Senate Backs Tough Lobby Disclosure Bill

The Senate adopted stringent disclosure and registration requirements for lobbyists Tuesday but was unable to agree on a related proposal to ban virtually all gifts to lawmakers.

Passed by a vote of 98 to 0, the lobby reform measure would force thousands of lobbyists to register for the first time and disclose “who is being paid to lobby, how much they are being paid and on what issues,” said Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the bill’s co-sponsor.

“We’re back on the road to political reform,” he said, adding that the measure would help restore public confidence in the integrity of government.

At the same time, Levin and his co-sponsor, Sen. William S. Cohen (R-Me.), expressed disappointment at the impasse over their proposal to all but eliminate gifts to lawmakers.

But they held out hope that the gift ban proposal could be revisited--as early as today--if negotiations between them and proponents of a far more lenient alternative prove fruitful.

“I don’t see a great deal of hope for resolution of that issue,” Levin said. “I don’t see a lot of daylight. We’re going to keep trying.”

The third “pillar” of political reform that is long overdue, he added, is campaign finance reform--”the big, big nut to crack.”

Despite the seeming stalemate over gift bans, passage of the lobby disclosure law would represent a breakthrough for advocates of greater governmental accountability. Until now, Congress has sought without success for nearly 50 years to improve what is widely seen as a loophole-ridden law that is inadequate, unenforceable and ineffective.

The new measure, which is believed to enjoy strong support in the House, defines a lobbyist as someone who spends more than 20% of his or her time contacting members of Congress, their staffs or top executive branch officials.

Lobbyists who receive $5,000 or more over a six-month period also must register. For organizations with their own, in-house lobbying apparatus, the reporting threshold is $20,000.

The law is expected to reach, for the first time, thousands of Washington lawyers.

In addition, the bill would prohibit nonprofit “social welfare” organizations, known as 501(c)4 organizations, from lobbying Congress if they receive federal grants, loans or contracts. This provision was sponsored by Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.), a vocal critic of the 33-million-member American Assn. of Retired Persons, which receives about $86 million in federal funds.

And in a compromise worked out before final passage, grass-roots lobbying efforts were exempted from the registration and disclosure requirements. These typically involve home-grown efforts in a member’s district or state designed to influence a vote in Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) hailed the measure, saying it “strikes the right balance: it tightens up the registration and disclosure requirements for the Washington-based lobbyists, without infringing upon the rights of ordinary citizens at the grassroots to petition their government.”

To garner additional support, Levin and Cohen dropped a provision to create an agency to enforce the new requirements. Rather, enforcement would be up to congressional employees, who could refer potential violations to the Justice Department.

The gift-ban proposal bogged down when advocates of more lenient restrictions, led by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), insisted that lawmakers be allowed to receive meals, sporting tickets and other gifts so long as each gift was under $100 in value.

But Democrats call that proposal meaningless.

McConnell’s proposal would allow a senator to accept a lavish meal one day, tickets to a professional sporting event the next and a bottle of cognac the next day, said Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-Wis.). “Under the McConnell bill, it’s all legal,” he said.

Feingold said that the gift ban issue is “so clear” that it “should have been dealt with in five minutes.” Salaries, he said, is all that members of Congress should receive.

A bill pushed by Feingold, Levin and Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) would place an outright ban on meals, vacations and entertainment paid for by registered lobbyists, as well as contributions to legal defense funds.