Lobbying Disclosure Technical Amendments Act of 1997, S. 758

Lobbying Disclosure Technical Amendments Act of 1997, S. 758

98-259 GOV
Updated November 3, 1998
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Lobbying Disclosure Technical Amendments Act
of 1997, S. 758
Richard C. Sachs
Specialist in American National Government
Government Division
Summary
S. 758 (P.L. 105-166), the Lobbying Disclosure Technical Amendments Act of
1997, made several changes to the 1995 Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) (P.L. 104-65).
The bill made clear (1) the definition of a “covered executive branch official”; (2) that
a lobbying contact does not include communications compelled by a federal contract,
grant, or loan; (3) that the official representatives of international groups such as NATO
and the United Nations are public officials and therefore not required to register as
lobbyists; (4) how estimates of lobbying income and expenditures may be made on the
basis of the tax reporting system; and (5) the conditions under which lobbyists for
foreign interests register and report under the LDA. S. 758 was signed into law by
President Clinton on April 6, 1998.
S. 758 was introduced in the Senate on May 16, 1997. The measure made several
changes to the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA) (P.L. 104-65). S. 758 was
reported by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee without amendment on
November 5, 1997 (S.Rept. 105-147), and passed by the Senate, unamended, by
unanimous consent on November 13, 1997. S. 758 was brought to the House floor under
suspension of the rules, and passed on March 18, 1998. President Clinton signed P.L.
105-166 into law on April 6, 1998. In the 104 Congress, a similar bill, H.R. 3534, was
th
passed by the House, but failed to win approval in the Senate.
Definition of a Covered Executive Branch Official
Language in the 1995 LDA defines a covered executive branch official, in part, as
“any officer or employee serving in a position of a confidential, policy-determining,
policy-making, or policy advocating character described in Section 7511(b)(2) of Title 5,
United States Code.” The intent of the this section as originally drafted in the LDA was
to cover “Schedule C” employees only. The amended language ensures that only
“Schedule C” employees are the “covered executive branch employees” defined in the
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statute and that employees in the Senior Executive Service (SES) are not covered under
this section.
Clarification of Exception to Lobbying Contact
The 1995 LDA includes certain exceptions to the definition of “lobbying contact.”
One of these excepts communications “required by subpoena, civil investigative demand,
or otherwise compelled by statute, regulation, or other action of the Congress or an
agency.” S. 758 clarified this definition by making explicit that the stated communications
exception include “any communication compelled by a Federal contract, grant, loan,
permit, or license.”
The definition of those public officials who are excepted from registration under the
1995 LDA is also clarified. At present, the act defines a public official, in part, as any
national, regional, or local unit of any foreign government. S. 758 provided that
individuals working for such organizations as NATO and the World Bank be included in
this definition, and would insure that officials and employees of such organizations will
henceforth be treated in the same manner as employees of the governments that comprise
them.
Estimates Based on Tax Reporting System
Section 15 of the 1995 LDA allows certain nonprofit organizations, required by the
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to keep records of lobbying expenses for tax purposes, to
report the organization’s expenditures of its “in-house lobbyists” under the 1995 LDA,
based on the IRC definition of “influencing legislation.” S. 758 made several changes in
Section 15, to clarify the relationship between the record-keeping and reporting provisions
of the LDA and the IRC. Another section of the LDA requires that when registrants elect
under Section 15 to use the tax code definition to report lobbying expenses, the registrants
must use that definition in its entirety. The report of the Senate Governmental Affairs
Committee emphasized that, “No modification is permitted to add back categories of
expenditures that would be covered by the LDA definition, and no modification is
permitted to exclude expenditures, such as grassroots lobbying expenses and state
lobbying expenses, for activities that are not otherwise required to be reported or
disclosed under the LDA.”
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Exemption Clarification
S. 758 amended Section 5 of the 1995 LDA to clarify the conditions under which
lobbyists for foreign commercial interests, and lobbyists for foreign governmental or
political interests, register and report under either the 1995 LDA, the FARA (as amended
by the LDA), or may be exempt entirely from coverage under either statute. The amended
language makes clear that any foreign agent lobbying on behalf of a foreign private or
commercial interest, but not a foreign government or political party, who registers under
the LDA would be exempt from the requirements of the FARA. Under Section 5, such
lobbyists may elect to register under the 1995 LDA instead of the FARA, even though
they may not otherwise be required to register under the LDA, because they do not meet
the threshold registration requirements of the 1995 LDA.