Monday, July 30, 2007

New Lobby/Ethics Provisions Analyzed

Following up on Adam's blog, below is a closer look at and comment on the revolving door and earmarks provisions of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007.

Word is that the House will vote on the bill tomorrow; the Senate is expected to do so on Thursday.

The bill's "revolving door" provisions are as follows:

• Senators can't lobby Congress for two years -- current law provides a one-year -- after they leave office
• senior Senate staff and Senate officers can't lobby the entire Senate for one year, not just their former employing office, as under current law
• no change: the current one-year cooling-off period for House members
• prohibits senior House staff from lobbying their former office or Committee for one year after they leave House employment

The bill's main earmark process reforms -- all new -- are:

• all earmarked spending items and tax expenditures in bills, resolutions, conference reports and managers' statements must be identified and posted on the internet at least 48 hours before a vote
• Senators must certify that they and their immediate family will not financially benefit from any earmarks they've requested
• new earmarks in a conference report -- i.e., not approved by either House -- are now subject to a 60-vote point of order
• committees, to the extent technically feasible, must disclose in unclassified language the funding level and the name of sponsors earmarks in bills, joint resolutions and conference reports (emph. added)

CAVEAT: This last provision, reads as follows:

RULE XLIV, 4.(c) To the extent technically feasible, information made available on publicly accessible congressional websites under paragraphs 3 and 4 shall be provided in a searchable format.

How could providing such information in a searchable format ever not be technically feasible? In a sortable format, maybe, but searchable? That seems like an awfully and arbitrarily low standard, sticking out in this provision only like a sor(table)e thumb.