Lobbyists Confront New Post-Reform World of Rules and Disclosures

WASHINGTON — A baseball cap or T-shirt? Either one would be fine, for those considering a gift for a lawmaker or congressional staffer.

But a $15 coffee mug or a free sky-box seat for an Atlanta Braves game? They're out — along with those cozy one-on-one meals that lobbyists once hosted for lawmakers or their aides at posh Washington restaurants.

Under the new congressional rules, the choice of eateries often comes down to something like the Longworth House Office Building cafeteria, said lobbyist Randy Nuckolls. "And they pay for their lunch, and I pay for mine."

Nuckolls, whose Capitol Hill experience goes back to serving as legislative counsel for Georgia Sen. Herman Talmadge, is part of a corps of veterans advising clients and fellow lobbyists on the do's and don'ts of the post-reform era.

His Atlanta-based law firm, McKenna Long & Aldridge, has provided a series of briefings in Washington with a warning to the lobbying community to "take the new rules very seriously," Nuckolls said.

Although some provisions, like restrictions on gifts and privately financed travel, have already gone into effect, Nuckolls sees bigger changes coming next year when new reporting requirements take effect.

Unlike previous ethics standards, the new reforms require each lobbying firm to certify, twice a year starting July 2008, that its employees understand the rules and have not violated them. And for the first time, federal laws against making false statements would apply, opening the door to a possible civil fine of $20,000 and a prison sentence of up to five years.

That possibility was clearly hanging heavily over a seminar for lobbyists sponsored here last week by the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA), a publishing company that specializes in news for business and government professionals.

The key "is in the word 'prison,'" Thomas Susman of the law firm Ropes & Gray told the gathering of several hundred. "You need to be worried."

Some lobbyists readily concede that change is needed after major scandals in which Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe lawmakers and ex-Rep. Duke Cunningham, R-Calif., admitted to accepting bribes in return for securing "earmarks" for federal contracts.

The reforms will "bathe us all in sunlight," Susman said.

Starting next year, lobbyists must disclose their clients and billings each quarter and, every six months, their donations to political campaigns.

At the same time, members of Congress must now identify pet projects or "earmarks" that they sponsor in federal spending bills — often at the urging of lobbyists.

Airing all of this information will have "some disinfectant effect," Susman said.

Robert Hurt, a lobbyist whose clients include the Georgia Ports Authority, Coca-Cola Co., and AirTran Airways, agreed.

"I think transparency is good," said Hurt, who spent 24 years as an aide for members of the Georgia congressional delegation. The congressional spending system ran amok when members offered earmarked projects "that were not justified," he said.

Craig Holman, a reform advocate for the watchdog group Public Citizen, said the changes have "already had a very big impact on how things are done on Capitol Hill."

"We no longer see congressional staffers handing their lunch tickets to lobbyists at the Capital Grille and lobbyists obliging by paying," Holman said.

With privately sponsored trips for members of Congress now limited, in most cases, to a single day and required to be disclosed to the public, such travel has dropped 40 percent, he noted.

Earmarks have also declined sharply from $27 billion in 2005 to a total of $13 billion in the annual spending bills now being considered by Congress.

Josh Zive of the law and lobbying firm of Bracewell & Giuliani doubts the disclosures required by the rules will rehabilitate the public image of Congress and the lobbying community.

Once detailed information is laid out on earmarks, lobbying activities and campaign donations, connections will be assumed whether they exist or not, he said.

"I fear it will be used to confirm the public's worst suspicions" about the links between lobbyists, money and congressional action, Zive said.

Holman agreed that the visibility of lobbying activities could feed the public's skepticism in the short term.

But he said that "hopefully" the new system will stop the most wasteful projects "and the public's going to realize that."

Not everything changes under the new rules.

Corporations and their lobbyists can still arrange to pay for tickets for lawmakers, their spouses and a child to attend charity events.

Universities and local governments remain exempted from gift rules, so they are allowed to pay for travel and provide sky box seats for members of Congress and their staff.

Lawmakers can still be treated to dinner or lunch at four-star restaurants, so long as it's for an official campaign fundraising event.

Moreover, lobbying firms and corporations can still invite lawmakers and their aides to private briefings and receptions, so long as they follow the new "toothpick" guidelines.

That means, any food served must be no more than light snacks or hors d'oeuvres that can be eaten with a toothpick while standing up.

And despite some doubt about the new ethics era, Holman said, "The lobbyists have not found a way around it so far."