What's New
On September 14, the
President signed the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 which
includes the most sweeping changes to the ethics and lobbying rules since the
Watergate era. Among the many provisions, the bill bans gifts and travel paid
for by lobbyists and requires members to pay their own way for the use of
private jets. The bill mandates the disclosure of the tens and hundreds of
thousands of dollars that lobbyists raise for candidates and, for the first
time, establishes accountability for earmarks – funding for pet projects that
legislators insert into bills.
