Elected Official Lobbying Prohibition Act of 2021

Bill: 117-hr-2902
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Taylor, Van [R-TX-3]
Introduced: 2021-04-28
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Government ethics and transparency, public corruption

Political parties and affiliation

Public participation and lobbying

State and local government operations
Latest action: action_date: 2021-10-19
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.

Summaries:
action_date: 2021-04-28
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Elected Official Lobbying Prohibition Act of 2021</b></p> <p>This bill prohibits state and local elected officials from lobbying the federal government on behalf of private (i.e., nongovernmental) clients. </p> <p>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.</p>

tv_txt: I 117th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2902 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 28, 2021 Mr. Taylor (for himself and Mr. Phillips ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL 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.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Elected Official Lobbying Prohibition Act of 2021 . 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: 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.