Tuesday, April 24, 2007

House Lobby Reform by Memorial Day?

CQ ($$) reports that with any luck, the House lobbying reform bill will be complete by the end of May. "Democrats hope a leadership-endorsed bill will be introduced by the end of this week, but even the chairmen involved in drafting it say they don't yet have a clear idea of what will be in the measure or when it will pass." The article describes the areas of contention that have slowed down drafting the measure, including grassroots lobbying disclosure.

Lobbyists and Democratic aides involved in drafting the bill say the grass-roots provision is likely to end up in the House legislation but may not survive a conference with the Senate, which stripped such regulations out of the bill (S 1) that passed in that chamber Jan. 18.