Lobbying in the United States

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Lobbying in the
United States
Political action committee
527 group
Campaign finance (reform)
Major industrial and
business lobbies
Agricultural
Energy
Health
Insurance
Organized labor
Software
Tobacco
Transportation
Major single-issue
lobbies
Abortion / Pro-life
Arab
Armenia
China
Cuba
Environment
Federal leadership
Foreign / defense policy
Gun politics
Immigration
Israel
Retirees
Women's rights
Gay Rights
v • d • e

Lobbying in the United States targets the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures. Lobbyists may also represent their clients' or organizations' interests in dealings with federal, state, or local executive branch agencies or the courts. Lobby groups and their members sometimes also write legislation and whip bills. The ability of individuals, groups, and corporations to lobby the government is protected by the right to petition[1] in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Lobbyists use time spent with legislators to explain the goals of the organizations which they represent and the obstacles elected officials face when dealing with issues, to clients.

Lobbying activities are also performed at the state level, and lobbyists try to influence legislation in the state legislatures in each of the 50 states. At the local municipal level, some lobbying activities occur with city council members and county commissioners, especially in the larger cities and more populous counties. Many local municipalities are requiring legislative agents register as lobbyists to represent the interests of clients to local city council members such as in the swing state of Ohio cities such as Columbus and Cincinnati. Local lobbyists can be asked to represent a variety of organizations including charitable non-profit's such as 501(c)(3) tax exempt corporations. Many lobbyists represent non-profits "pro-bono" at no charge for issues in which they are personally interested. Pro bono publico clients offer activities to meet and socialize with local legislators on neutral territory like fundraisers and awards ceremonies.

Contents

[edit] History

 This section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Please help add inline citations to guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (April 2008)

There is a persistent belief that this tradition began between 1869 and 1877, during the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant.[citation needed] Not allowed to smoke in the White House by his wife, Grant enjoyed his cigars in the lobby of the nearby Willard Hotel. Having been spotted there often, politicians and others wanting political favors began to frequent him during this time of repose, while he was in high spirits.[2] However, the term originates in the United Kingdom from approaches made to Members of Parliament in the lobbies of the House of Commons. Usage of the word in this sense in the United States occurred well before the Grant Administration; the practice itself is much older.

In July 2005, Public Citizen published a report entitled "The Journey from Congress to K Street": the report analyzed hundreds of lobbyist registration documents filed in compliance with the Lobbying Disclosure Act and the Foreign Agents Registration Act among other sources. It found that since 1998, 43 percent of the 198 members of Congress who left government to join private life have registered to lobby. The Washington Post described these results as reflecting the "sea change that has occurred in lawmakers' attitudes toward lobbying in recent years." The paper noted that

Congressional historians say that lawmakers rarely became lobbyists as recently as two decades ago. They considered the profession to be tainted and unworthy of once-elected officials such as themselves. And lobbying firms and trade groups were leery of hiring former members of Congress because they were reputed to be lazy as lobbyists, unwilling to ask former colleagues for favors.

But starting in the late 1980s, high salaries for lobbyists, an increasing demand for lobbyists, greater turnover in Congress, and a change in the control of the House all contributed to a change in attitude about the appropriateness of former elected officials becoming lobbyists.

Former lawmakers are eagerly hired as lobbyists because of their relationships with their former colleagues as well as other contacts. The Public Citizen report included a case study of one particularly successful lobbyist, Bob Livingston, who stepped down as Speaker-elect and resigned his seat in 1999 after a sex scandal. In the six years since his resignation, his lobbying group grew into the 12th largest non-law lobbying firm, earning nearly $40 million by the end of 2004. During roughly the same time period, Livingston, his wife, and his two political action committees (PACs) contributed over $500,000 to the PACs or campaign funds of various candidates.

Currently, there are over 17,000 federal lobbyists based in Washington, DC[3]. While many of these lobbyists are employed by lobbying and law firms and retain outside clients, others are employed by trade associations, companies, and state and local governments.

[edit] Proposed reform

In 1995, the 104th Congress sought to reform Lobbying by passing the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA) which defines and requires lobbyists who are compensated for his/her actions to register with the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate semiannual reports of activities. The legislation was later amended by the Lobbying Disclosure Technical Amendments Act of 1998. These two pieces of legislation require a report containing an accounting of major expenditures as well as legislation that was influenced. Wording of this legislation can be found in 2 U.S.C. ch.26.[4]. The increasing number of former lawmakers becoming lobbyists has led Senator Russ Feingold (D, WI) to propose paring back the many Capitol Hill privileges enjoyed by former senators and representatives. His plan would deprive lawmakers-turned-lobbyists of privileges such as unfettered access to otherwise "members only" areas such as the House and Senate floors and the House gym.

The scandal involving former lobbyist Jack Abramoff has inspired the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006 (S. 2349), a bill debated on the Senate floor in March 2006. According to Time Magazine article in its April 10th issue, the Senate passed legislation the first week of April 2006 to reform U.S. lobbying practices. The Senate bill:

  1. bars lobbyists themselves from buying gifts and meals for legislators, but it leaves a big loophole: firms and organizations represented by those lobbyists may still dole out freebies;
  2. Privately funded trips would still be allowed if lawmakers get prior approval from a commissioned ethics committee;
  3. It would also require lobbyists to file more frequent, more detailed reports on their activities, which would be posted in public domains.

On March 29, 2006, the Senate passed the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006 by a 90-8 vote. The bill incorporated the Lobbying Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006 (H.R. 4975) legislation, which governs lobbyists, into a section and included another section which modified Senate rules. Some senators and a coalition of good-government groups assailed the bill as being too weak.[5]

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 was a comprehensive ethics and lobbying reform bill. The bill, (H.R. 2316), passed on May 24, 2007 in the United States House of Representatives in the 110th United States Congress by a vote of 396-22-14.[6] A parallel Senate version of the legislation, (S. 1), passed the House on July 31, 2007 by a vote of 411 to 8.[7] After the House & Senate resolved their differences and passed an amended revision, President Bush signed the enrolled bill into law (Pub.L. 110-81).

On 21 January 2009, the day after he took office, U.S. President Barack Obama signed two executive orders and three presidential memoranda[8] to help ensure his administration would be a more open, transparent, and accountable government. These documents attempt to rein in the influence of lobbyists, bring increased accountability to federal spending, and limit influence of special interests; they include a lobbyist gift ban and a "revolving door" ban. In May 2009, a Recovery Act Lobbying Rules set new limits on special interest influence.[9]

[edit] Top sectors by spending

According to OpenSecrets.org[10] the top sectors and their total spending between 1998 and 2006 are:

Client Total
1 Finance, Insurance & Real Estate $2,558,205,882
2 Health $2,298,865,053
3 Misc Business $2,257,719,539
4 Communications/Electronics $2,092,700,759
5 Energy & Natural Resources $1,670,116,451
6 Transportation $1,358,911,163
7 Other $1,252,273,819
8 Ideological/Single-Issue $848,747,426
9 Agribusiness $819,757,771
10 Defense $668,009,653
11 Labor $265,459,714
12 Construction $264,698,101
13 Lawyers & Lobbyists $188,142,079

Note: These amounts do not include campaign contributions.[11]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The Right to Petition". Illinois First Amendment Center. http://www.illinoisfirstamendmentcenter.com/petition.php. 
  2. ^ ^ [1] - NPR discussion of Ulysses Grant and origins of the term lobbyist.
  3. ^ (in English) Washington Representatives (32 ed.). Bethesda, MD: Columbia Books. November 2007. p. 949. ISBN 1-880873-55-9. 
  4. ^ "Lobbying Reform: Background and Legislative Proposals, 109th Congress" (.pdf). R. Eric Petersen. http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33065.pdf. Retrieved on 2007-01-09. 
  5. ^ Statement of Reform Groups on Lobbying Legislation Passed by Senate, March 29, 2006. Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG.
  6. ^ "H.R. 2316: Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007". GovTrack.us. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-2316. Retrieved on 2007-08-02. 
  7. ^ Turner, Trish; Associated Press (2007-07-31). "House Approves Tighter Earmark, Lobbying Rules". Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,291550,00.html. Retrieved on 2007-08-02. 
  8. ^ http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/ethics/ Ethics
  9. ^ Jesse Lee (29 May 2009). "Update on Recovery Act Lobbying Rules: New Limits on Special Interest Influence". White House. http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Update-on-Recovery-Act-Lobbying-Rules-New-Limits-on-Special-Interest-Influence/. 
  10. ^ "Lobbying Spending Database". OpenSecrets.org. http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/index.php=c. 
  11. ^ http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/index.php

Geiger, Andreas, EU Lobbying handbook, A guide to modern participation in Brussels, 244 pages, ISBN 3-9811316-0-6, Helios Media GmbH, 2006 Columbus City Council [1]

[edit] External links

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