Lobbying Disclosure Reform Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8022 To amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to assign unique identification numbers to each lobbyist who registers under such Act and to each client of the lobbyist and each person who provides strategic lobbying services in support of the lobbyist, to require the disclosure of information on any persons who provide strategic lobbying services in support of registered lobbyists under such Act, to require the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate to assign a unique identification number to each individual who registers as a lobbyist under such Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 11, 2020 Mr. PHILLIPS (for himself and Mr. CLINE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to assign unique identification numbers to each lobbyist who reg- isters under such Act and to each client of the lobbyist and each person who provides strategic lobbying services in support of the lobbyist, to require the disclosure of information on any persons who provide strategic lob- bying services in support of registered lobbyists under such Act, to require the Clerk of the House of Represent- atives and the Secretary of the Senate to assign a unique identification number to each individual who registers as a lobbyist under such Act, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H8022.IH H8022 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8022 IH 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 ‘‘Lobbying Disclosure 4 Reform Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 (1) the right to petition government for redress 8 of grievances is a fundamental right in our rep- 9 resentative democracy, which is often realized 10 through lobbying; 11 (2) responsible representative government re- 12 quires public awareness of the efforts of paid lobby- 13 ists to influence the public decision making process 14 in both the legislative and executive branches of the 15 Federal Government; 16 (3) existing lobbying disclosure laws have not 17 been as effective as they could be because of unclear 18 statutory language, weak administrative and enforce- 19 ment provisions, and an absence of clear guidance as 20 to who is required to register and what they are re- 21 quired to disclose; 22 (4) the effective public disclosure of the identity 23 and extent of the efforts of paid lobbyists to influ- 24 ence Federal officials in the conduct of government 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8022.IH H8022 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8022 IH actions will increase public confidence in the integ- 1 rity of government; and 2 (5) experience with lobbying laws and regula- 3 tions for nearly a half century led to substantial im- 4 provements in the law in 1995, and experience with 5 the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 over the last 6 decade provides a sound basis for new refinements 7 today. 8 SEC. 3. ASSIGNMENT OF UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION NUM- 9 BERS TO LOBBYISTS, CLIENTS, AND PRO- 10 VIDERS OF STRATEGIC LOBBYING SERVICES. 11 (a) ASSIGNMENT OF UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION NUM- 12 BERS.—Section 6(a)(3) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 13 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)(3)) is amended— 14 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara- 15 graph (A); 16 (2) by adding ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon the 17 end of subparagraph (B); and 18 (3) by adding after subparagraph (B) the fol- 19 lowing: 20 ‘‘(C) a system that assigns an identifica- 21 tion number for each lobbyist for whom a reg- 22 istration or report is filed under this Act, each 23 client of such a lobbyist, and each provider of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8022.IH H8022 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8022 IH strategic lobbying services on behalf of such cli- 1 ent;’’. 2 (b) INCLUSION IN REGISTRATION STATEMENTS.— 3 (1) INFORMATION ON REGISTRANTS.—Section 4 4(b)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1603(b)(1)) is amend- 5 ed by striking ‘‘name,’’ and inserting ‘‘name, unique 6 identification number (if available at the time of reg- 7 istration),’’. 8 (2) INFORMATION ON CLIENTS.—Section 9 4(b)(2) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1603(b)(2)) is amend- 10 ed by striking ‘‘name,’’ and inserting ‘‘name, unique 11 identification number (if available at the time of reg- 12 istration),’’. 13 (3) INFORMATION ON EMPLOYEES.—Section 14 4(b)(6) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1603(b)(6)) is amend- 15 ed by striking ‘‘the name’’ and inserting ‘‘the name 16 and unique identification number (if available at the 17 time of registration)’’. 18 (c) INCLUSION IN QUARTERLY REPORTS.— 19 (1) INFORMATION ON REGISTRANTS AND CLI- 20 ENTS.—Section 5(b)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 21 1604(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘the name of the 22 registrant, the name of the client’’ and inserting the 23 following: ‘‘the name and unique identification num- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8022.IH H8022 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8022 IH ber of the registrant, the name and unique identi- 1 fication number of the client’’. 2 (2) INFORMATION ON EMPLOYEES.—Section 3 5(b)(2)(C) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1604(b)(2)(C)) is 4 amended by striking ‘‘a list of the employees’’ and 5 inserting ‘‘a list of the names and unique identifica- 6 tion numbers of the employees’’. 7 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Clerk of the House of 8 Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate shall im- 9 plement the system described in subparagraph (C) of sec- 10 tion 6(a)(3) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, as 11 added by subsection (a), not later than the first day of 12 the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress. 13 SEC. 4. REQUIRING DISCLOSURE OF PERSONS PROVIDING 14 STRATEGIC LOBBYING SERVICES. 15 (a) DISCLOSURE IN LOBBYIST REGISTRATION 16 STATEMENTS.—Section 4(b)(6) of the Lobbying Disclo- 17 sure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603(b)(6)) is amended— 18 (1) by striking ‘‘expects to act as a lobbyist on 19 behalf of the client and’’ and inserting the following: 20 ‘‘expects to act as a lobbyist on behalf of the client, 21 or who has been or who the registrant expects to be 22 a provider of strategic lobbying services on behalf of 23 the client, and’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8022.IH H8022 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8022 IH (2) by inserting after ‘‘first acted as a lobbyist’’ 1 the following: ‘‘or was first a provider of strategic 2 lobbying services’’. 3 (b) DISCLOSURE IN QUARTERLY REPORTS.—Section 4 5(b)(2) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1604(b)(2)) is amended— 5 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara- 6 graph (C); 7 (2) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara- 8 graph (D); and 9 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub- 10 paragraphs: 11 ‘‘(E) a list of the names and unique identi- 12 fication numbers of the employees of the reg- 13 istrant who were providers of strategic lobbying 14 services in support of the registrant’s lobbying 15 activities on behalf of the client during the 16 quarterly period; and 17 ‘‘(F) a list of the names of all other per- 18 sons who were retained as providers of strategic 19 lobbying services in support of the registrant’s 20 lobbying activities on behalf of the client during 21 the quarterly period, together with— 22 ‘‘(i) the nature of the strategic lob- 23 bying services provided, along with a brief 24 summary of work performed; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8022.IH H8022 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8022 IH ‘‘(ii) the amount paid to each such 1 person for such services; 2 ‘‘(iii) the name of any individual em- 3 ployed by such person who supervised the 4 provision of such services, and, if the indi- 5 vidual served as a covered executive branch 6 official or a covered legislative branch offi- 7 cial in the previous 20 years, a statement 8 describing the position in which such indi- 9 vidual served; and 10 ‘‘(iv) the name of any individual em- 11 ployed by such person who provided such 12 services during the quarterly period, and, if 13 the individual served as a covered executive 14 branch official or a covered legislative 15 branch official in the previous 20 years, a 16 statement describing the position in which 17 such individual served.’’. 18 (c) INCLUSION IN FILING, CODING, AND CROSS-IN- 19 DEXING SYSTEMS.—Section 6(a)(3)(A) of such Act (2 20 U.S.C. 1605(a)(3)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘and their 21 clients’’ and inserting ‘‘and their clients and providers of 22 strategic lobbying services’’. 23 (d) DEFINITION.—Section 3 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 24 1602) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8022.IH H8022 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8022 IH (1) by redesignating paragraphs (15) and (16) 1 as paragraphs (16) and (17); and 2 (2) by inserting after paragraph (14) the fol- 3 lowing new paragraph: 4 ‘‘(15) PROVIDER OF STRATEGIC LOBBYING 5 SERVICES.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘provider of 7 strategic lobbying services’ means any person 8 who, during a quarterly period described in sec- 9 tion 5, provided a registrant under section 4 10 with 12 or more hours of services which are de- 11 scribed in subparagraph (C) but which are not 12 otherwise treated as lobbying activities or lob- 13 bying contacts. 14 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR FORMER OFFI- 15 CIALS.—In the case of a person who served as 16 a covered executive branch official or a covered 17 legislative branch official in the previous 20 18 years and who, during a quarterly period de- 19 scribed in section 5, provided a registrant under 20 section 4 with services described in subpara- 21 graph (A) and also carried out lobbying activi- 22 ties on behalf of the registrant, such person 23 shall be treated as a provider of strategic lob- 24 bying services if the combined time spent in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8022.IH H8022 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8022 IH providing services described in subparagraph 1 (A) and lobbying activities on behalf of the reg- 2 istrant during the period was 12 hours or 3 greater. 4 ‘‘(C) SERVICES DESCRIBED.—The services 5 described in this subparagraph are the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘(i) Providing strategic planning for 8 lobbying activities or lobbying campaigns. 9 ‘‘(ii) Providing strategic advice re- 10 garding earned media or press coverage re- 11 lated to specific issues upon which a lob- 12 byist employed by the registrant engaged 13 in lobbying activities. 14 ‘‘(iii) Polling services enlisted by a 15 registrant related to specific issues upon 16 which a lobbyist employed by the reg- 17 istrant engaged in lobbying activities. 18 ‘‘(iv) Providing advice on or producing 19 public communications related to specific 20 issues upon which a lobbyist employed by 21 the registrant engaged in lobbying activi- 22 ties. 23 ‘‘(v) Encouraging persons to support 24 or oppose legislative or administrative ac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8022.IH H8022 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8022 IH tion or take action with regard to specific 1 issues upon which a lobbyist employed by 2 the registrant engaged in lobbying activi- 3 ties, including the costs of creating formal 4 or informal coalitions of organizations for 5 such purposes.’’. 6 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 7 this section shall apply with respect to statements and re- 8 ports filed on or after the first day of the One Hundred 9 Seventeenth Congress. 10 SEC. 5. PROMOTING ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GEN- 11 ERAL. 12 (a) REFERENCE OF NONCOMPLIANCE TO ATTORNEY 13 GENERAL.—Section 6(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act 14 of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘the 15 United States Attorney for the District of Columbia’’ each 16 place it appears in paragraph (8) and paragraph (11) and 17 inserting ‘‘the Attorney General’’. 18 (b) INCLUSION IN ENFORCEMENT REPORTS OF 19 IDENTIFICATION OF INDIVIDUALS SUBJECT TO IMPOSI- 20 TION OF SENTENCE.—Section 6(b)(1) of such Act (2 21 U.S.C. 1605(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘by case, any 22 sentences imposed, except that such report shall not in- 23 clude the names of individuals, or personally identifiable 24 information, that is not already a matter of public record’’ 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8022.IH H8022 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8022 IH and inserting ‘‘by case and by the name of the individual 1 and (if applicable) the lobbying firm involved, any sen- 2 tences imposed’’. 3 (c) RECOMMENDATIONS TO PROMOTE ENFORCE- 4 MENT AND COMPLIANCE.—Section 6 of such Act (2 5 U.S.C. 1605) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing new subsection: 7 ‘‘(c) RECOMMENDATIONS TO PROMOTE ENFORCE- 8 MENT AND COMPLIANCE.—The Attorney General, at any 9 time, may make recommendations to Congress on steps 10 to promote the enforcement of and compliance with this 11 Act, including recommendations regarding the Attorney 12 General’s need for resources to carry out the enforcement 13 of this Act.’’. 14 SEC. 6. INCREASING TRANSPARENCY OF SYSTEM FOR FIL- 15 ING, CODING, AND CROSS-INDEXING OF RE- 16 PORTED INFORMATION. 17 (a) CLARIFYING REQUIREMENT TO IMPLEMENT SYS- 18 TEM.—Section 6(a)(3) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 19 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)(3)) is amended in the matter pre- 20 ceding subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘develop’’ and insert- 21 ing ‘‘develop and implement’’. 22 (b) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION THROUGH 23 SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS.—Section 6(a)(3)(B) of such 24 Act (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)(3)(B)) is amended by striking 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8022.IH H8022 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8022 IH ‘‘computerized systems’’ and inserting ‘‘computerized sys- 1 tems, including a system through which individuals may 2 use software or web-based applications to obtain access 3 to a searchable, sortable, and downloadable database of 4 information,’’ 5 SEC. 7. OTHER REFORMS IN REGULATION OF LOBBYISTS 6 AND LOBBYING ACTIVITY. 7 (a) REVISION OF THRESHOLD FOR EXEMPTION 8 FROM TREATM [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]