Lobbying Reform Bills Side by Side Comparison Chart as of June 20, 2007

The Campaign Legal Center has compiled a side-by-side comparison of the current lobbying reform bills. The comparison chart was sent to all Members of Congress. The cover letter and comparison chart are below.

June 20, 2007

Dear Representative:

Attached is a side-by-side comparison of lobbying reform measures passed by the House and Senate this Congress. The document compares current law with S. 1, the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act, passed by the Senate on January 19, 2007; and H.R. 2316, the Honest Government and Open Leadership Act, passed by the House on May 24, 2007.

The chart covers provisions in the bills relating to lobbying reform, travel and gifts rules, the revolving door, disclosure and earmarks. Additionally, both pieces of legislation address "bundling" disclosure—the highest priority for meaningful lobbying reform. The House bill requires lobbyists to disclose contributions collected, "bundled," for Members, while the Senate bill calls for lobbyists to disclose fundraising events held for members in addition to "bundling" disclosure. Both "bundling" and fundraising event disclosure are central to effective lobbying reform and will enhance the public's knowledge of efforts being made to influence their elected officials. It is imperative that the language in the conference report be at least as strong as the bills that have already been passed by Congress.

The Campaign Legal Center urges the House and Senate conferees to support meaningful provisions addressing lobbyist disclosure of fundraising events that are held and the amounts "bundled" for Members.

Please call me if you have further questions or if I can be helpful in any way. The Legal Center looks forward to working with members of the House and Senate as you move forward on this issue and seeing that these important reforms are signed into law.

Sincerely,

Meredith McGehee
Policy Director

To view the updated side-by-side, click here.