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alp227

(31,961 posts)
Wed Mar 21, 2012, 11:17 PM Mar 2012

Lobbying association responds to criticism by calling for more regulation, education

TW Farnam, Washington Post, 3/22/12

Washington lobbyists are making a strange request: more regulation of lobbying.

The main professional association for paid influencers, the American League of Lobbyists, is expected to call for tough new rules that would require more people to register as lobbyists with the House and Senate.

Under current law, lobbyists can avoid registering if less than 20 percent of their time is spent contacting lawmakers’ offices or preparing for such activity. They also don’t need to register if they make fewer than two contacts for a client in one quarter.

The lobbyist association’s proposal calls for eliminating the 20 percent threshold for lobbyists hired on contract and reducing it to 15 for a company’s in-house lobbyists, according to a draft obtained by The Washington Post. The group also favors mandatory ethics classes for lobbyists and creating a new unit at the Justice Department to bolster compliance with the law, according to the draft.

full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/lobbying-association-responds-to-criticism-by-calling-for-more-regulation-education/2012/03/20/gIQAREqQSS_story.html

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