Special Interest Lobbying and Ethics Accountability Act of 2005
Latest action. Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Standards of Official Conduct, and Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdictionA court's legal authority to hear a case: over the subject matter, the parties, and the territory.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) of the committee concerned.
Special Interest Lobbying and Ethics Accountability Act of 2005 - Amends the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require: (1) quarterly instead of semiannual filing of lobbying disclosures reports; (2) electronic filing; (3) maintenance of certain lobbying disclosure information in an electronic data base, available to the public free of charge over the Internet; (4) identification of each executive official and Member of Congress with whom lobbying contacts are made; (5) disclosure by registered lobbyists of all past executive and congressional employment; and (6) disclosure of grassroots lobbying communications by paid lobbyists.
Extends from one to two years the ban on lobbying contacts by former senior and very senior executive personnel, former Members of Congress, and officers and employees of the legislative branch with any officer or employee of the entity in which such person served before his or her tenure terminated.
Requires public disclosure by Members of Congress of employment negotiations.
Subjects to fines and penalties a Member of Congress or an employee of the House who wrongfully influences, on a partisan basis, an entity's employment decisions or practices.
Amends the Code of Official Conduct in the House to prohibit favoritism.
Requires certification that congressional travel meets certain conditions, and establishes civil fines for false certifications.
Requires the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to develop and revise guidelines on reasonable expenses or expenditures for official government travel.
Calls for reviews and semiannual reports by the Comptroller General on activities carried out by the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate under the Act, subject to congressional committee hearings.
Increases the penalty for failure to comply with lobbying disclosure requirements.
Requires appointment of a bipartisan ethics task force to make recommendations on: (1) strengthening ethics oversight and enforcement in the House; and (2) providing the resources necessary to accomplish this goal.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on May 17, 2005. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on May 17, 2005: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Standards of Official Conduct, and Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 109th Congress (2005-06), 482 of the 10,701 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.5 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
MARTIN MEEHAN (D-MA) introduced it on May 17, 2005, and 85 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 84 Democrats, 1 independent.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on May 17, 2005, 7786 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7786 days ago, on May 17, 2005.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 109th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2007 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers