Friday, May 25, 2007

After Much Delay, House Lobbying and Ethics Package Complete

Yesterday House members overcame any internal disagreement to finally pass H.R. 2316, with a final vote of 396-22. During much of the debate yesterday Republicans were challenging the Democrat's promise of addressing political corruption. Judiciary Chairman Conyers accepted a Republican motion to recommit, expanding both of the lobby bills. This adopted motion removes the House gift rules exemption for state and local governments and public universities, places restrictions on former lobbyists who take jobs on Capitol Hill ("reverse revolving door"), and requires the disclosure of earmark lobbying. Another change to the House rules adopted in January would now allow lawmakers to attend for free an event sponsored by charities, even if the event is not "widely attended." Representative Chris Van Hollen's (D-MD) bundling measure was incorporated into the overall package, and changed to include bundling disclosure for political action committees (PACs). A blog posting at www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com explains the bundling provision.

This achievement should and will be applauded overall, but as an editorial in the Washington Post begins, "IT WASN'T EASY, it wasn't pretty and the battle isn't over," and the New York Times wants us to "keep in mind the House Democrats' refusal to slow the revolving door by requiring former lawmakers to wait two years — rather than the current one — before they can cut out the middleman and become lobbyists themselves."