I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8022 
To amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to assign unique identification 
numbers to each lobbyist who registers under such Act and to each 
client of the lobbyist and each person who provides strategic lobbying 
services in support of the lobbyist, to require the disclosure of information 
on any persons who provide strategic lobbying services in support of 
registered lobbyists under such Act, to require the Clerk of the House 
of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate to assign a unique 
identification number to each individual who registers as a lobbyist under 
such Act, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 11, 2020 
Mr. PHILLIPS (for himself and Mr. CLINE) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to assign 
unique identification numbers to each lobbyist who reg-
isters under such Act and to each client of the lobbyist 
and each person who provides strategic lobbying services 
in support of the lobbyist, to require the disclosure of 
information on any persons who provide strategic lob-
bying services in support of registered lobbyists under 
such Act, to require the Clerk of the House of Represent-
atives and the Secretary of the Senate to assign a unique 
identification number to each individual who registers 
as a lobbyist under such Act, and for other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lobbying Disclosure 
Reform Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) the right to petition government for redress 
of grievances is a fundamental right in our rep-
resentative democracy, which is often realized 
through lobbying; 
(2) responsible representative government re-
quires public awareness of the efforts of paid lobby-
ists to influence the public decision making process 
in both the legislative and executive branches of the 
Federal Government; 
(3) existing lobbying disclosure laws have not 
been as effective as they could be because of unclear 
statutory language, weak administrative and enforce-
ment provisions, and an absence of clear guidance as 
to who is required to register and what they are re-
quired to disclose; 
(4) the effective public disclosure of the identity 
and extent of the efforts of paid lobbyists to influ-
ence Federal officials in the conduct of government 
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actions will increase public confidence in the integ-
rity of government; and 
(5) experience with lobbying laws and regula-
tions for nearly a half century led to substantial im-
provements in the law in 1995, and experience with 
the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 over the last 
decade provides a sound basis for new refinements 
today. 
SEC. 3. ASSIGNMENT OF UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION NUM-
BERS TO LOBBYISTS, CLIENTS, AND PRO-
VIDERS OF STRATEGIC LOBBYING SERVICES. 
(a) ASSIGNMENT OF UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION NUM-
BERS.—Section 6(a)(3) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 
1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)(3)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (A); 
(2) by adding ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon the 
end of subparagraph (B); and 
(3) by adding after subparagraph (B) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(C) a system that assigns an identifica-
tion number for each lobbyist for whom a reg-
istration or report is filed under this Act, each 
client of such a lobbyist, and each provider of 
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ber of the registrant, the name and unique identi-
fication number of the client’’. 
(2) INFORMATION
ON
EMPLOYEES.—Section 
5(b)(2)(C) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1604(b)(2)(C)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘a list of the employees’’ and 
inserting ‘‘a list of the names and unique identifica-
tion numbers of the employees’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Clerk of the House of 
Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate shall im-
plement the system described in subparagraph (C) of sec-
tion 6(a)(3) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, as 
added by subsection (a), not later than the first day of 
the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress. 
SEC. 4. REQUIRING DISCLOSURE OF PERSONS PROVIDING 
STRATEGIC LOBBYING SERVICES. 
(a) 
DISCLOSURE
IN
LOBBYIST
REGISTRATION 
STATEMENTS.—Section 4(b)(6) of the Lobbying Disclo-
sure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603(b)(6)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘expects to act as a lobbyist on 
behalf of the client and’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘expects to act as a lobbyist on behalf of the client, 
or who has been or who the registrant expects to be 
a provider of strategic lobbying services on behalf of 
the client, and’’; and 
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(2) by inserting after ‘‘first acted as a lobbyist’’ 
the following: ‘‘or was first a provider of strategic 
lobbying services’’. 
(b) DISCLOSURE IN QUARTERLY REPORTS.—Section 
5(b)(2) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1604(b)(2)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (C); 
(2) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (D); and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraphs: 
‘‘(E) a list of the names and unique identi-
fication numbers of the employees of the reg-
istrant who were providers of strategic lobbying 
services in support of the registrant’s lobbying 
activities on behalf of the client during the 
quarterly period; and 
‘‘(F) a list of the names of all other per-
sons who were retained as providers of strategic 
lobbying services in support of the registrant’s 
lobbying activities on behalf of the client during 
the quarterly period, together with— 
‘‘(i) the nature of the strategic lob-
bying services provided, along with a brief 
summary of work performed; 
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‘‘(ii) the amount paid to each such 
person for such services; 
‘‘(iii) the name of any individual em-
ployed by such person who supervised the 
provision of such services, and, if the indi-
vidual served as a covered executive branch 
official or a covered legislative branch offi-
cial in the previous 20 years, a statement 
describing the position in which such indi-
vidual served; and 
‘‘(iv) the name of any individual em-
ployed by such person who provided such 
services during the quarterly period, and, if 
the individual served as a covered executive 
branch official or a covered legislative 
branch official in the previous 20 years, a 
statement describing the position in which 
such individual served.’’. 
(c) INCLUSION IN FILING, CODING, AND CROSS-IN-
DEXING SYSTEMS.—Section 6(a)(3)(A) of such Act (2 
U.S.C. 1605(a)(3)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘and their 
clients’’ and inserting ‘‘and their clients and providers of 
strategic lobbying services’’. 
(d) DEFINITION.—Section 3 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 
1602) is amended— 
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(1) by redesignating paragraphs (15) and (16) 
as paragraphs (16) and (17); and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (14) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(15) PROVIDER
OF
STRATEGIC
LOBBYING 
SERVICES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘provider of 
strategic lobbying services’ means any person 
who, during a quarterly period described in sec-
tion 5, provided a registrant under section 4 
with 12 or more hours of services which are de-
scribed in subparagraph (C) but which are not 
otherwise treated as lobbying activities or lob-
bying contacts. 
‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR FORMER OFFI-
CIALS.—In the case of a person who served as 
a covered executive branch official or a covered 
legislative branch official in the previous 20 
years and who, during a quarterly period de-
scribed in section 5, provided a registrant under 
section 4 with services described in subpara-
graph (A) and also carried out lobbying activi-
ties on behalf of the registrant, such person 
shall be treated as a provider of strategic lob-
bying services if the combined time spent in 
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providing services described in subparagraph 
(A) and lobbying activities on behalf of the reg-
istrant during the period was 12 hours or 
greater. 
‘‘(C) SERVICES DESCRIBED.—The services 
described in this subparagraph are the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(i) Providing strategic planning for 
lobbying activities or lobbying campaigns. 
‘‘(ii) Providing strategic advice re-
garding earned media or press coverage re-
lated to specific issues upon which a lob-
byist employed by the registrant engaged 
in lobbying activities. 
‘‘(iii) Polling services enlisted by a 
registrant related to specific issues upon 
which a lobbyist employed by the reg-
istrant engaged in lobbying activities. 
‘‘(iv) Providing advice on or producing 
public communications related to specific 
issues upon which a lobbyist employed by 
the registrant engaged in lobbying activi-
ties. 
‘‘(v) Encouraging persons to support 
or oppose legislative or administrative ac-
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tion or take action with regard to specific 
issues upon which a lobbyist employed by 
the registrant engaged in lobbying activi-
ties, including the costs of creating formal 
or informal coalitions of organizations for 
such purposes.’’. 
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to statements and re-
ports filed on or after the first day of the One Hundred 
Seventeenth Congress. 
SEC. 5. PROMOTING ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GEN-
ERAL. 
(a) REFERENCE OF NONCOMPLIANCE TO ATTORNEY 
GENERAL.—Section 6(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act 
of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘the 
United States Attorney for the District of Columbia’’ each 
place it appears in paragraph (8) and paragraph (11) and 
inserting ‘‘the Attorney General’’. 
(b) INCLUSION
IN
ENFORCEMENT
REPORTS
OF 
IDENTIFICATION OF INDIVIDUALS SUBJECT TO IMPOSI-
TION OF SENTENCE.—Section 6(b)(1) of such Act (2 
U.S.C. 1605(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘by case, any 
sentences imposed, except that such report shall not in-
clude the names of individuals, or personally identifiable 
information, that is not already a matter of public record’’ 
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and inserting ‘‘by case and by the name of the individual 
and (if applicable) the lobbying firm involved, any sen-
tences imposed’’. 
(c) RECOMMENDATIONS TO PROMOTE ENFORCE-
MENT
AND COMPLIANCE.—Section 6 of such Act (2 
U.S.C. 1605) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(c) RECOMMENDATIONS TO PROMOTE ENFORCE-
MENT AND COMPLIANCE.—The Attorney General, at any 
time, may make recommendations to Congress on steps 
to promote the enforcement of and compliance with this 
Act, including recommendations regarding the Attorney 
General’s need for resources to carry out the enforcement 
of this Act.’’. 
SEC. 6. INCREASING TRANSPARENCY OF SYSTEM FOR FIL-
ING, CODING, AND CROSS-INDEXING OF RE-
PORTED INFORMATION. 
(a) CLARIFYING REQUIREMENT TO IMPLEMENT SYS-
TEM.—Section 6(a)(3) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 
1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)(3)) is amended in the matter pre-
ceding subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘develop’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘develop and implement’’. 
(b) AVAILABILITY
OF
INFORMATION
THROUGH 
SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS.—Section 6(a)(3)(B) of such 
Act (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)(3)(B)) is amended by striking 
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‘‘computerized systems’’ and inserting ‘‘computerized sys-
tems, including a system through which individuals may 
use software or web-based applications to obtain access 
to a searchable, sortable, and downloadable database of 
information,’’ 
SEC. 7. OTHER REFORMS IN REGULATION OF LOBBYISTS 
AND LOBBYING ACTIVITY. 
(a) REVISION
OF THRESHOLD
FOR EXEMPTION 
FROM TREATMENT AS LOBBYIST.— 
(1) REVISION.—Section 3(10) of the Lobbying 
Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602(10)) is 
amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘by a client’’ and inserting 
‘‘by a client or by a registrant’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘other than an individual’’ 
and all that follows and inserting the following: 
‘‘other than an individual who, over a 3-month 
period, spends fewer than 12 hours engaged in 
lobbying activities for such client or such reg-
istrant.’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to lob-
bying activities occurring on or after the first day of 
the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress. 
(b) DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION.— 
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(1) REVISION OF DEADLINE.—Section 4(a) of 
such Act (2 U.S.C. 1603(a)) is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘45 days’’ and inserting 
‘‘30 days’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘45th day’’ each place it 
appears and inserting ‘‘30th day’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to lob-
bying contacts occurring on or after the first day of 
the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress. 
(c) INCLUSION OF SPECIFIC INFORMATION IN REG-
ISTRATION STATEMENTS ON ISSUED ADDRESSED IN LOB-
BYING ACTIVITIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4(b)(5)(B) of such 
Act (2 U.S.C. 1603(b)(5)(B)) is amended by strik-
ing the semicolon at the end and inserting the fol-
lowing: ‘‘, including any Federal rule, regulation, 
Executive Order, or any other program, policy, pol-
icy, or position of the United States Government, as 
well as any proposed Federal legislation or a descrip-
tion thereof;’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 
by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to state-
ments filed on or after the first day of the One Hun-
dred Seventeenth Congress. 
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(d) CLARIFICATION OF TIMING OF TERMINATION OF 
REGISTRATION.—Section 4(d) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 
1603(d)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘by a client’’ 
and inserting ‘‘by a client or by a registrant’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘for such cli-
ent’’ and inserting ‘‘for such client or lobbying 
firm’’. 
SEC. 8. QUADRENNIAL REPORTS ON EFFECTIVENESS OF 
COLLECTION, STORING, AND RELEASE OF IN-
FORMATION. 
(a) INCLUSION
IN
ANNUAL
AUDITS
BY
COMP-
TROLLER GENERAL.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 26 of the Lobbying 
Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1614) is amend-
ed— 
(A) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub-
section (c); and 
(B) by inserting after subsection (a) the 
following new subsection: 
‘‘(b) QUADRENNIAL REPORTS ON MODERNIZATION 
OF REPORTING AND DISCLOSURES.—Beginning in 2020 
and every 4 years thereafter, the Comptroller General 
shall include with the audit conducted under subsection 
(a) an evaluation of the technology and methods employed 
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by the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House 
to collect, store, review, and electronically publish the in-
formation filed with the Secretary and Clerk under this 
Act, and shall include in such evaluation an analysis of— 
‘‘(1) whether additional technological means 
could be employed to reduce the burden on filers and 
increase the accuracy of filings; 
‘‘(2) whether automated means are being maxi-
mally employed to allow the Secretary and the Clerk 
to automatically process, normalize, and verify the 
data they have received; and 
‘‘(3) whether the Secretary and the Clerk could 
undertake other measures to improve how such is 
collected, reviewed, and reported to the public.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT
RELATING
TO 
SUBMISSION
OF
REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—Section 
26(c)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1614(c)(1)), as re-
designated by paragraph (1), is amended by in the 
matter preceding subparagraph (A) by striking the 
period at the end of the first sentence and inserting 
the following: ‘‘, and, if applicable, the quadrennial 
evaluation conducted under subsection (b).’’. 
(b) JOINT REVIEW BY SECRETARY OF SENATE AND 
CLERK OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—The Lobbying 
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Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 27. QUADRENNIAL REVIEW OF INFORMATION COL-
LECTION 
AND 
DISSEMINATION 
BY 
SEC-
RETARY OF SENATE AND CLERK OF HOUSE 
OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
‘‘(a) REVIEW.—Not later than April 1, 2021, and 
every 4 years thereafter, the Secretary of the Senate and 
the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall jointly 
conduct and submit to Congress a review of how the Sec-
retary and Clerk collect, store, review, and disseminate in-
formation filed with the Secretary and the Clerk under 
this Act. 
‘‘(b) FACTORS.—In conducting the review under sub-
section (a), the Secretary and the Clerk— 
‘‘(1) shall include an analysis of how the filing 
and public disclosure of the information filed under 
this Act can be improved, including a detailed plan 
with deadlines for improving filing and disclosure 
mechanisms; and 
‘‘(2) shall consult with members of the public, 
with an emphasis on those members of the public 
who regularly seek access to such information. 
‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL
OR
SEPARATE
VIEWS
PER-
MITTED.—The Secretary and the Clerk may each include 
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additional or separate views in the review submitted to 
Congress under subsection (a).’’. 
Æ 
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