[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 804 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 804
To amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require certain
coalitions and associations to disclose their lobbying activities, and
to require reporting on a quarterly basis.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 5, 2007
Mr. Doggett (for himself, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Allen, Mr. Andrews, Mr.
Becerra, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Butterfield, Ms. Carson, Mr. Cleaver, Mr.
Cummings, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Delahunt, Ms.
DeLauro, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Emanuel, Mr. Farr, Mr. Filner, Mr. Frank of
Massachusetts, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Mr. Gene Green of
Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Holt, Mr. Inslee, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms.
Kaptur, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Ms. Lee, Mr. Levin,
Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mrs. Maloney of New York, Mr. Markey, Ms. Matsui,
Mr. McDermott, Mr. McGovern, Mr. McNulty, Mr. George Miller of
California, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Neal of Massachusetts, Mr.
Rodriguez, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Stark, Mr. Tierney, Mr.
Udall of New Mexico, Mr. Waxman, and Ms. Woolsey) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require certain
coalitions and associations to disclose their lobbying activities, and
to require reporting on a quarterly basis.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stealth Lobbyist Disclosure Act of
2007''.
SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF LOBBYING ACTIVITIES BY CERTAIN COALITIONS AND
ASSOCIATIONS.
(a) In General.--Paragraph (2) of section 3 of the Lobbying
Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602) is amended to read as follows:
``(2) Client.--
``(A) In general.--The term `client' means any
person or entity that employs or retains another person
for financial or other compensation to conduct lobbying
activities on behalf of that person or entity. A person
or entity whose employees act as lobbyists on its own
behalf is both a client and an employer of such
employees.
``(B) Treatment of coalitions and associations.--
``(i) In general.--Except as provided in
clauses (ii) and (iii), in the case of a
coalition or association that employs or
retains other persons to conduct lobbying
activities, each of the individual members of
the coalition or association (and not the
coalition or association) is the client. For
purposes of section 4(a)(3), the preceding
sentence shall not apply, and the coalition or
association shall be treated as the client.
``(ii) Exception for certain tax-exempt
associations.--In case of an association--
``(I) which is described in
paragraph (3) of section 501(c) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and
exempt from tax under section 501(a) of
such Code, or
``(II) which is described in any
other paragraph of section 501(c) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and
exempt from tax under section 501(a) of
such Code and which has substantial
exempt activities other than lobbying
with respect to the specific issue for
which it engaged the person filing the
registration statement under section 4,
the association (and not its members) shall be
treated as the client.
``(iii) Exception for certain members.--
``(I) In general.--Information on a
member of a coalition or association
need not be included in any
registration under section 4 if the
amount reasonably expected to be
contributed by such member toward the
activities of the coalition or
association of influencing legislation
is less than $1,000 per any quarterly
period.
``(II) Exception.--In any case in
which information on a member of a
coalition or association is not
included in a registration by reason of
subclause (I) and that member
thereafter makes aggregate
contributions of more than $1,000 in
any quarterly period, the date on which
the aggregate of such contributions
first exceeds $1,000 in such period
shall be treated as the date of first
employment or retention to make a
lobbying contact for purposes of
section 4, and the coalition or
association shall amend its
registration under section 4 to include
the information on the member.
``(iv) Look-thru rules.--In the case of a
coalition or association that is treated as a
client under the first sentence of clause (i)--
``(I) such coalition or association
shall be treated as employing or
retaining other persons to conduct
lobbying activities for purposes of
determining whether any individual
member thereof is treated as a client
under clause (i); and
``(II) information on such
coalition or association need not be
included in any registration under
section 4 of the coalition or
association with respect to which it is
treated as a client under clause
(i).''.
(b) Effective Date.--
(1) In general.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to--
(A) coalitions and associations listed on
registration statements filed under section 4 of the
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603) on or
after the date of the enactment of this Act; and
(B) coalitions and associations for whom any
lobbying contact is made on or after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(2) Special rule.--In the case of any coalition or
association to which the amendments made by this Act apply by
reason of paragraph (1)(B), the person required by such section
4 to file a registration statement with respect to such
coalition or association shall file a new registration
statement within 30 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 3. QUARTERLY FILING OF LOBBYING DISCLOSURE REPORTS.
(a) Quarterly Filing Required.--Section 5 of the Lobbying
Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking ``Semiannual'' and inserting
``Quarterly'';
(B) by striking ``the semiannual period'' and all
that follows through ``July of each year'' and insert
``the quarterly period beginning on the first days of
January, April, July, and October of each year''; and
(C) by striking ``such semiannual period'' and
insert ``such quarterly period''; and
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by
striking ``semiannual report'' and inserting
``quarterly report'';
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``semiannual
filing period'' and inserting ``quarterly period'';
(C) in paragraph (3), by striking ``semiannual
period'' and inserting ``quarterly period''; and
(D) in paragraph (4), by striking ``semiannual
filing period'' and inserting ``quarterly period''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Definition.--Section 3(10) of the Lobbying Disclosure
Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602) is amended by striking ``six month
period'' and inserting ``three-month period''.
(2) Registration.--Section 4 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act
of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603) is amended--
(A) in subsection (a)(3)(A), by striking
``semiannual period'' and inserting ``quarterly
period''; and
(B) in subsection (b)(3)(A), by striking
``semiannual period'' and inserting ``quarterly
period''.
(3) Enforcement.--Section 6 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act
of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605) is amended in paragraph (6) by striking
``semiannual period'' and inserting ``quarterly period''.
(4) Estimates.--Section 15 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act
of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1610) is amended--
(A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ``semiannual
period'' and inserting ``quarterly period''; and
(B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``semiannual
period'' and inserting ``quarterly period''.
(5) Dollar amounts.--
(A) Section 4 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of
1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603) is amended--
(i) in subsection (a)(3)(A)(i), by striking
``$5,000'' and inserting ``$2,500'';
(ii) in subsection (a)(3)(A)(ii), by
striking ``$20,000'' and inserting ``$10,000'';
(iii) in subsection (b)(3)(A), by striking
``$10,000'' and inserting ``$5,000''; and
(iv) in subsection (b)(4), by striking
``$10,000'' and inserting ``$5,000''.
(B) Section 5 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of
1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604) is amended--
(i) in subsection (c)(1), by striking
``$10,000'' and ``$20,000'' and inserting
``$5,000'' and ``$10,000'', respectively; and
(ii) in subsection (c)(2), by striking
``$10,000'' both places such term appears and
inserting ``$5,000''.
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