Internet disclosures are prominent in lobbying reform legislation...
Internet disclosures are prominent in lobbying reform legislation (HR-2316) that the House passed last week, according to campaign finance group Democracy 21. Lobbying disclosure reports must be filed electronically; a searchable online database must be set up for disclosure…
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reports, with direct links to information in FEC reports; and the House clerk must post online members’ reports on trips and their financial disclosure reports. “The House has taken a major step forward in addressing the lobbying and ethics scandals that occurred in the last Congress,” but the bill must still be reconciled with the less-favorable Senate version, Democracy 21 said. The ACLU, National Right to Life and other strange left-right bedfellows also praised the House action for leaving out an amendment that could have classified their online and offline communications as regulated lobbying. The bill “gets to the true heart of the matter by targeting the corporate Goliaths and allowing the Davids to continue their battles in the halls of Congress,” said Caroline Fredrickson, ACLU Washington legislative office dir.