Sec. 401 Short title
This title may be cited as the “Lobbyist Disclosure Enhancement Act”.
Title IV — Lobbying Disclosure
IV Lobbying Disclosure
Sec. 402 Modifications to enforcement
Lobbying Disclosure Act Task Force—
Establishment— The Attorney General shall establish the Lobbying Disclosure Act Enforcement Task Force (in this subsection referred to as the “Task Force”).
Functions— The Task Force—
shall have primary responsibility for investigating and prosecuting each case referred to the Attorney General under section 6(a)(8) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)(8));
shall collect and disseminate information with respect to the enforcement of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.);
shall audit, at a minimum on an annual basis, and as frequently as deemed necessary by the Task Force, the extent of compliance or noncompliance with the requirements of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 by lobbyists, lobbying firms, and registrants under that Act through a random sampling of lobbying registrations and reports filed under that Act during each calendar year; and
shall establish, publicize, and operate a toll-free telephone number to serve as a hotline for members of the public to report noncompliance with lobbyist disclosure requirements under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, and shall develop a mechanism to allow members of the public to report such noncompliance online.
Referral of cases to the Attorney General— Section 6(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)) is amended—
in paragraph (8), by striking “United States Attorney for the District of Columbia” and inserting “Attorney General”; and
in paragraph (11), by striking “United States Attorney for the District of Columbia” and inserting “Attorney General”.
Recommendations for improved enforcement— The Attorney General may make recommendations to Congress with respect to—
the enforcement of and compliance with the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995; and
the need for resources available for the enhanced enforcement of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.
Information in enforcement reports— Section 6(b)(1) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(b)(1)) is amended by striking “by case” and all that follows through “public record” and inserting “by case and name of the individual lobbyists or lobbying firms involved, any sentences imposed”.
Sec. 403 Definition of lobbyist
Section 3(10) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602(10)) is amended by striking “, other than an individual” and all that follows through “period”.
Sec. 404 Expedited online registration of lobbyists; expansion of registrants
Section 4(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603(a)) is amended—
in paragraph (1)—
by striking “45 days” and inserting “10 days”;
by striking “, or on the first business day after such 45th day if such 45th day is not a business day,” and inserting “, or on the first business day occurring after such 10th day if such 10th day does not occur on a business day,”; and
by inserting “online” after “shall register”; and
in paragraph (2)—
by striking “Any organization” and inserting the following:
“(A) In general—Subject to subparagraph (B), any organization”
by adding at the end the following:
“(B) Threshold for certain organizations—In the case of an organization whose employees who are lobbyists engage in lobbying activities only on behalf of the organization, the organization is required to register under this subsection only if the lobbying activities of each such employee includes or is expected to include more than one lobbying contact.”
Sec. 405 Disclosure of political contributions
Section 5(d)(1) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604(d)(1)) is amended—
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking “30 days after” and all that follows through “30th day is not” and inserting “20 days after the end of the quarterly period beginning on the first day of January, April, July, and October of each year, or on the first business day after such 20th day if such 20th day is not”; and
by striking “semiannual period” each place it appears and inserting “quarterly period”.
Sec. 406 Identification numbers for lobbyists
Section 6(a)(3) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)(3)) is amended—
by striking “and” at the end of subparagraph (A);
by adding “and” after the semicolon the end of subparagraph (B); and
by adding after subparagraph (B) the following:
“(C) a system that assigns an identification number for each lobbyist for whom a registration or report is filed under this Act;”
Sec. 407 Ethics training for lobbyists
Required ethics training— Any individual who is a lobbyist registered or required to register under section 4 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603) shall—
complete ethics training described in subsection (b)—
not later than 6 months after the individual is first employed or retained for services that include one or more lobbying contacts; and
at least once in each 5-year period during which the individual is registered or required to register under section 4; and
submit to the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate certification of the training completed under paragraph (1).
Qualified training— The Ethics Committee of the House of Representatives and the Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate shall jointly—
determine the curriculum and certification requirements for the ethics training for individuals described in subsection (a);
approve those educational institutions, professional associations, or other persons who are qualified to provide such ethics training;
determine the maximum fee that may be charged for the ethics training; and
provide oversight of the ethics training program established under this section in order to determine the quality of instruction in, and the administration of, the training program.
Responsibilities of Clerk and Secretary— The Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate shall—
collect and review for completion and accuracy the certifications of ethics training submitted under subsection (a)(2); and
post on the websites of the Clerk and the Secretary, with respect to each individual required to complete ethics training under this section—
whether the individual has complied with such requirement; and
the certifications submitted by the individual under subsection (a)(2).
Sec. 408 Estimates based on tax reporting system
Section 15 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1610) is repealed.
Sec. 409 Effective date
Section 402— Section 402 and the amendments made by that section take effect upon the expiration of the 90-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
Sections 403, 404, and 405— The amendments made by sections 403, 404, and 405 shall take effect on the first day of the first quarterly period described in section 5(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604(a)) that begins after the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
Section 406— The amendments made by section 406 shall apply to any registration or report that is filed under section 4 or 5 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995—
on or after the 90th day after the date of the enactment of this Act; or
before such 90th day, if such registration or report is, as of such 90th day, being retained under section 6(a)(5) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)(5)).
Section 407—
In general— Section 407 shall take effect upon the expiration of the 1-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
Current lobbyists— In the case of individuals who are registered under section 4 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603) as of the effective date under paragraph (1), the ethics training required under section 407(a)(1) shall be completed not later than the end of the 6-month period beginning on the effective date under paragraph (1) of this subsection, in lieu of the date specified in section 407(a)(1).