WASHINGTON - After months of calls for lobbying reform in Washington, the Republican leadership on the Hill offered a watered down version of reform that U.S. Representative Artur Davis (D-Birmingham) opposed.

“While the lobbying debate has focused on meals and travel, I believe that the secretive appropriations process provides the greatest potential for abuse,” Davis said.  “The bill that passed the House does some good things on this front, but contains too many loopholes for me to support it.”

Congressman Davis has previously stated that earmark requests by Members should be a matter of public record and that earmarks should be identified in appropriations bills; both of these provisions are contained in the bill that passed the House, but Davis noted that the bill does not require greater disclosure of lobbyist activity on behalf of appropriations and does not mandate the disclosure of enough information relevant to possible conflicts of interest in the appropriations process.  (see article)

According to Davis, “The bill will still leave the public in the dark about which lobbyists are seeking appropriations of federal dollars, and whether those lobbyists have connections with Members that might be relevant to the public.”

Davis also pointed out that the bill allows the rules committee to selectively waive the earmark disclosure requirements that are contained in the House bill.   Davis joined 20 Republicans and 192 Democrats in opposing the bill, which passed 217-213.

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