Sen. Russ Feingold will offer an amendment to the stimulus bill today that would enact most of the earmark reforms embodied in his recently introduced bill, the Fiscal Discipline, Earmark Reform and Accountability Act (S. 162). The legislation, in this case the amendment, would create a 60 vote point of order against earmarks in legislation and conference reports and require all firms receiving federal money through awards, grants, or loans to disclose how much they have spent on lobbyists.

After the jump I’ve included the text of the amendment:

SA 140. Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. BURR, and Mr. COBURN) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 98 proposed by Mr. INOUYE (for himself and Mr. BAUCUS) to the bill H.R. 1, making supplemental appropriations for job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, and State and local fiscal stabilization, for fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for other purposes; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. __X. CURTAILING CONGRESSIONAL EARMARKS AND LOBBYING DISCLOSURE.

(a) In General.–Title III of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the following:

“CONGRESSIONAL EARMARKS

“Sec. 316. (a) In General.–On a point of order made by any Senator:

“(1) No unauthorized appropriation may be included in any general appropriation bill.

“(2) No amendment may be received to any general appropriation bill the effect of which will be to add an unauthorized appropriation to the bill.

“(3) No unauthorized appropriation may be included in any amendment between the Houses, or any amendment thereto, in relation to a general appropriation bill.

“(b) Point of Order New Legislation.–

“(1) SENATE MEASURE.–If a point of order under subsection (a)(1) against a Senate bill or amendment is sustained–

“(A) the unauthorized appropriation shall be struck from the bill or amendment; and

“(B) any modification of total amounts appropriated necessary to reflect the deletion of the matter struck from the bill or amendment shall be made.

“(2) HOUSE MEASURE.–If a point of order under subsection (a)(1) against an Act of the House of Representatives is sustained when the Senate is not considering an amendment in the nature of a substitute, an amendment to the House bill is deemed to have been adopted that–

“(A) strikes unauthorized appropriation from the bill; and

“(B) modifies, if necessary, the total amounts appropriated by the bill to reflect the deletion of the matter struck from the bill;

“(c) Point of Order Unauthorized Appropriations in Amendment.–If the point of order against an amendment under subsection (a)(2) is sustained, the amendment shall be out of order and may not be considered.

“(d) Point of Order Unauthorized Appropriations in Amendment Between the Houses.–

“(1) SENATE.–If a point of order under subsection (a)(3) against a Senate amendment is sustained–

“(A) the unauthorized appropriation shall be struck from the amendment;

“(B) any modification of total amounts appropriated necessary to reflect the deletion of the matter struck from the amendment shall be made; and

“(C) after all other points of order under this section have been disposed of, the Senate shall proceed to consider the amendment as so modified.

“(2) HOUSE.–If a point of order under subsection (a)(3) against a House of Representatives amendment is sustained–

“(A) an amendment to the House amendment is deemed to have been adopted that–

[Page: S1451]  GPO's PDF

“(i) strikes the unauthorized appropriation from the House amendment; and

“(ii) modifies, if necessary, the total amounts appropriated by the bill to reflect the deletion of the matter struck from the House amendment; and

“(B) after all other points of order under this section have been disposed of, the Senate shall proceed to consider the question of whether to concur with further amendment.

“(e) Other Points of Order.–The disposition of a point of order made under any other rule of the Senate, that is not sustained, or is waived, does not preclude, or affect, a point of order made under subsection (a) with respect to the same matter.

“(f) Supermajority.–A point of order under subsection (a) may be waived only by a motion agreed to by the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn. If an appeal is taken from the ruling of the Presiding Officer with respect to such a point of order, the ruling of the Presiding Officer shall be sustained absent an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn.

“(g) Form of Point of Order, Multiple Provisions.–

“(1) IN GENERAL.–Notwithstanding any other rule of the Senate, it shall be in order for a Senator to raise a single point of order that several provisions of a general appropriation bill or an amendment between the Houses on a general appropriation bill violate subsection (a). The Presiding Officer may sustain the point of order as to some or all of the provisions against which the Senator raised the point of order.

“(2) SUSTAINED POINT OF ORDER.–If the Presiding Officer sustains the point of order under paragraph (1) as to some or all of the provisions against which the Senator raised the point of order, then only those provisions against which the Presiding Officer sustains the point of order shall be deemed stricken pursuant to this paragraph.

“(3) MOTION TO WAIVE.–Before the Presiding Officer rules on such a point of order, any Senator may move to waive such a point of order, in accordance with subsection (f), as it applies to some or all of the provisions against which the point of order was raised. Such a motion to waive is amendable in accordance with the rules and precedents of the Senate.

“(4) APPEAL.–After the Presiding Officer rules on such a point of order, any Senator may appeal the ruling of the Presiding Officer on such a point of order as it applies to some or all of the provisions on which the Presiding Officer ruled.

“(h) Definition.–For purposes of this section, the term `unauthorized appropriation’ means a `congressionally directed spending item’ as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rule of the Senator–

“(1) that is not specifically authorized by law or Treaty stipulation (unless the appropriation has been specifically authorized by an Act or resolution previously passed by the Senate during the same session or proposed in pursuance of an estimate submitted in accordance with law); or

“(2) the amount of which exceeds the amount specifically authorized by law or Treaty stipulation (or specifically authorized by an Act or resolution previously passed by the Senate during the same session or proposed in pursuance of an estimate submitted in accordance with law) to be appropriated.

“(i) Conference Reports.–

“(1) IN GENERAL.–On a point of order made by any Senator, no unauthorized appropriation may be included in any conference report on a general appropriation bill.

“(2) POINT OF ORDER SUSTAINED.–If the point of order against a conference report under paragraph (1) is sustained–

“(A) the unauthorized appropriation in such conference report shall be deemed to have been struck;

“(B) any modification of total amounts appropriated necessary to reflect the deletion of the matter struck shall be deemed to have been made;

“(C) when all other points of order under this subsection have been disposed of–

“(i) the Senate shall proceed to consider the question of whether the Senate should recede from its amendment to the House bill, or its disagreement to the amendment of the House, and concur with a further amendment, which further amendment shall consist of only that portion of the conference report not deemed to have been struck (together with any modification of total amounts appropriated);

“(ii) the question shall be debatable; and

“(iii) no further amendment shall be in order; and

“(D) if the Senate agrees to the amendment, then the bill and the Senate amendment thereto shall be returned to the House for its concurrence in the amendment of the Senate.

“(3) FURTHER POINTS OF ORDER.–The disposition of a point of order made under any other provision of this section, or under any other Standing Rule of the Senate, that is not sustained, or is waived, does not preclude, or affect, a point of order made under paragraph (1) with respect to the same matter.

“(4) SUPERMAJORITY.–A point of order under paragraph (1) may be waived only by a motion agreed to by the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn. If an appeal is taken from the ruling of the Presiding Officer with respect to such a point of order, the ruling of the Presiding Officer shall be sustained absent an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn.

“(5) SINGLE POINT OF ORDER.–Notwithstanding any other rule of the Senate, it shall be in order for a Senator to raise a single point of order that several provisions of a conference report on a general appropriation bill violate paragraph (1). The Presiding Officer may sustain the point of order as to some or all of the provisions against which the Senator raised the point of order. If the Presiding Officer so sustains the point of order as to some or all of the provisions against which the Senator raised the point of order, then only those provisions against which the Presiding Officer sustains the point of order shall be deemed stricken pursuant to this subsection. Before the Presiding Officer rules on such a point of order, any Senator may move to waive such a point of order, in accordance with paragraph (4), as it applies to some or all of the provisions against which the point of order was raised. Such a motion to waive is amendable in accordance with the rules and precedents of the Senate. After the Presiding Officer rules on such a point of order, any Senator may appeal the ruling of the Presiding Officer on such a point of order as it applies to some or all of the provisions on which the Presiding Officer ruled.”.

(b) Lobbying on Behalf of Recipients of Federal Funds.–The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 is amended by adding after section 5 the following:

“SEC. 5A. REPORTS BY RECIPIENTS OF FEDERAL FUNDS.

“(a) In General.–A recipient of Federal funds shall file a report as required by section 5(a) containing–

“(1) the name of any lobbyist registered under this Act to whom the recipient paid money to lobby on behalf of the Federal funding received by the recipient; and

“(2) the amount of money paid as described in paragraph (1).

“(b) Definition.–In this section, the term `recipient of Federal funds’ means the recipient of Federal funds constituting an award, grant, or loan.”.