Legislation & Politics

Letter to Senators regarding S.A. 2907, the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act

March 8, 2006

Dear Senator:

On behalf of the 1.4 million members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), I am writing with regard to S.A. 2907, the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act, that is currently pending in the Senate. Our comments address both the effort to make changes to the legislative process as well as our strong opposition to any effort to add unrelated campaign finance measures to the bill.

We believe that making the legislative process more transparent should be a priority and we support the provision in the bill that allows a point of order to be raised on measures added to legislation in conference. We also endorse the requirement that earmarks and conference reports be posted on the Internet 24 hours in advance of a Senate vote. Moreover, we support an amendment that may be offered comparable to Section 502 of Senator Reid's bill (S. 2180) that will amend the Senate's Standing Rules to ensure that each member of a conference committee will have the opportunity to vote on the complete text of a conference report in an open meeting.

While S.A. 2907 prohibits senators from forcing firms and trade associations to make job hiring decisions on the basis of political affiliation, the bill lacks an adequate enforcement mechanism. We understand that an amendment will be offered, similar to Section 105 of S. 2180, to establish criminal penalties, and we urge the adoption of such an amendment.

We support the provision in S.A. 2907 that requires public disclosure of employment negotiations by senators. However, an amendment that may be offered comparable to Sections 103 and 104 of S. 2180 would further strengthen disclosures by applying the rule to senior Senate staff and by requiring that senators and staff recuse themselves from matters where there is a conflict of interest. The amendment would also require an ethics review of employment negotiations by executive branch officials, an important improvement that we support.

With respect to disclosure requirements, AFSCME supports the provisions in the bill that require disclosure of grassroots lobbying activities and coalitions. AFSCME, like other labor unions, already routinely provides far more disclosure of its spending on lobbying and public outreach than do other organizations. We understand that an amendment may be offered by Senator Santorum that would strike the bill's grassroots lobbying disclosure requirements and language strengthening the disclosure of coalitions. We urge you to oppose such an amendment.

While the bill requires disclosure of corporate travel, AFSCME supports a ban on such travel. At the very least, travel on corporate jets creates the appearance of conflict of interest. The truth is that this practice enhances the ability of business lobbyists to exert disproportionate influence in policy making.

Recent events have highlighted the need to address legislative processes that allow insiders with special connections to highjack legislation in order to advance narrow interests. However, the effort to address this very real problem should not be used to force changes in campaign finance law that would further advantage the wealthy and well-connected. In particular, we urge you to oppose any amendments that would revise current regulation of 527 organizations and accounts or other campaign finance proposals, such as increases in the limits on contributions by the wealthy.

We appreciate your consideration of our views on this important matter.


Sincerely,

Charles M. Loveless
Director of Legislation

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