Partisan wrangling could doom lobbyist bills on Capitol Hill
Two lobbying disclosure proposals — one favored by Democratic leaders and the other backed by key Republicans — jockeyed for favor Tuesday. But without consensus on which one to advance, the Democratic House and the Republican Senate could be headed for an irreconcilable showdown.
“The Republican leadership … made clear today they are more interested in partisanship than ethics by refusing to vote for a lobbying ethics bill sponsored by a Democrat,” said Sen. Roy Herron, D-Dresden.
Herron, who sponsors a Senate version of lobbying disclosure legislation that would have a good chance in the House, made the comment after a key Senate committee pushed his bill aside.
Instead, the Senate State and Local Government Committee endorsed a different lobbying ethics bill that has fallen out of favor in the House because it is being carried by the outspoken Rep. Frank Buck.
Buck is the Dowelltown Democrat who once publicly challenged House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh. Herron and Sen. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, predicted Buck’s version has little or no chance in the House.
“That’s just the reality,” said Cohen, who chairs the Senate State and Local Government Committee.
Republican Sens. Ron Ramsey and Jeff Miller said they both want lobbying disclosure, but said they wouldn’t cast their needed votes for the Herron version. Instead they backed Buck’s version, which is moving in the Senate where it is carried by a Republican.
“I’m very pleased they’ve been moving,” Buck said. “I think it’s a healthy sign.”
Ramsey said Democrats should allow Buck’s bill to advance out of committee in the House.
“The bottom line is a bill passed, and somehow it’s our fault. For the life of me I can’t understand that,” Ramsey said.
Buck’s bill was delayed again Tuesday in the House and rescheduled a committee hearing for Wednesday.
Herron said the Legislature could be headed for a situation where each chamber passes different lobbying ethics bills — leaving no consolidated measure for the governor to sign.
“I deeply regret that the Republican leader (Ramsey) and caucus chairman (Miller) are more interested in demonstrating partisanship than passing lobbying ethics legislation,” Herron said.
Republicans hold a slim 17-16 advantage in the Senate and a split on committees.
Meanwhile in the House Tuesday, a different Buck bill that also deals with lobbyists took a surprising turn when a subcommittee amended it to forbid any lobbyist expenditures on legislators.
Buck said the radical changes were made to set up the bill’s demise.
“I was trying to close the loopholes in a reasonable fashion,” he said. “Obviously all these amendments were intended to kill the bill.”
Rep. Ulysses Jones, D-Memphis, was the most outspoken critic, calling the bill a joke and ridiculous.
Jones, an influential committee chairman, previously has said ethics reform already signed by the governor is more than enough. The new law bans officials from holding consulting deals with state contractors and forces lawmakers to disclose all their income sources.
After the change to Buck’s bill, it was sent to Jones’ House State and Local Government committee.
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Read HB1137/SB0549, HB1133/SB535 and SB1251/HB1086 at http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/