Legislation has been approved by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that would require all political appointees and senior officials in federal agencies and the White House to report the contacts they have with lobbyists and other private parties.
The reports would be quarterly and maintained on a scheduled database at the Office of Government Ethics and include meeting dates, parties involved, and subject matter discussed, according to the committee.
It said the bill, HR-984, would also ban lobbyists who enter government service from "handing out favors to former clients," and that officials would be blocked from negotiating future employment with those who would be affected by their official actions.
After leaving government to become a lobbyist, former officials would have to wait two years before lobbying former colleagues, rather than the current time limit of one year.
Conversely, when executives enter government service, they would be barred from awarding contracts to their former employers, and the bill would eliminate the use of "sensitive but unclassified" or "for official use only," designations.
Further, the bill includes in anti-propaganda provision to require federal government to disclose its role in funding or disseminating messages through the wider media.
