Apr 22, 2008 -- AP: Trade group agrees to disclose name lobbying funders
By: Dibya Sarkar

To avoid a $200,000 fine, the National Association of Manufacturers on Tuesday said it will disclose the names of its funders, but the group will continue to fight a lobbying disclosure law.

Under a provision of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, trade groups and coalitions had until Monday to reveal the names of members that give more than $5,000 in a quarterly period toward lobbying activities. Failing to comply carries a maximum five years in prison, in addition to the fine.

The trade group filed a lobbying disclosure report to the House and Senate on Monday, showing expenditures of $2.2 million in the first quarter. It now plans to file an amended return including names of its members for the period.

Also on Tuesday, the trade group filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for an expedited review of its legal challenge to the lobbying law. The group's president, John Engler, says the mandate requiring it to name names violates the First Amendment rights of its members.

The group's actions came one day after Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and the federal appeals court rejected the group's requests for a reprieve from revealing its funders while it appeals the law.

The Campaign Legal Center, which supports greater lobbying disclosure, said NAM's reversal is welcome, but its continuing lawsuit is wrongheaded.

"NAM should not be able to operate as a curtain between its funders and the public as it works to manipulate the legislative process," J. Gerald Hebert, the center's executive director, said in a statement. "Americans deserve to know who is paying to play in the nation's capital."

NAM has maintained that if it is forced to reveal the name of their members then it could expose them to potential harassment and retaliation by others if the group takes unpopular positions on certain issues. The group has previously said that hundreds of its 11,000 or so members could be affected by the provision.

The trade group initially filed a lawsuit in early February against the new lobbying and ethics law, but a federal judge on April 11 rebuffed NAM's argument. Congress tightened the lobbying-disclosure requirements to target "stealth coalitions" or groups that use nondescript names to lobby for industries.

On its Web site, the trade group list the names of its 220-member board -- including executives from PPG Industries Inc., DuPont & Co., General Motors Corp., Xerox Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc.