Accountability and Transparency in Ethics Act
Latest action. Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, 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.
Accountability and Transparency in Ethics Act - Establishes as an independent ethics commission within the legislative branch the Investigations Commission to: (1) investigate and report to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (Committee) on any alleged violation of law, rule, regulation, or other applicable standard of conduct by a Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives; (2) report to appropriate federal or state authorities, with the approval of the House, any substantial evidence of a violation of any applicable law; and (3) adopt rules affording protections to respondents comparable to those that were provided by rule XI (Procedures of Committees and Unfinished Business) of the Rules of the House in effect immediately before the amendments to such rule made by this Act.
Establishes mandatory annual ethics training for Members and House employees.
Amends rule XXV (Limitations on Outside Earned Income and Acceptance of Gifts) to require the Committee's advance authorization of a privately-funded trip by any Member, officer, or employee of the House.
Amends the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA) to transfer certain functions of the Clerk of the House to the Committee with respect to filing of lobbyist registrations.
Authorizes the Committee to charge a registration fee.
Requires registered lobbyists to file quarterly instead of semiannual disclosure reports with the Committee in an electronic form.
Requires the Committee to maintain certain lobbying disclosure information in an electronic database, available to the public free of charge over the Internet.
Subjects registered lobbyists, lobbyists employed by an organization registered under the LDA, or the client of such lobbyist or organization to penalties for offering gifts to a Representative in Congress, or any officer or employee of the House, knowing that such gift violates the rules of the House.
Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit former Members, officers, or employees of either chamber of Congress, and any employee of any other legislative office of Congress from making lobbying contacts (within one year after such individuals leave office) with any former Member, officer, or employee of either chamber of Congress, and any former employee of any other legislative office of Congress.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 9, 2006. 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 March 9, 2006: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, 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?
MICHAEL CASTLE (R-DE) introduced it on March 9, 2006, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Republican.
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 March 9, 2006, 7490 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7490 days ago, on March 9, 2006.
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