Lobbying Disclosure Enhancement Act - Directs the Attorney General to establish the Lobbying Disclosure Act Enforcement Task Force, which shall: (1) have primary responsibility for investigating and prosecuting each case referred to the Attorney General involving a lobbyist or lobbying firm that has been notified that it may be in noncompliance with the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 and that has failed to provide an appropriate response within 60 days; and (2) collect and disseminate information regarding enforcement of such Act. Authorizes appropriations.
Amends such Act to: (1) provide for referral of cases to the Attorney General (current law provides for referrals to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia); and (2) require the Attorney General's enforcement report to specified congressional committees to include the name of the individual lobbyists or lobbying firms involved in each case.
Authorizes the Attorney General to make recommendations to Congress regarding: (1) the enforcement of and compliance with such Act; and (2) the need for resources available for the enhanced enforcement of such Act.
[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5751 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5751
To amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require registrants to
pay an annual fee of $50, to impose a penalty of $500 for failure to
file timely reports required by that Act, to provide for the use of the
funds from such fees and penalties for reviewing and auditing filings
by registrants, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 15, 2010
Ms. Kilroy introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require registrants to
pay an annual fee of $50, to impose a penalty of $500 for failure to
file timely reports required by that Act, to provide for the use of the
funds from such fees and penalties for reviewing and auditing filings
by registrants, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Fee on Lobbyists Act''.
SEC. 2. ANNUAL FEE FOR REGISTRANTS UNDER LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT OF
1995.
(a) In General.--Section 4 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995
(2 U.S.C. 1603) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(d) Registration Fees.--Each registrant shall pay, for each
registration filed under this section, a fee of $25 to the Clerk of the
House of Representatives and $25 to the Secretary of the Senate--
``(1) when the registrant files the registration under
subsection (a); and
``(2) when filing the report under section 5(a) for the
first quarterly period beginning on January 1 of each year.''.
(b) Applicability.--
(1) New registrants.--
(A) In general.--Section 4(d)(1) of the Lobbying
Disclosure Act of 1995, as added by subsection (a) of
this section, shall apply with respect to registrations
filed under section 4(a) of that Act after the end of
the 60-day period beginning on the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(B) First annual fee.--In the case of a registrant
to whom subparagraph (A) applies, the fee required by
section 4(d)(2) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995,
as added by subsection (a) of this section, need not be
paid in the case of a quarterly report filed less than
180 days after the registration is filed under section
4(a) of that Act.
(2) Other registrants.--Except as provided in paragraph
(1)(B), section 4(d)(2) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995,
as added by subsection (a) of this section, shall take effect
upon the expiration of the 60-day period beginning on the date
of the enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect to
registrations filed before, on, or after that effective date.
SEC. 3. PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO MAKE TIMELY FILINGS; RESPONSIBILITIES
OF SECRETARY OF THE SENATE AND CLERK OF THE HOUSE.
(a) In General.--Section 6 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995
(2 U.S.C. 1605) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (10) and (11) as
paragraphs (11) and (12); and
(B) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:
``(10) reconcile the databases maintained by the Secretary
and the Clerk so that information in the databases is
compatible and easily comparable;'';
(2) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (e); and
(3) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
``(b) Fines for Late Filings.--
``(1) In general.--If any person fails to file a report
required under section 5 by the date by which such report is
due under such section, the Secretary of the Senate or the
Clerk of the House of Representatives shall--
``(A) impose a fine of $500 on such person; or
``(B) in the case of a second or subsequent failure
to so file, impose a fine of $1,000 on such person.
``(2) Relationship to other penalties.--A fine imposed
under paragraph (1) is in addition to any fine imposed under
section 7 by reason of a failure to file a report described in
paragraph (1).
``(c) Use of Fees and Fines.--All fines paid pursuant to subsection
(b) and all fees paid under section 4(d) shall, subject to
appropriations Acts, be available to the Secretary of the Senate and
the Clerk of the House of Representatives for reviewing and auditing
registrations filed under section 4 and reports filed under section 5.
``(d) List of Delinquent Filers.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Senate and the
Clerk of the House of Representatives shall maintain and make
publicly available a list of all persons required to file
reports under section 5 who fail to do so by the dates required
by such section.
``(2) Removal of person from list.--If a person whose name
is included on the list maintained under paragraph (1) because
of a failure to file a report under section 5 thereafter files
the report and pays the fine under subsection (b) because of
such failure, the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the
House of Representatives shall remove that person from the
list.''.
(b) Applicability.--Subsections (b) and (d) of section 6 of the
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, as added by subsection (a) of this
section, shall apply with respect to reports that are required to be
filed under section 5 of that Act after the end of the 60-day period
beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. Scott (VA) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H6204-6206)
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 5751.
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.(text: CR H6204)
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H6204)
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
The title of the measure was amended. Agreed to without objection.
Received in the Senate.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
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