Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Lawsuit Challenging Lobbying Disclosure Law Could Be Decided by April

BNA Money and Politics ($$) reports that the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) lawsuit that is trying to block enforcement of a disclosure provision of the new lobbying and ethics law, has in fact been put on a fast-track schedule that could lead to a court decision before the first disclosure reports are due on April 21. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said in a court order filed Feb. 8 that a briefing schedule was agreed on that ends in March. All parties agreed to convert the application for a preliminary injunction to a request for a decision on the merits. Therefore, if a ruling is in favor of the government on the merits, the case will be dismissed.

NAM officials have indicated that they do not know whether they will comply with the new law's disclosure requirement if the association does not get a court order blocking the provision. The association argues in its lawsuit that the provision violates the First Amendment rights of NAM and other trade groups to speak out on policy issues and lobby to protect their interests. . . . NAM announced Feb. 6 that it had filed the suit asking the federal district court in Washington to block enforcement of Section 207 of HLOGA, which requires increased disclosure by lobbying organizations of their members and affiliates. The organization said the requirement would lead businesses to curtail their membership in associations because of fear of possible economic retaliation for taking an unpopular stand on policy issues.