On July 28, proposals to reform federal lobbying laws were issued by an American Bar Association task force. The proposals include requiring lobbyists to register if they make more than one lobbying contact, receive more than $2,500 in compensation, or make expenditures of more than $10,000 per quarter and spend 12 hours or more per quarter conducting lobbying activity.

Other suggested requirements include disclosing the names of individuals providing “support for lobbying through strategic planning, public communications and polling operations.”

The U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of Rep. Chaka Fattah on several charges including bribery; conspiracy to commit wire, honest services, bank, and mail fraud; and money laundering. The Philadelphia congressman is accused of misappropriating federal grant money, arranging a federal grant in lieu of a payment to a political consultant, and other acts such as using the money to pay off his son’s student loans.

The indictment also includes four members of Rep. Fattah’s campaign and congressional staffs.

The congressman has served 11 terms and is the ranking member on the Appropriations Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee.

On June 2, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennett introduced Senate Bill 1480, The Lobbying and Campaign Finance Reform Act.

According to Bennett’s press release, SB 1480 prohibits solicitations of campaign contributions from lobbyists when Congress is in session, eliminates lobbyist bundling of large contributions, and amends the lobbying registration process to require a lobbyist to register if he or she makes two or more lobbying contacts for a client over a two-year period regardless of whether the lobbyist spends more than 20 percent of his or her time serving the particular client.

A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives this week would permanently close the revolving door allowing members of Congress to become lobbyists once they leave office.

House Resolution 1740 removes the cooling off periods currently in the statutes. These periods require former House members to wait one year and former Senate members to wait two years before becoming lobbyists.

The bill’s sponsor Rep. Rod Blum states in his press release, “This bill would finally close the revolving door between Congress and special interest groups, restoring integrity to our political system and ensuring that politicians focus on representing their constituents instead of catering to lobbying groups who offer a lucrative post-electoral career.”

Photo of the United States Capitol at night by Martin Falbisoner on Wikimedia Commons.

With the Senate passing the House’s omnibus bill, the limits for political contributions to federal political parties will increase when President Barack Obama signs the bill. Included as a rider with House Resolution 83 is an amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 allowing additional contributions to political parties for presidential nominating conventions, for preparation for and the conduct of election recounts and contests and other legal proceedings, and for the construction, purchase, renovation, operation, and furnishing of one or more buildings for party headquarters.

An additional provision of the bill prohibits the federal government from recommending or requiring any entity submitting an offer for a federal contract to disclose, as a condition of submitting an offer, any political contribution, expenditure, independent expenditure, or disbursement for an electioneering communication by the offeror, its officers or directors, or any of its affiliates or subsidiaries.

Another provision included in the bill prohibits the federal government from paying for a portrait of an officer or employee of the federal government, including the president, the vice president, a member of Congress (including a delegate or a resident commissioner to Congress), the head of an executive branch agency, or the head of an office of the legislative branch.

The president has said he will sign the bill.

UDPATE: On December 16, President Obama signed the House Resolution 83 into law.

Photo of the U.S. Capitol by Martin Falbisoner on Wikimedia Commons.

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ethics released a reminder for its members and staff about the propriety of accepting holiday gifts.

Holiday Guidance on the Gift Rule, an eight-page memorandum on House Rule 25, points out some of the restrictions, including reminders on how to handle certain types of situations such as attending a holiday reception at a lobbying firm.

In such a situation, attendance is allowed as long as “the food and refreshments are of ‘nominal value’ and offered ‘other than as part of a meal.’”

Should a representative or staff member be offered a gift card or certificate, the memorandum reminds them these items are considered the same as cash; therefore, they cannot be accepted under any gift exception. The communication also reminds members and staff how they must handle unacceptable gifts, how to seek written committee approval in some circumstances, and which financial disclosure requirements may be necessary.

In a seasonal flair, the memorandum ends with a whimsical poem entitled The House Gift Rule: A Rhyme for the Holidays. The poem includes stanzas such as the following:

Gifts worth less than 50 dollars really aren’t scary,

Unless there’s a lobbyist, you can make merry.

But beware! This exception requires you to know

That the donor’s permitted before pulling that bow.

Receptions are gifts but are permitted if they,

Aren’t a meal, regardless if served from a tray.

The exception requires that food value be nominal,

So no caviar, no matter, whether phenomenal.

Sen. Bernie Sanders has introduced a bill creating a federal Election Day. The Democracy Day Act of 2014 designates “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November in each even-numbered year” as a public holiday.

Senate Bill 2918, introduced on November 12, has been referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a private, self-regulatory organization for U.S. securities firms, is proposing pay-to-play rules.

According to FINRA Regulatory Notice 14-50, posted on November 14, it is requesting comment on the proposed rules, which would regulate the activities of member firms engaging “in distribution or solicitation activities for compensation with government entities on behalf of investment advisers that provide or are seeking to provide investment advisory services to such government entities within two years after a contribution to an official of the government entity is made by the member firm or a covered associate.” The three specific rules for which FINRA is seeking comment are Rule 2271, Rule 2390, and Rule 4580.

A suit filed by the Republican parties of New York and Tennessee challenging the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Pay-to-Play rule has been dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The court held it did not have jurisdiction and the proper court to hear the case is the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The plaintiffs alleged SEC Rule 206(4)-5, which imposes restrictions upon investment advisors and their covered associates making contributions to officials of state and local government entities, violates the freedom of speech protections of the First Amendment. The suit also took the position the SEC does not have the authority to regulate campaign contributions.

Today, the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will sit en banc to hear oral arguments challenging the constitutionality of barring contractors from contributing to candidates, parties, and their committees.

On November 2, 2012, in Wagner v. Federal Election Committee, a District Court rejected challenges to the constitutionality of section 441c of Title 2 of the U.S. Code, which prohibits any vendors with contracts with the federal government from making political contributions to federal candidates or political parties. The case, initially brought by the ACLU, asked the court to declare the law unconstitutional as applied to individuals who have personal services contracts with federal agencies.

Because federal workers who are not contractors may make federal political contributions, while contractors performing the same work may not, the suit argued section 441c violates both the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution and the First Amendment. The court found no First Amendment or Equal-Protection violations, noting “the dissimilar roles of contractors and employees, moreover, justify the distinct regulatory schemes that the Government has fashioned.”

The Office of Management and Budget issued revised guidance on August 13, 2014, regarding the prohibition against appointing or re-appointing federal lobbyists to serve on advisory committees, boards, and commissions.

The revised guidance clarifies the ban only applies to federal lobbyists serving in their individual capacity. In this situation, individual capacity refers to individuals appointed to committees to exercise their own individual best judgment on behalf of the government.

Federal lobbyists appointed in a representative capacity, meaning they are appointed for the express purpose of providing a committee with the views of a nongovernmental entity, a recognizable group of persons or nongovernmental entities, or a state or local government, are not subject to the ban.

On July 21, President Obama signed an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees. The order also prohibits discrimination based on gender identity in federal employment.

The White House press release states, “No current federal law adequately protects [LGBT] workers from employment discrimination. … At a critical time for our nation’s economy, we need all of our workers to be focused on making the most of their talent, skill, and ingenuity, rather than worrying about losing their job due to discrimination.”

The order amends two prior executive orders from the 1960s, issued by Presidents Johnson and Nixon, prohibiting discrimination based on “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”

You can listen to today’s live broadcast of the U.S. Senate Hearing on campaign finance, “Examining a Constitutional Amendment to Restore Democracy to the American People” on the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary website.

Panel I will feature U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and U.S. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Panel II will feature North Carolina State Senator Floyd B. McKissick, Jr., Floyd Abrams, Partner Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP, and Jamie Raski, Professor of Law and Director of the Law and Government Program at American University, Washington College of Law.

The streaming broadcast will be available at 10:30 a.m.

In a May 23 legal advisory to federal designated agency ethics officials, the Office of Government Ethics announced it had raised the widely attended gathering gift exception ceiling for nonsponsor gifts of free attendance from $350 to $375. This revision of 5 C.F.R. § 2635.204(g)(2) became effective May 19, 2014, when it was published in the Federal Register.