Elected Official Lobbying Prohibition Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.2902 | Sponsor: Rep. Taylor, Van (R-TX)
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Elected Official Lobbying Prohibition Act of 2021
This bill prohibits state and local elected officials from lobbying the federal government on behalf of private (i.e., nongovernmental) clients.
The bill's restrictions apply to officials who serve in a statewide elected office, a state legislature, an elected office of a local government that meets specified population standards, or as the chair of a political party of a state, including officials of U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. The bill does not apply to officials acting on behalf of their constituents or who are otherwise acting in an official capacity.

To amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to prohibit certain 
 elected officials of State and local governments from making lobbying 
  contacts under such Act on behalf of private clients, 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 ``Elected Official Lobbying 
Prohibition Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITING STATE AND LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS FROM MAKING 
              LOBBYING CONTACTS ON BEHALF OF PRIVATE CLIENTS.

    (a) Prohibition.--The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 
1601 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 5 the following new 
section:

``SEC. 5A. PROHIBITION AGAINST MAKING OF LOBBYING CONTACTS ON BEHALF OF 
              PRIVATE CLIENTS BY ELECTED OFFICIALS OF STATE AND LOCAL 
              GOVERNMENTS.

    ``(a) Prohibition.--A covered elected official described in 
subsection (b) may not make any lobbying contact under this Act on 
behalf of a client who is not an entity of a State or unit of local 
government.
    ``(b) Covered Elected Official Described.--In this subsection, a 
`covered elected official' is any of the following:
            ``(1) An individual holding a Statewide elected office in 
        any State.
            ``(2) An individual serving in the legislature of a State 
        (or, in the case of the District of Columbia, an individual 
        serving on the Council of the District of Columbia).
            ``(3) An individual holding any elected office of a unit of 
        local government with a population greater than 30 percent (or, 
        in the case of an individual holding the elected office of the 
        chief executive of a unit of local government, greater than 15 
        percent) of the average population of a congressional district 
        (as determined on the basis of the most recent decennial 
        census).
            ``(4) The chair of a political party of a State.
    ``(c) State Defined.--In this section, the term `State' means each 
of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, 
and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
    ``(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be 
construed to prohibit a covered elected official from petitioning the 
Federal government on behalf of the collective interests of the people 
the official represents or from otherwise acting in an official 
capacity as a covered elected official.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to lobbying contacts under the Lobbying Disclosure 
Act of 1995 which are made after the expiration of the 60-day period 
which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.
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