Lobbyist Loophole Closure Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 783 To amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to expand the scope of individuals and activities which are subject to the requirements of such Act. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 24, 2019 Mr. ROSE of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to expand the scope of individuals and activities which are subject to the requirements of such Act. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lobbyist Loophole Clo- 4 sure Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H783.IH H783 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 783 IH SEC. 2. EXPANDING SCOPE OF INDIVIDUALS AND ACTIVI- 1 TIES SUBJECT TO REQUIREMENTS OF LOB- 2 BYING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1995. 3 (a) COVERAGE OF INDIVIDUALS PROVIDING LEGIS- 4 LATIVE, POLITICAL, AND STRATEGIC COUNSELING SERV- 5 ICES.— 6 (1) TREATMENT OF LEGISLATIVE, POLITICAL, 7 AND STRATEGIC COUNSELING SERVICES IN SUPPORT 8 OF LOBBYING CONTACTS AS LOBBYING ACTIVITY.— 9 Section 3(7) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 10 (2 U.S.C. 1602(7)) is amended— 11 (A) by striking ‘‘efforts’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘any efforts’’; and 13 (B) by striking ‘‘research and other back- 14 ground work’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘leg- 15 islative, political, and strategic counseling serv- 16 ices, research, and other background work’’. 17 (2) TREATMENT OF LOBBYING CONTACT MADE 18 WITH SUPPORT OF LEGISLATIVE, POLITICAL, AND 19 STRATEGIC COUNSELING SERVICES AS LOBBYING 20 CONTACT MADE BY INDIVIDUAL PROVIDING SERV- 21 ICES.—Section 3(8) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1602(8)) 22 is amended by adding at the end the following new 23 subparagraph: 24 ‘‘(C) TREATMENT OF PROVIDERS OF LEG- 25 ISLATIVE, POLITICAL, AND STRATEGIC COUN- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H783.IH H783 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 783 IH SELING SERVICES.—Any individual who for fi- 1 nancial or other compensation provides legisla- 2 tive, political, and strategic counseling services 3 which are treated as lobbying activity under 4 paragraph (7), and which are used in support 5 of a lobbying contact under this paragraph 6 which is made by another individual, shall be 7 considered to have made the same lobbying con- 8 tact at the same time and in the same manner 9 to the covered executive branch official or cov- 10 ered legislative branch official involved.’’. 11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 12 this section shall apply with respect to lobbying contacts 13 made on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H783.IH H783 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS