I
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5751
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.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Fee on Lobbyists
Act
.
Annual Fee for registrants under Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995
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:
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—
when the registrant files the registration under subsection (a); and
when filing the report under section 5(a) for the first quarterly period beginning on January 1 of each year.
.
Applicability
New registrants
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.
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.
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.
Penalties for failure to make timely filings; responsibilities of Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House
In general
Section 6 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605) is amended—
in subsection (a)—
by redesignating paragraphs (10) and (11) as paragraphs (11) and (12); and
by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:
reconcile the databases maintained by the Secretary and the Clerk so that information in the databases is compatible and easily comparable;
;
by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (e); and
by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
Fines for late filings
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—
impose a fine of $500 on such person; or
in the case of a second or subsequent failure to so file, impose a fine of $1,000 on such person.
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).
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.
List of delinquent filers
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.
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.
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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.
