Disclosure of Recovery Act Lobbying Far from Comprehensive

President Barack Obama's March 20 memo [1] restricts communications between federally registered lobbyists and executive branch employees on use of Recovery Act funds and requires disclosure of written communications. A closer examination of the summaries of lobbyist contacts with federal agencies shows that there are few online postings of those communications; some agencies have not posted any contacts at all. According to a review of the 29 agencies receiving stimulus money, only 110 contacts had been disclosed as of May 18.

The memo and subsequent guidance [2] from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) call on agencies to post all written communications and summaries of any meetings with registered lobbyists to agency websites within three business days of the communication.

There is currently a minimal amount of reporting on agency websites, with 16 out of the 29 agencies thus far listing lobbying contacts. There may very well be a lot of lobbying taking place, given the $787 billion total in stimulus funds, but current public disclosure suggests either that this is not the case or federally registered lobbyists are not involved.

For example, the Energy Department is distributing more than $40 billion of stimulus money, but as of press time, only seven lobbyist contacts had been listed on the agency's website.

Additional examples of this disclosure follow:

• The Army Corps of Engineers listed 18 stimulus contacts from lobbyists
• The Health and Human Services Department has posted nine
• The Transportation Department has listed one
• The Department of Education has disclosed five
• The Department of Justice divided lobbyist communications between two offices – the Office of Justice Programs and Office on Violence Against Women, and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services – with 20 postings between them

Those agencies that have not reported any lobbying contacts include the Defense Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. There are some agencies – for instance, Homeland Security – that say they have not been contacted by lobbyists, while others do not reference lobbying contacts at all. Still others simply reference online locations where the information will eventually be placed.

Overall, there is a vast amount of inconsistency among agencies. Some refer to lobbying contacts as "interested parties," while others list "lobbyist correspondence." The General Services Administration has two pages, one for "written communications" and one for "other communications."

According to The Washington Post [21], Norm Eisen, White House counsel for ethics and government reform, "attributes the paucity of lobbying contacts on agency Web sites to the stimulus still being in its early stages and to agency meetings attended by mayors or corporate executives."

Another possible reason for the apparent lack of disclosure has been largely ignored until recently. Major corporations are not restricted from requesting federal aid under the Recovery Act memo. One of the ways they can do so is by sending in non-registered lobbyists or non-lobbyist executives: the restrictions contained in the memo only apply to those registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA).

Because non-registered lobbyists and non-lobbyist staff are unrestrained by Obama's memo, executive branch staff who meet with such people are free from any reporting requirements; disclosure simply does not apply to these contacts. As the Recovery Act memo is currently fashioned, company executives, lawyers, consultants, clients, or state-registered lobbyists can meet with federal officials to discuss particular projects and related funding, and no one has to disclose anything.

Another point of concern that open government boosters have raised is the lack of a "one-stop shop" on the Web for lobbying disclosure data. To obtain any of this information, one must go to each agency's [22] Recovery Act webpage and then locate any lobbying communications. Instead of this haphazard, scattershot method of disclosure, advocates have requested that all lobbying information be placed in one easily accessible, fully searchable centralized database that covers all agencies. Without waiting for the government to act, the news service ProPublica has created a centralized location [23] for such lobbying information.

There is a 60-day evaluation period for the stimulus lobbying restrictions, which closes May 19. Eisen says [24] he is reviewing various options for modifications to the rules, including requiring disclosure of all communications from lobbyists and non-lobbyists. However, those who have met with the administration to discuss their concerns have not heard information about any possible changes. OMB is expected to issue a report to the White House on how various agencies are responding to the rules. Ideally, modifications will be made that create greater transparency and encompass the intent of the rules.