Members of Congress are about to head back to their districts for two weeks of townhall meetings, meet-and-greets, and Easter egg hunts (or if they're like me they'll be eating a lot of hillel sandwiches) but they have yet to pass a complete lobbying reform bill. The problem is that S. 1, the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007, has been in stuck in the House of Representatives as the parties fight over Iraq funding. Once that issue is resolved the House is likely to discuss reforms, including, we hope, our transparency agenda. So far the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties has held one hearing on S. 1. The points of contention in the legislation were the disclosure of lobbyist bundling and the increase in the "cooling off" period from one to two years. Republican members of the subcommittee also raised concerns that the Democrats would try to include grassroots lobbying disclosure provisions in the bill. So far, this has been the only action in the House although there are a number of bills that have been introduced.

And here are those bills and resolutions that relate to transparency. First the bills:

90. H.R.90 : To amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require the disclosure of the original source of funds made payable to a lobbyist who is subcontracted to engage in lobbying activities on behalf of a third person or entity, and the disclosure of the identity of that third person or entity.
Sponsor: Rep Bordallo, Madeleine Z. [GU] (introduced 1/4/2007) Cosponsors (3)
Committees: House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 2/2/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.

97. H.R.97 : To amend the Rules of the House of Representatives to reform the ethics process, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Castle, Michael N. [DE] (introduced 1/4/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: House Judiciary; House Administration; House Rules; House Standards of Official Conduct
Latest Major Action: 2/2/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.

170. H.R.170 : To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 and the Rules of the House of Representatives to strengthen financial disclosures and to require precertification of privately-funded travel, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep King, Steve [IA-5] (introduced 1/4/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: House Administration; House Rules
Latest Major Action: 1/4/2007 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 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.

633. H.R.633 : To amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require lobbyists to disclose the candidates, leadership PACs, and political party committees for whom they collect or arrange contributions, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Van Hollen, Chris [MD-8] (introduced 1/23/2007) Cosponsors (10)
Committees: House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 3/1/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.

804. H.R.804 : To amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require certain coalitions and associations to disclose their lobbying activities, and to require reporting on a quarterly basis.
Sponsor: Rep Doggett, Lloyd [TX-25] (introduced 2/5/2007) Cosponsors (57)
Committees: House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 2/5/2007 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

1733. H.R.1733 : To prohibit the inclusion of earmarks in conference reports that were not in the House- or Senate-passed bills.
Sponsor: Rep Bilbray, Brian P. [CA-50] (introduced 3/28/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: House Rules
Latest Major Action: 3/28/2007 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Rules.

And then the resolutions:

48. H.RES.48 : Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives by requiring transparency of record votes in the Committee on Rules.
Sponsor: Rep Dreier, David [CA-26] (introduced 1/10/2007) Cosponsors (3)
Committees: House Rules
Latest Major Action: 1/10/2007 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Rules.

63. H.RES.63 : Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to ensure that Members have a reasonable amount of time to read legislation that will be voted upon.
Sponsor: Rep Paul, Ron [TX-14] (introduced 1/12/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Committees: House Rules
Latest Major Action: 1/12/2007 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Rules.

169. H.RES.169 : Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to require that the lists of earmarks be made available to the general public on the Internet.
Sponsor: Rep Moore, Dennis [KS-3] (introduced 2/15/2007) Cosponsors (29)
Committees: House Rules
Latest Major Action: 2/15/2007 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Rules.

231. H.RES.231 : Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to require all committees post record votes on their web sites within 48 hours of such votes.
Sponsor: Rep Sessions, Pete [TX-32] (introduced 3/9/2007) Cosponsors (46)
Committees: House Rules
Latest Major Action: 3/9/2007 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Rules.

This is just a prelimary look at what is already up for debate in the House. Let us know what you think about these already introduced bills and resolutions and what else needs to done. There will be a lot more to come as the House moves towards tackling these issues. Stay tuned.