Politics

Lobbyists, Lobbying Disclosure, Lobbying Reform, and "Washington's Lobbying Fix"

By Daniel Schuman

Lobbyists, lobbying disclosure, and lobbying reform were the topics of an Advisory Committee on Transparency panel discussion this past Monday on Capitol Hill. Our panel of experts discussed the current state of lobbying disclosure, evaluated the need for lobbying reform, and considered proposals for real-time lobbying disclosure.

I was fortunate to be joined on the panel by Washington Post reporter Dan Eggen, Center for Responsive Politics executive director Sheila Krumholz, Sunlight government affairs consultant Lisa Rosenberg, American League of Lobbyists past-president Paul Miller, and American Bar Association director of government affairs Tom Susman.

We had a lively and informative discussion that was recorded by C-Span for your viewing pleasure.

Here are links to the recommendations for reform drafted by Sunlight, ABA's Lobbying Task Force, and the American League of Lobbyists. Photos from the event can be found on the Sunlight Foundation's flickr account. More resources are available after the jump.

• The Sunlight Foundation's draft ?Real Time Online Lobbying Transparency Act? and short description
• The American Bar Association Lobbying Task Force's draft report ?Lobbying Law in the Spotlight: Challenges and Proposed Improvements?
• American League of Lobbyists' ?Statement of Principles on the 1995 Lobbying Disclosure Act?

• OpenSecrets.org. A non-partisan guide to money's influence on U.S. Elections and public policy.
• TransparencyData.com. A central source for federal lobbying disclosure, federal grants and contracts, earmarks and federal and state campaign contributions.
• FollowTheMoney.org. The nation's most complete resource for information on money in state politics.

• Lobbying Disclosure Act Databases, Senate Office of Public Records.
• Post Employment Lobbying Restrictions, Secretary of the Senate.
• Post Employment Database, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives.
• Office of Congressional Ethics, House of Representatives.
• House Committee on Ethics, Senate Select Committee on Ethics, Office of Government Ethics.
• House rules; Senate rules; Federal Election Commission.

• ?The Lobbying Manual: A Complete Guide to Federal Lobbying Law and Practice? (4th Ed. 2009).
• ?Lobbying Disclosure Act Guidance,? Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives.
• ?Is it Whom You Know or What You Know? An Empirical Assessment of the Lobbying Process,? Bertrand, Bombardini and Trebbi.
• ?'Revolving Door Lobbyists,? Centre for Economic Performance.
• ?The Deregistration Dilemma: Are Lobbyists Quitting the Business as Federal Disclosure Rules Tighten?? Center for Responsive Politics.

• Legislation introduced in the 111th Congress.

Full post as published by Sunlight Foundation on March 16, 2011 (boomark / email).