TITLE IV - Improving Lobbyist Reporting and Disclosure of Information
Sec. 406. Reporting of lobbying activities by all persons who bundled contributions. (1 Comment)
Lobbyists are not the only group of individuals who have access and influence in Congress. Anyone who bundles contributions becomes well known to campaigns and Members of Congress. In many instances, they have interests before Congress. Just as the Transparency in Government Act would require lobbyists to report their significant contacts and other lobbying activities, (See sections 402 and 403), non-lobbyists bundlers who have interests before Congress should also disclose their contacts with Members when they are seeking specific action or assistance on Capitol Hill.
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Not later than 10 days after filing a report required under Sec. 405, Federal campaign committees shall forward to each named contributor of a bundled contribution notice that he or she has been identified in the committees campaign finance report.
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The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604) is further amended to provide that each individual listed in reports to be required under this section shall produce a report identifying each Member of Congress with whom the individual engaged in significant contact.
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Contents of Record and Report- Each record made, and each report filed, under subsection (a) shall contain--
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the name of each private party who had a significant contact with that official;
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the name of the Member of Congress; and
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for each Member of Congress named, a summary of the nature of the contact, including--
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the date of the contact;
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the subject matter of the contact and the specific action, if any, to which the contact relates; and
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if the contact was made on behalf of a client, the name of the client.
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Electronic Filing and Public Access
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The Lobbying Disclosure Act is amended to provide the following:`each person required to file a lobby report under this provision shall be required to maintain and file such report in electronic form accessible by computers.'
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The Secretary of the Senate, and the Clerk of the House shall make reports required under this provision available to the public on the Internet in a searchable, sortable, downloadable format within 48 hours (Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays excepted) after they are received.
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For purposes of this provision, a significant contact is defined-
`(A) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the term `significant contact' means oral or written communication (including electronic communication) that is made by a private party to a covered executive branch official in which such private party seeks to influence official action by any officer or employee of the executive branch of the United States.
`(B) EXCEPTION- The term `significant contact' does not include any communication that is an exception to the definition of `lobbying contact'--
`(i) under clauses (i) through (vii) or clauses (ix) through (xix) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (8) of section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602(8)(i)-(vii) or (ix)-(xix)); or
`(ii) with respect to publicly available information only, under clause (viii) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (8) of section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602(8)(viii)).
1 comment on Sec. 406. Reporting of lobbying activities by all persons who bundled contributions.
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I would like to suggest the addition of "contact duration" as another item reported in the summary required by 406.c.3 .
posted by Zachary Pierce, ideambulate.com at April 14, 2008
As I mentioned over in Sec 601, the length of a contact could be a good measure of how much attention a politician actually pays to some entity. This way the public can differentiate between meetings that amounted to a pleasant handshake and meetings that lasted for hours and hours into the night.