turn around, there are differing reports from the House on how it plans to deal with lobby reform. From CQ Today:

Many members oppose the travel moratorium as well as language that would require disclosure of the name of each member who has inserted any earmark in a general appropriations bill or the report accompanying it. Other, less contentions provisions would require more disclosures from lobbyists about their interactions and gifts to members and would eliminate the pensions of members convicted of crimes related to their office.
House Rules Committee spokeswoman Jo Maney said it was still possible the travel ban and earmark language could be pulled out of the lobbying bill and voted upon as changes to House rules, thus eliminating the need to reach agreement with the Senate.
“My understanding,” an aide to another committee chairman countered, “is it is going to go as one big bill.”
Boehner wanted to ensure that members had a chance to shape the package in a range of committees through the regular legislative process. Simple rules changes would have sharply limited participation in the drafting process.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 01:01:27 PM

Lobby Reform Update
In the Senate, they are currently dealing with a vote to set aside the Feingold amendment dealing with meals. They called up a number of amendments - particulary one that nonprofits should be concerned with. Today, the Senate brought up two amendments offered by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) that would severly chill nonprofit speech with the threat of jail time. These amendments most likely will be considered later today. The nonprofit community needs you to contact your Senator and tell him you OPPOSE the Inhofe amendments to the lobby reform bill!

The two amendments would add a penalty clause to Secs. 7 and 18 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act. The provision states that if a 501(c) organization — and only 501(c) organizations — engages in lobbying activities with federal funds, an officer of the organization can be imprisoned for 5 years and fined.

Why should you be concerned about these amendments?

These amendments pose a negative, unwarranted and potentially unconstitutional threat for the entire nonprofit sector.
Nonprofit organizations that receive federal grant money to fear that access to such funds might be restricted if they do not curb their own legally-permissible advocacy activities.
Existing laws and regulations already prohibit nonprofits from using federal funds to lobby or support or oppose a candidate for elected office.

The provision is aimed at nonprofit organizations — for-profits are not penalized in this same manner. These amendments could have a profound impact on the nonprofit sector as a whole. Take action today to send a message that nonprofit speech is a protected right and should not be hindered!

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 12:14:41 PM

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Lobby Reform Update - House and Senate
In the House, the House Rules committee will hold the first markup of the House Lobbying Reform bill HR 4975 this Thursday to markup the provisions that fall under their jurisdiction. There has been a commitment by Republican leadership to go through the committee process with all provisions of the bill, which means as many as 5 different committee markups may occur. At the same time, the House calendar for next week has lobbying reform and 527 reform legislation on it for consideration.

In the Senate, as reported earlier, Frist was successful in invoking cloture and the Senate will take up a Feinstien amendment (SA 2962) and then a manager's amendment. Then a vote on final passage. Wonder what will be in the manager's amendment?

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 08:13:45 PM

Holds Amendment Passes
The Senate voted 84-13 to adopt an amendment to the lobby reform bill (S 2349) that would require senators to submit objections to bringing up a bill or nomination in writing to the Senate leadership. The amendment would give senators three days to resolve their concerns privately before their hold is made public.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 08:01:45 PM

Money Finally Flows to Faith-Based Orgs in Wake of Katrina
Seven months after the Gulf Coast experienced a series of devastating hurricanes, faith-based and community organizations are beginning to receive federal help following delays in administrative processing and paperwork.

For more, check out the The Roundtable's article

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 05:26:44 PM

Where is this Senate Lobby Reform Train Headed?
The Senate took up lobby reform again, as Sen. Schumer withdrew his second-degree amendment that caused the lobby reform train to derail weeks ago.

Today, Frist has reportedly been pleading with Senators to set aside their amendments so they could vote on lobby reform. Frist planned for discussion and voting on the McCain-Liberman-Collins-Obama Office of Public Integrity Amendment and then a vote on the Wyden-Grassley "no more secret holds" amendment.

As it currently seems that Senators are unlikely and unwilling to put aside their amendments, it is unclear what will happen next. There is talk that Frist will call for a cloture vote - although if he hasn't gotten members to agree to set aside their non-germane amendments, you could see a move to block it.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 05:24:50 PM

Monday, March 27, 2006

Lobby Reform Back on Senate Floor
The Senate will reconvene at 1 p.m. on Monday, March 27, following a weeklong recess. The chamber will then resume consideration of lobbying overhaul legislation (S 2349). A roll call vote is scheduled to occur at approximately 5:30 p.m. Senate leaders have not yet announced the subject of the vote, however, it is likely to be related to the lobbying bill.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 01:12:45 PM

Friday, March 24, 2006

So the End of Recess Comes...
Another end to another recess.

What awaits us next week?

The FEC is supposed to take up the Internet rulemaking on Monday. We'll see if that happens.

Reportedly, the House is supposed to take up this issue as well on Wednesday, with the Hensarling bill making another showing.

On the Senate side, looks like more lobby reform. Originally, Frist and Lott were quoted as saying they wanted to get through lobby reform tomorrow - with a vote in the early evening - but that is looking more and more unlikely.

Although Schumer is likely to withdraw his controvesial Dubai Ports amendment, there is still is roughly 75 amendments in the hopper - and how they will get through them, who knows - maybe Frist? But he's not saying.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 05:33:30 PM

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Great Article on Environmental Astroturf
An article in Environemental Science and Technology Online details a "grassroots" effort to "reform" the Endangered Species Act. It is worth a read.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 05:03:44 PM

CREW Files Complaint Against PA Pastors
Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) alleging that a get-out-the-vote training session offered by the Pennsylvania Pastors Network (PPN) may have violated IRS rules governing charities.

Visit CREW's website

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 04:45:55 PM

WRTL Offers to Settle Case if FEC Acts
From Bob Bauer's blog:

The Wisconsin Right to Life Committee, already litigating to establish a grassroots lobbying exception to the prohibition on "electioneering communications," has sent a letter to the FEC with a proposal to put the ongoing litigation on hold while the FEC considers action by regulation. The FEC has published a Notice of Availability, seeking comment on a petition filed by groups seeking a rulemaking--and proposing a rule--for this purpose. Counsel for WRTL, James Bopp, has proposed that the FEC formulate an interim policy of recognizing the exception proposed in the Petition, in return for which WRTL would stay the proceedings now in the district court until the FEC had concluded its deliberations. In the event that the FEC adopted the rule, WRTL would move to dismiss its case.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 03:06:48 PM

Friday, March 17, 2006

Text of Dreier Lobby Reform Legislation
The text of the Dreier lobby reform bill can be found here

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 04:19:03 PM

Dreier Introduces Lobby Reform Bill in House
Rep. David Dreier introduced a lobby reform bill yesterday. Click here for a section by section summary.

GOP leadership intends to take it up after recess, although it is reported that it will change as members go home for their in-district work days and examine the bill more throughly.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 04:16:32 PM

Frist Says Lobby Reform Back on Schedule
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Sen. Majority Leader Frist has put lobby reform back on the calendar! Monday, March 27 at 1 pm, the Senate will begin deliberations on the pending lobby reform bill. It is not clear how they intend to deal with the 70 some amendments still pending.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 04:13:15 PM

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Desperately Seeking a Name Change
Public Citizen is reporting that Jack Abramoff's infamous watering hole for movers and shakers, Signatures, is looking for a name change. Public Citizen generously is offering up some suggestions...

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 03:22:45 PM

House GOP Leaders Distributing Drafts of Lobby Reform Proposal
Reportedly, House GOP leadership is releasing a draft of their lobby reform bill to the rank and file for feedback.

Although it was initially thought a bill would be dropped tomorrow before recess, early protests from yesterday's caucus meeting put a kink in the process. Now it seems Blunt is hoping Members take the draft home with them and return with suggestions or changes.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 03:16:41 PM

Internet Regulation Out, 527 Regulation In
While provisions regulating 527 organizations is being pushed in both the House and the Senate lobby reform discussions, HR 1606, the Online Freedom of Speech Act, has been taken off the House calendar. It was slated for vote today.

For more on the twists and turns of the legislation, see Bob Bauer's blog.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 11:31:30 AM

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

House GOP Leadership Unveils Lobby Reform Package
House Republican leaders lobbying package today met with reservations from the rank and file Republican members. Reportedly, Members are concerned about the provisions on privately funded travel, earmarks and gift bans.

The draft does not currently contain a grassroots lobby disclosure provision. But it should. Why? Check out our paper on grassroots lobbying.

A draft will be available Thursday, but legislation will probably not be introduced until after the St. Patrick's Day recess.

According to Congress Daily, the package:

ban such travel for the remainder of the 109th Congress and give the Ethics Committee a Dec. 15 deadline to come back with a plan for pre-approving privately funded travel.
not ban or alter gift rules, but would require lobbyists to disclose such activity, and the current one-year revolving door ban would remain intact.
creates a new mechanism for the clerk of the House to send a letter to members and aides leaving Capitol Hill, informing them of the start and end date of the lobbying ban.
moving to a quarterly filing system
requiring registrants to detail all prior employment from a seven-year period before becoming a lobbyists
disclosing gifts and meals to members and staff.
create an auditing authority for the House inspector general to do spot audits on lobbyist disclosure records.
ban lobbyists from accompanying members on corporate aircraft and would require members to pay first-class ticket rates for privately chartered planes.
new disclosure requirements for so-called 527 groups
new disclosure requirement on earmarks in appropriations bills.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 05:38:31 PM

FBI Took Photos of Antiwar Activists in 2002
From the Washington Post

An FBI agent in Pittsburgh photographed members of an antiwar activist group in 2002, according to documents released yesterday by the American Civil Liberties Union, which said the disclosure marks the latest incident in which the FBI has monitored left-leaning groups.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 11:58:01 AM

House Republican Leaders Move Forward on Lobby Reform
Reportedly, House Republican Leaders are closer to introducing a lobby reform bill.
What that bill will encompass is unclear. It is reported that it will include a ban on privately funded travel for the rest of the 109th Congress, new disclosure requirements on gifts, significant changes in disclosure requirements for registered lobbyists, and new disclosure and compliance laws for 527 groups.
For the whole scoop.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 09:31:38 AM

Tuesday, March 14, 2006
McCain Proposal on 527s
From Roll Call:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has unveiled a proposal to limit donations to 527 organizations to $25,000 per person each year, or $50,000 each election cycle, that if enacted could be a huge blow to the groups’ hopes of being a force in the 2006 elections. Those groups raised and spent more than $500 million in the previous cycle, with many of the organizations relying on multimillion-dollar donations from wealthy individuals to fund their activities.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 12:37:07 PM

Dreier Working on House Republican Lobby Reform Plan
Republican leaders worked on on a lobby reform bill over the weekend will reportedly discuss the issue at their weekly leadership meeting today.
It is unclear what the lobby reform package will entail or which committees would be assigned the legislation. Speaker Dennis Hastert and Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier unveiled a lobbying package in January was not accepted by some House Republicans.
The previous package included new disclosure requirements for lobbyists, a ban on privately funded member travel, doubling the two-year lobbying moratorium on former members and revoking pensions for members convicted of felonies related to their official duties. GOP leaders also expressed interest in curbing earmarks and new restrictions on so-called 527 groups.
House Majority Leader John Boehner said last week he expoects the House to take up lobbying overhaul before the April recess.
In the Senate, it is unlikely that they will take up lobby reform this week. Senate Majority Leader Frist outlined the week's floor schedule Monday, and lobby reform was not mention lobbying overhaul. This week the Senate is working on the FY07 budget resolution and increasing the debt limit, before adjourning for the St. Patrick's Day recess. Reportedly, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is still committed to a vote on the Schumer amendment. It is unlikely Frist will bring the bill to the floor unless he has the votes necessary to invoke cloture.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 10:59:56 AM

Friday, March 10, 2006
Bennet Introduces Amendment to Strike Grassroots Provision
Robert Bennett (R-UT) introduced an amendment yesterday to strike section 220 of the lobby reform bill, which mandates disclosure of grassroots expenditures of a certain threshold For more information on the grassroots and other provisions, see OMB Watch's paper on current provisions impacting nonprofits in the lobby disclosure bill.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 03:19:39 PM

Senate Not In Session Today; Lobby Reform on Hiatus
Neither the Senate nor the House is in session today. The Senate put lobby reform on hiatus after yesterday’s motion to invoke cloture failed.
When the Senate will take up lobby reform again is unclear. On Monday, the Senate will move to the fiscal 2007 budget resolution and a bill to raise the nation’s statutory debt limit. For more on that subject, visit the OMB Watch Budget Blog. But make sure to come back for lobby reform updates!

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 12:39:46 AM

What Does the Dubai Ports Deal Have To Do With Lobby Reform?
Despite an announcement Thursday that Dubai Ports World would transfer control over U.S. port operations to a U.S. entity, the lobby reform debate in the Senate has completely stopped after getting entangled in the ports deal.
Schumer, who offered the amendment, reportedly wants a "complete break" with Dubai Ports World. He says that the announcement did not indicate that. The Dems are asking for an up or down vote on the Dubai deal next week.
In the House, the announcement does not seem to be enough either. Both Republicans and Democrats on the Appropriations Committee voted Wednesday to stop the port deal, and Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) has said he will push to keep language in the bill.
In other House news, House Republican leaders might attach language granting presidential line-item veto authority to their House lobby reform bill. House Leadership is expecting legislation on the floor before the Easter recess.
Reportedly, they are also are considering allowing members to strike provisions that appear in conference reports without prior debate, as well as increased transparency rules for earmark sponsors. This is similar to language currently contained in the Senate lobbying overhaul bill.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 12:29:31 AM

Thursday, March 09, 2006
Frist Pulls Bill After Failed Cloture Vote
Frist pulled S 2349, the lobby reform bill, from the floor after the Senate failed 51-47 to invoke cloture on the measure.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 03:56:35 PM

Cloture Fails
Frist couldn't round up enough votes for cloture. He is now changing his vote in the hopes that he can round up enough of an agreement later on from both sides to invoke cloture.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 02:37:54 PM

Likely Reid Will Try To Block Cloture
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, (D-NV) said he is encouraging his caucus to oppose cloture on the pending ethics overhaul bill in an effort to force a vote on a politically unpopular deal to turn operations at six U.S. ports over to a United Arab Emirates-owned company.
67 votes if all 100 senators are present and voting is required for cloture. Senate Republicans will be working hard to reach the almost impossible number to be able to successfully set aside an amendment that would block the ports deal by Charles Schumer, (D-N.Y). If cloture is invoked, Schumer's amendment could be ruled non-germane to the underlying bill.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 01:06:55 PM

House Rules Hearing on Gifts and Travel
The House Rules Committee held a hearing on gifts and travel today at 10am.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 01:00:06 PM

Dubai Deal Leads to Frist Filing for Cloture
A surprise move by Sen. Charles E. Schumer, (D-N.Y)., to block the Dubai ports deal caused a ruckus on the Senate floor and temporarily derailed debate.
The Senate was in the midst of debating an amendment on the lobbying bill when Schumer said he wanted to talk about that amendment. But in a move that blindsided Republicans, Schumer instead offered an amendment to bar the sale.
The Schumer amendment prohibits any company owned or controlled by a foreign government that recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan from 1996-2001 from owning or operating U.S. ports. If passed, the acquisition by DP World, a company controlled by the United Arab Emirates, of a British company over operations of six major U.S. ports would be blocked.
Republicans immediately stopped work and go into a quorum call.
Republican leaders began signing a cloture petition in an attempt to limit debate and deny Democrats much opportunity to offer many amendments to the lobbying bill. Frist also threatened to "fill the tree" with amendments so that Democrats could not offer any substantive amendments if Schumer did not back down.
Cloture is a proceedure used by the majority to end contentious debate. Cloture is traditionally used to end a filibuster, but can also be used even if there is no filibuster underway, to ban non-germane amendments. Normally, 60 senators must vote to invoke cloture. But ending debate on a formal Senate rules change requires two-thirds of those present and voting — 67 if all senators participate. If cloture wins, 30 additional hours of debate are allowed prior to voting, but they are rarely used. If cloture fails, debate would continue without limits. Instead, the bill is usually set aside.
"Filling the tree" - Both the House and the Senate have rules mandating only amendments in the first and second degree are permitted. An Amendment Tree refers to the diagram used to plot the inter-relationship between amendments. "The tree" helps members keep track of how many amendments are pending,and how many may still be offered.
Frist announced this morning that a cloture vote will take place at 2:15 today.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 11:47:24 AM

Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Latest Amendments on Lobby Reform
Latest Amendments:
Schumer, (D-N.Y), amendment no. 2959, to amendment no. 2944, to forbid a foreign government that recognizes the Taliban from owning U.S. ports, offered.
Wyden, (D-OR), amendment no. 2944, to mandate that "holds" in the Senate be made public, offered.
Inhofe, (R-OK), amendment no. 2934, to make members who vote against pay raises inelligable for them should they be enacted, agreed to by voice vote.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 04:16:36 PM

Senate Extends Lobbyist Gift Ban to Meals
The Senate adopted by voice vote an amendment by Christopher J. Dodd, (D-CT)., that would extend the gift ban in the lobbying overhaul bill (S 2349) to include meals. The action came after the Senate rejected, 44-55, an amendment that would have restored Democratic-supported provisions stripped from an earlier version of the bill, including the meal ban and allowing members to vote on the full text of a bill in an open conference meeting.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 02:44:42 PM

Reid Substitute Fails on Party Line Vote
Harry Reid offered an amendment in the form of a substitute bill - his Open Government bill.
Rejected by a vote of 44-55:
Republicans 0-55
Democrats 43-0 (Northern Democrats 39-0, Southern Democrats 4-0)
Independents 1-0

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 02:01:05 PM

House To Act on Lobby Reform in April
Majority Leader Boehner was quoted Tuesday as saying he expects the House to take up lobby reform legislation in April.
Meanwhile, former House Ethics Chairman Hefley and Rep. Kenny Hulshof, R-Mo., a former member of the committee, Tuesday offered their own package of changes to House rules. The Hefley-Hulsof package would require pre-approval and prompt public disclosure of privatly funded travel, public disclosure of and new reporting requirements on gifts, and changes to the process of investigating potential rules violations.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 10:41:57 AM

Tuesday, March 07, 2006
More On Vitter's Amendments
From CQ:
David Vitter, R-La., has declined to drop his planned amendment imposing new campaign finance rules on Indian tribes. Vitter’s plan would treat tribes like corporations under campaign finance law.
Vitter has two other amendments that would address the influence of senators’ family members on the legislative process. One, he said, would bar spouses and dependent children from drawing a paycheck from Senate campaigns.
The second amendment, Vitter said, would bar lobbying of any congressional office by Senate spouses who were not registered lobbyists a year before the senator’s election.
The pending bill would prohibit spouses or family members from lobbying only that senator’s staff.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 11:41:34 PM

Roundtable Analysis of the Silver Ring Thing Lawsuit Settlement
The Roundtable on Religion and Social Policy has put out an analysis of the ACLU v. Leavitt (HHS) case.
Make sure to check out our Watcher (coming out tomorrow!) for a summary of the case.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 06:22:07 PM

Lott Wants Amendments Today, Dems To Offer 17 Amendments
From National Journal:

Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., who is managing this week's floor debate on lobbying laws, said today Senate leaders would not limit the number of proposed amendments to the legislation, but that they would like senators to file their provisions by this afternoon. "We're not going to try to limit amendments, but we're going to try to have them all filed by this afternoon," Lott said. Senators were drafting and redrafting their provisions today, mapping out a strategy for offering the amendments. Senate Democrats plan to offer a package of amendments from their what they call the "Honest Leadership Act" that were not included in the underlying bill during committee markups last week, said Senate Minority Leader Reid. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who is the party's point man on the bill, said he might offer a provision to change the definition of lobbying to address former lawmakers who indirectly lobby Congress by overseeing a firm's strategy on issues. "Lobbyists at these big firms can oversee 40 to 50 lobbyists as long as they never pick up the phone," Obama said.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 06:15:27 PM

More Lobby Reform - Amendments
The amendment pile has started.
Yesterday, Lott and Collins proposed an amendment to the bill S. 2349, to combine S. 2349 (reported out of Rules) and S. 2128 (reported out of HSGAC). David Vitter (R-LA) had a few amendments as well. One amendment was on applying FECA to Indian Tribes, the other would prohibit employment of family members of a candidate or federal office holder by certain political committees.
We are hearing that an additional slate of amendments might include:
Collins-Lieberman "tweaked" version of the Office of Public Integrity, which was shot down in HSGAC committee March 2.
Santorum is expected to offer an amendment the strip the coalition disclosure provision, as well as an amendment to require senators to pay the prorated charter rate for the use of corporate jets for offical or campaign travel.
More to come...

Ever Get A Robo-Call? Want to Know Who Is Behind It?
We've spoken a lot in our statements about the importance of grassroots lobby disclosure. Ever get a robo-call? That is grassroots lobbying - a first amendment protected right, but something that should be disclosed nonetheless.
Here's a link to a Hill article that explains who is behind the robocalls.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 02:16:44 PM

Lobby Reform Update
From CQ: (subscription required)
The Senate Rules Committee and the Governmental Affairs Committee have both advanced bills on the topic (S 2349, S 2128). On Monday, members adopted by unanimous consent a GOP leadership-backed substitute amendment that combines the two bills for floor action.
Trent Lott, R-Miss., is the point man ensured with ushering the legislation to passage. He has promised to achieve that goal within three days.
Democratic leaders, however, are still considering how difficult they want to make Lott’s job. Democrats have a list of at least 17 amendments they want to offer.
Among these, Barack Obama, D-Ill., plans to relaunch an effort to create an independent Office of Public Integrity within the legislative branch. The addition has support on both sides of the aisle, but was blocked in committee by Ethics Chairman George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, who said it would politicize his panel.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 12:58:08 PM

Online Freedom of Speech Act
Is expected to see action on Wednesday. For discussion of H.R. 1606, see Bob Bauer's blog.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 12:54:57 PM

Monday, March 06, 2006
Affordable Housing Fund Provision in Senate; No Anti-Advocacy Provision
From National Low Income Housing's Memo to Members:
On February 16, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) introduced S. 2319, the Hurricane Recovery Act of 2006. The bill includes, among other things, language that would establish an Affordable Housing Fund with a percentage of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s profits.
The bill includes ten titles, responding to needs created by the 2005 hurricanes in the areas of health, housing and community rebuilding, financial services, small business, higher education, tax breaks and incentives, as well as recommendations for improving transparency and accountability during the recovery and relief and future evacuations of individuals with special needs.
Within the Housing and Community Rebuilding Title is a section that would, similar to H.R. 1461, the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2005, establish an Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) from a percentage of the profits of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two of the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE). The funds would be used for the production, preservation and rehabilitation of rental housing and homeownership, for extremely-low and very-low income families.
Unlike the AHF in H.R. 1461 that passed the House floor on October 26 (see Memo, 10/28), S. 2319 does not include any restrictive anti-voting provisions. Other compromises made to appease the Republican Study Committee included in the final House bill, such as a five year sunsetting of the AHF, a requirement that 25% of the fund be used to satisfy part of the existing Treasury obligation to pay interest on REFCorp bonds, and a prohibition against allowing funds awarded to a nonprofit entity to be redistributed to other nonprofit entities, are not included in Senator Obama’s bill.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 02:00:55 PM

Friday, March 03, 2006
Lobbying Bills to See Floor Action Next Week
We're hearing:
The lobbying bills reported out of Rules and HSGAC are expected to be taken up in the chamber early next week. Two competing measures (S 2349, S 2128) are ready for floor action. It remains unclear whether the bills will be combined or considered separately.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 01:31:06 PM

Online Freedom of Speech Act May See Consideration Next Week
We are hearing that the House will be re-considering H.R. 1606, the Online Freedom of Speech Act, introduced by Rep. Hensarling, sometime next week.
The bill would affirm the FEC's original decision to exclude the Internet from the definition of "public communications" under campaign finance law. The result would be to exclude the Internet from issues of soft money and illegal coordination. Congressional action would also point the FEC in the direction of a similar rulemaking.
Daily Kos has more.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 11:25:25 AM

Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Temporary Travel Ban Moratorum? Pence Says Yes.
From the Hill:

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, endorsed a temporary moratorium on privately funded travel during a closed-door meeting of House Republicans yesterday.
The Pence endorsement is the first significant sign of support from conference conservatives for a temporary travel ban.
Reportedly, although Majority Leader Boehner dismissed the idea initially, he said this week that "there is some merit to it". He is supportive of pre-approval of travel.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 11:28:36 PM

What's Up With the Grassroots Lobbying Disclosure Provision?
The bill that will be marked up tomorrow in HSGAC currently does not contain a grassroots lobbying disclosure.
Reportedly, Sens. Leiberman and Levin will offer an amendment in committee to include grassroots lobbying disclosure. If that doesn't work, or is not allowed, Democrats are said to be planning on introducing an amendment on the floor.
Why wasn't it included in the Chairman's Mark?
According to the Hill:
McCain, whom many lawmakers view as a leading voice on government reform, said that Senate negotiators had to focus on what is “doable,” explaining the dropping of his grassroots-lobbying provision. He said, however, that the creation of an office of public integrity is a “very important aspect of any real reform.”
For more on lobby reform, get the scoop from the Hill.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 11:24:16 PM

OMB Watch Statement on Lobby Reform
Why is grassroots lobby disclosure good for nonprofits?
Find out by reading our statenent on lobby reform and grassroots disclosure.
While your at it, check out our resource center on lobby reform!

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 05:12:59 PM

Lobby Reform:Markup and Hearing Tomorrow!
Don't forget! A Markup and a Hearing on Lobby Reform Tomorrow!
House Rules Hearing:
Time: 10:00 AM
Location: H-313 The Capitol
Senate HSGAC Markup:
Time: 10:00 AM
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rm. 342
Marking up a substitute to S. 2128, Lobbying Transparency and Accountability Act of 2005

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 05:09:54 PM