Jul 14, 2006 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: July 14, 2006

Legal Center Supports Senate Only Resolution to Change Ethics Rules

This week, Campaign Legal Center Policy Director Meredith McGehee applauded efforts by Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Barack Obama (D-IL) to make immediate changes to Senate ethics rules. Senate Resolution S. 525, the Senate Legislative Transparency and Accountability Resolution of 2006, incorporates the seven changes to the Senate Rules included in the lobbying reform bill that passed the Senate on March 29. The House and Senate have thus far been unable to resolve the differences between their respective lobbying reform bills. Even if a compromise is reached, the bill that emerges is widely expected to be a watered down version of the weak bills that passed the House and Senate. The proposed Resolution would allow the Senate to effect its own Rules changes without any action by the House.

"There is no reason the Senate should hold off on incorporating into the rules of the Senate the basic changes governing the behavior of Senators and their staffs approved by the Senate when it passed the Lobbying Reform bill" McGehee said. The proposed changes are a modest, but necessary first step that could allow Congress to revisit lobbying and ethics reform and produce meaningful changes before the session ends.

To read the full statement, click here .

Legal Center Sends Letter to Hill Supporting FEC Replacement Bill

On July 12, 2006 , the Legal Center sent a letter to all members of the House and Senate urging them to pass the Federal Election Administration Act of 2006, which would replace the Federal Election Commission with a more effective regulatory agency with significant enforcement powers. The legislation was introduced by Representatives Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA) and Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Russ Feingold (D-WI). The Federal Election Commission has long been the subject of scrutiny for its failure to enforce campaign finance laws.

The letter from Legal Center President Trevor Potter and Policy Director Meredith McGehee states, "The FEC has been marked by partisanship and its failures to enforce campaign finance laws. It is time to replace the FEC with an agency which, by design, will avoid some of the pitfalls and partisan gaming that has rendered the FEC ineffective. We strongly urge you to co-sponsor this reform bill and to push for a much-needed overhaul of enforcement of federal election campaign law."

To view the full letter, click here .

Legal Center Blog Highlights

Each week, the Campaign Legal Center staff posts blog entries on its site, www.clcblog.org . To read this week's entries "State Contribution Limits in the Wake of Randall v. Sorrell," or "The FEC's (Once Again) Flawed Coordination Rules ," or to sign up for blog updates, click here .

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