Lobbying Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006
Latest action. Placed on Senate legislative calendarThe list of measures reported out of committee and eligible for floor action. Being on the calendar is not a promise of a vote.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) under General Orders. Calendar No. 369.
Lobbying Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006 - Title I: Enhancing Lobbying Disclosure - (Sec. 101) Amends the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA) to require: (1) quarterly instead of semiannual filing of lobbying disclosures reports; (2) an annual report on registered lobbyists' contributions; (3) maintenance of certain lobbying disclosure information in an electronic database, available to the public free of charge over the Internet; (4) disclosure by registered lobbyists of all past executive and congressional employment; and (5) disclosure of registered lobbyists' payments or reimbursements for travel and related expenses of covered legislative and executive branch officials.
(Sec. 106) Increases from $50,000 to $100,000 the penalty for failure to comply with lobbying disclosure requirements.
(Sec. 107) Revises requirements for the contents of lobbyist registrations, particularly disclosure of the identity of any organization, other than the client, that contributes over $10,000 toward the registrant's lobbying activities in a semiannual period, and participates in a substantial way (currently, in whole or in major part) in the planning, supervision, or control of such lobbying activities. Waives such disclosure if it is publicly available knowledge that the organization is affiliated with the client, or has been publicly disclosed to have provided funding to the client, unless the organization in whole or in major part plans, supervises or controls such lobbying activities.
Provides that nothing in such disclosure requirement shall be construed to require disclosure of any information about individuals who are members of, or donors to, an entity treated as a client or its identified organization.
(Sec. 108) Requires the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives to provide, semiannually, to specified congressional committees the aggregate number of lobbyists and lobbying firms, separately accounted, referred to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia for LDA noncompliance.
Requires the U.S. Attorney to report, semiannually, to such committees on the aggregate number of enforcement actions taken by the Attorney's office under the LDA and the amount of fines, if any, by case, but not the names of individuals or personally identifiable information.
The summary continues for 20 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to Senate with amendment(s)" stage on March 3, 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 3, 2006: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 369.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- 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?
JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ) introduced it on December 16, 2005, and 7 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 2 Democrats, 5 Republicans.
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 December 16, 2005, 7573 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7496 days ago, on March 3, 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers