Lobbying Reform Effort Reflects Changing Washington
Democrats who won control of Congress in Nov. are poised to put tight controls on lobbying. A proposal House members will take up when they return this week would bar lobbyists or entities employing them from offering members any gifts and meals, or travel aboard company aircraft, among other provisions, according to a draft in circulation.
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“Heartburn will start when people return to town and focus on the proposals and their implications,” a longtime lobbyist said. But telecom lobbyists told us the reform effort would codify shifts already evident among members and staff left wary by the Abramoff scandal and former Rep. Cunningham’s (R-Cal.) guilty plea on bribery charges.
“The impact this will have is minimal. For the most part these things have not been the real problems of Washington,” Greg Rohde, a former NTIA dir. and Senate staffer who now does some lobbying, said: “The recent issues have been people violating existing rules -- the Duke Cunninghams.”
Rohde endorsed the need for an outright ban; otherwise lobbyists will dodge the rules. “Congress has a huge public perception problem. The public has lost faith in our government,” he said: “The best thing Congress can do is just ban everything. That would help restore some level of confidence.”
Besides bans on proffering meals and gifts, lobbyists would be able only to plan, organize, request or pay “for one day travel to visit a site, attend a forum, participate in a panel, or give a speech,” the draft said. Members and staff would have to pay market prices for tickets to sports events.
The reform effort aims at the K Street Project, a Republican bid to cleanse Washington of Democratic lobbyists by any means necessary. The draft rules state that “no member can take or withhold an official act, or influence, or offer or threaten to influence, the official act of another with the intent to influence on the basis of partisan political affiliation, an employment decision or employment practice of any private entity.”
Reforms may dim the star power at trade group meetings. “In the past there have been exceptions for certain charitable events or widely attended events,” a telecom lobbyist said: “Would this mean that a member couldn’t accept any reimbursement to speak at an association’s convention or something like that? I don’t really know.”
The change will be hardest on K Street newcomers, the lobbyist said, noting that it “makes it more difficult and time consuming” to forge Hill links. “They'll just go to cheaper places and the staff will have to pay their own way,” he said: “Maybe they'll meet in a cafeteria in the Longworth Building instead of some restaurant on the Hill.”
“For the old school traditional lobbyists that are used to the dinners and going out it’s going to be hard for them,” a source said: “But no matter how much of a pain in the neck it is they're going to have to abide by it. Certainly it’s not going to inhibit lobbying. Meetings will still be able to take place in offices like they do now. It’s the other ancillary stuff that has become part of the lobbying process that will be inhibited.”