Negotiators agree on ethics rules

WASHINGTON — House and Senate negotiators reached final agreement late Friday on an ethics bill, despite the objections of members unhappy with tougher rules on lobbyist-delivered campaign contributions.

In a concession to those lawmakers, negotiators weakened a key provision requiring disclosure of contributions "bundled" by lobbyists. Under the agreement, lawmakers must report every six months any lobbyist-bundled contributions totaling more than $15,000. The original House bill required quarterly reports for bundled contributions of more than $5,000.

Bundlers solicit campaign checks from numerous people, but their efforts often go undetected under existing campaign-finance disclosure laws.

The reconciled bill is scheduled for a vote Tuesday in the House under fast-track procedures. It then will be sent to the Senate, where procedural roadblocks could delay its passage. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has vowed to prevent senators from beginning their monthlong recess, scheduled to start next weekend, until the bill passes.

After winning control of Congress in November, Democrats moved to push tougher ethics rules, motivated by voters who disgusted with scandals including the ties of former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and bribery allegations against former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., and Rep. William Jefferson, D-La.

In their first week in the majority, House Democrats tightened the rules on accepting gifts, travel and meals from lobbyists. The rules also require sponsors of pet spending projects to identify themselves and certify that they have no financial interest in the earmarks.

A bill passed by the Senate in January included similar bans and reporting requirements for earmarks and bundled campaign contributions from lobbyists. But the measure stalled.

The House passed its ethics bill in May after intense talks over the bundling language, the provision targeted once more in Friday's agreement.

The agreed-upon version requires lawmakers to file bundling disclosures with the Federal Election Commission, rather than requiring lobbyists to file with House and Senate record-keepers, as in the earlier bill.

It also retains limits on Washington's "revolving door" by requiring congressional members and top staff members to wait after leaving their jobs before lobbying former colleagues. The "cooling-off" period is one year for the House, two years for the Senate. In addition, House members must disclose any job negotiations that could conflict with their legislative work and recuse themselves from that work.

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.