Thinking about lobbying disclosure reform
Paul Blumenthal
This post (which I've copied below) provides a vision of what real time lobbying disclosure could look like under the new Obama rules:
http://blog.sunlightfoundation.com/2009/04/07/a-vision-of-real-time-lobbying-disclosure/
This post explains what principles we are look for in updating lobbying disclosure law (real time reporting, increased disclosure, and expand the definition of lobbyist):
http://blog.sunlightfoundation.com/2009/04/06/lobbying-disclosure-and-the-obama-memo/
This post focuses on how the Obama rules shifted the disclosure burden away from lobbyists:
http://blog.sunlightfoundation.com/2009/03/23/recovery-lobbying-rules-reversing-the-disclosure-burden/
Let us know what you think about fixing lobbyist disclosure.
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Paul Blumenthal
Senior Writer | Sunlight Foundation
Twitter: PaulBlu | (202) 742-1520 ext. 229
A Vision of Real Time Lobbying Disclosure
John Wonderlich
Mockups of Lobbying Disclosure Demonstrate Potential for Real Time, Online
When we talk about real time, online disclosure, as we did yesterday, it’s easy to miss just what this would mean.
The real, functional changes that come from new tools aren’t always obvious when we first encounter them. We have to use and adjust to new tools to realize how transformative they can be.
President Obama’s new lobbying policies come with an element of public disclosure that is transformative in ways we’re just starting to process. While most analysis has either praised generally or criticized specifics, we’d like to demonstrate just what real time lobbying disclosure actually looks like.
In that spirit, we worked with Sunlight Labs Designer Ali Felski to put together the following mockups of web based lobbying disclosure. We imagined a single site that would function for the entire executive branch, allowing agency employees to file daily reports on lobbying meetings (the first image), and allowing the public to examine and search through the disclosures (the second image). In our conception, a single destination functions across all agencies, creating a single access point for up-to-date influence information.
The Input Form
The input form is intended as a destination for agency employees to fulfill their reporting requirements, which we envision as a daily task: one form for each meeting where a lobbyist is present.
We have included all the identifying information one may expect, while still maintaining a simple form that isn’t overburdensome for agency employees. There’s a place for an LDA code, which we’re using as a simple identifying code for the topic of the meeting.
All of the information entered by agency employees would be submitted by lobbyists at the time of the meeting, and then entered into this simple web form either daily, or after the meeting occurs.
To get a sense of just what kind of view this reporting would enable, take a look at the next mockup.
The Search Page
Even a quick glance of this information should suggest the sort of window on influence we’re imagining. Imagine having this sort of information across the federal government right now — being able to track who is paying for lobbying, and what those discussions entail. One could quickly sort or browse all paid lobbying for individual clients or issue areas, and understand what agency actions are being influenced.
This would be valuable for the public, journalists, and even agency heads and employees, who are striving to evaluate decisions and understand what kinds of pressure they’re feeling. This is the sort of view that could elucidate influence, and help us make better decisions.
This is just the beginning. What else can you imagine tracking? Would you set up an RSS feed of all lobbying related to your interests? Would you, as an agency head, track all lobbying directed at your agency? Do you have some other mashup or view in mind, that we haven’t thought of? Let us know!
Online awareness is only starting to affect the way we see the world — adding new perspective and analysis that we didn’t have before. Like OpenSecrets.org or PoliticalPartyTime.org, technology has great promise to change the way we understand and interact with influence in government.
Michael Stern
Paul and John- I read the interesting discussions of lobbying reform that you circulated last week, and have the following thoughts.
The starting point for lobbying reforms should be to understand the existing lobbying disclosure scheme established by the Lobbying Disclosure Act, as amended, and its weaknesses.
The problem with the LDA’s definition of “lobbyist” is not so much that it is too narrow, although it is true that the definition does not capture every person who one might think of as a lobbyist. The bigger problem is that the definition is flexible (who really knows if someone is spending 20% of their time on lobbying activities?) and thus violations are difficult to prove. Combined with the fact that the enforcement mechanism is weak, it is not surprising that there has been virtually no enforcement of the LDA.
This may not have been such a big issue when there was little disincentive to register as a lobbyist. The Obama Administration, however, has been making it increasingly undesirable to register as a lobbyist. First it made it much more difficult for a registered lobbyist to get a job in the administration. Then it restricted the ability of lobbyists to communicate with government officials regarding the TARP and stimulus programs. These kinds of rules put a premium on becoming a “non-lobbyist lobbyist.”
Another problem with the LDA is the limited utility of the reports that are required. The most glaring deficiency is the fact that registrants do not have to identify which covered officials they contact, only the agency. With respect to congressional contacts it is even worse since registrants only have to identify the “House of Congress” contacted, which tells you almost nothing. And whatever utility the reports do have is reduced by the fact that they are filed well after the lobbying contacts take place.
How should we go about fixing these problems? It seems to me that there are two basic principles that need to be followed. The first is that there has to be sufficient enforcement that compliance with the LDA is not essentially voluntary. In particular, there have to be realistic consequences for someone who fails to register. The second principle is that people who register as lobbyists should not be penalized for doing so. The object of lobbying disclosure should not be to restrict lobbying as such, but (a) to ensure transparency so that government decisionmakers hear from all sides of particular issues and (b) to deter or expose improper lobbying tactics.
The Obama “reforms” that seek to penalize lobbyists or prevent them from being heard on certain subjects violate this second principle and are therefore unhelpful.
On the other hand, the idea of real-time lobbying disclosure seems like a promising one. Whenever lobbyists are seeking a meeting with a covered official, they could be required to fill out a form that identifies the subject of the meeting, the people expected to attend, and the covered officials in question. Once the meeting occurs, the form would be submitted for posting in the on-line lobbyist database maintained by the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate. I don’t think it would be optimal to put the burden of filling out the form on the government officials, but the officials could be made responsible to inquire and ensure that the lobbyists are fulfilling their obligations. This might have the desirable side-effect of encouraging officials to discover which lobbyists are trustworthy and reputable.
Rather than making lobbyists write detailed descriptions of meeting topics (which can be easily evaded), I might suggest requiring them to file copies of any written materials that were given to the government officials.
Hope this is of some help. I would be delighted to discuss this further with you if you would like (this email is too long already, but I have been doing some related work on lobbying ethics that may be of interest).
Best regards,
Mike Stern