Jan. 23, 2007 -- "Bundling" Legislation Even More Vital as Candidates Abandon Public Financing: Statement of Meredith McGehee, Campaign Legal Center Policy Director

The Campaign Legal Center commends Representatives Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Marty Meehan (D-MA) for introducing legislation today to ensure disclosure of "bundling" of campaign contributions by registered lobbyists. This legislation, which mirrors the provision included in the Senate ethics and lobby reform package, is even more important in light of yesterday's news that presidential aspirant Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) will be opting out of the Presidential Public Financing system in her run for the White House in 2008.

With the vast sums that must be raised in the $1 billion race for the Presidency, lobbyist bundlers will be lifeblood of any serious presidential campaign. They will be pulling together hundreds of thousands of dollars for candidates, in part because they know it will be remembered and appreciated when they seek access and influence. The Van Hollen-Meehan legislation will ensure that the public knows who these bundlers are and how much they are delivering or arranging to be delivered to federal candidates. This measure is a vital element to any effort to bring meaningful transparency to campaign fundraising.

As the money required to run for federal office has mushroomed, the importance of "bundlers" has grown exponentially - and unfortunately so has their influence on Capitol Hill. Bundling has become such an accepted part of the political landscape that candidates make no secret of the practice and have gone so far as to give their biggest fundraisers titles with catchy names like "Pioneers" and "Rangers" and now "Hillraisers." The public can only assume that these titles come with privileges - and those are only the clubs that candidates have been bold enough to announce publicly. Today most "bundlers" are able to raise vast sums for politicians out of the public eye and keep their club membership cards close to their vests. The public deserves to know more about these exclusive clubs and their members.

Rep. Van Hollen's sponsorship of this measure is particularly notable because of his role in the 2006 elections and his position as the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. From that perch, he will oversee the raising of millions of dollars for Democratic House candidates. By his cosponsorship of this measure, he is clearly demonstrating that he does not believe that transparency of bundling efforts will mean the death knell to his party's efforts to raise the campaign contributions they need to compete in 2008.

We strongly support this Van Hollen-Meehan bill and its companion provision in the Senate-passed championed by Senators Barak Obama (D-IL) and Russ Feingold (D-WI). We urge the House to ensure these provisions are included in the lobbying disclosure reform measure expected this spring and to ensure that the bundling disclosure provisions are not quietly smothered behind closed doors of the conference committee.

# # #