Jun 20, 2007 -- Ethics and Lobbying Reform Bills Comparison Chart

As the House and Senate lobbying and ethics bills head to conference, you may find this side-by-side comparison a useful resource. The document compares current law with S. 1, the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act, and H.R. 2316, the Honest Government and Open Leadership Act. The Campaign Legal Center sent the chart along with the letter below to the full House and Senate urging a conference report at least as strong as the bills already passed by both bodies. The chart covers provisions in the legislation relating to lobbying reform, travel and gifts rules, the revolving door, disclosure and earmarks.

The full letter and char 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.