Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Work on S.1 Continues

As work on S.1 continues on, Senators Lott and Bennett have offered changes to a Reid amendment that would allow nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations to pay for congressional travel if the trips are pre-approved by the Senate Ethics Committee. And as reported in BNA($$); "Another key cloture vote, expected to come Jan. 17, will be on a larger amendment offered by Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), as a substitute for the underlying reform bill. The Reid-McConnell substitute includes broad changes in ethics rules and lobbying disclosure laws." If cloture is adopted, the Reid-McConnell substitute includes the grassroots lobbying provision, and will preclude the numerous amendments ruled non-germane.