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Federal Law Trails State Efforts on Lobbying Disclosure, Report Says

Posted on: Thursday, 2 March 2006, 21:00 CST

WASHINGTON _ As Congress grapples with legislation designed to curb lobbying abuses, a new study by an independent organization reveals that federal law is weaker than statutes in all but three states.

Twenty-four states have significantly beefed up their lobbying disclosure laws since a 2003 survey by the study's authors, the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity, based in Washington.

The federal law is "pretty terrible," according to Robert M. Stern, president of the nonpartisan Center for Governmental Studies.

Sam Stein, spokesman for the Center for Public Integrity, said: "If history is any indication, it seems unlikely that federal legislators will be influenced by their state counterparts when it comes to lobbying reform legislation."

"Over the last 2 { years, states have taken important steps either to strengthen their laws or build up disclosure systems," Stein said. "Federal lobbying laws, in contrast, haven't been modified in the last eight years."

That state of inertia was jolted by scandals involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., who was convicted of taking bribes in return for "earmarking" appropriations.

Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate are drafting reform legislation.

In the House, Republican leaders are near an agreement to temporarily ban privately funded travel for House members. House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said his chamber was likely to take up reform measures later this month, while the Senate could vote next week on a plan.

Earlier this week, the Senate Rules Committee, one of two Senate panels working on new laws, passed a relatively tame measure that makes it more difficult for lawmakers to slip special-interest provisions _ earmarks _ into legislation at the last minute without prior debate.

The bill also compels lawmakers to quickly disclose any meals accepted from lobbyists and prohibits gifts from lobbyists such as sports and theater tickets.

But the measure avoids some of the tough restrictions advocated by some members, which would affect privately funded and corporate travel.

Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., offered a proposal requiring senators to reimburse corporations for the full cost of travel on their jets. Currently, senators pay the equivalent of first-class commercial fares, which generally are far lower.

Santorum also wanted to double, to two years, the one-year cooling-off period imposed on former senators' lobbying their colleagues after leaving office.

Both proposals were rejected by the Rules panel. But the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is also working on a lobbying overhaul, approved a two-year cooling-off period Thursday as part of its bill.

Among the states, six have a two-year ban; 20 states have a one-year ban.

The leaders of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee have been pushing for creation of a congressional office of public integrity, which among other things would collect and monitor compliance of lobbying disclosure reports. Many congressional watchdog groups also favor such an independent body.

But that provision was defeated in a committee vote Thursday.

Twenty-seven states have set up independent agencies to oversee lobbying disclosure; 18 others leave lobbying oversight to the secretaries of the state.

___

(c) 2006, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

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