Comments on S. 2160 and S. 1782

The paperwork burden of proposed legislation, S. 2160 and S. 1782, was assessed. The bills would require public disclosure of certain lobbying activities intended to influence issues before Congress. Senate Rules require that the report accompanying each bill or joint resolution of a public character by any committee of the Senate contain an evaluation of the regulatory impact that would be incurred in carrying out the proposed legislation. Such evaluation should include an estimate of the number of individuals and businesses who would be regulated and a determination of the groups and classes of such individuals and businesses. The number of organizations and individuals that would be affected by S. 2160 and S. 1782 cannot be precisely determined. However, the number would be greater than under the existing lobbying law which requires only organizations and individuals whose principal purpose is lobbying to register and report. Although the bills would require more paperwork than under current law, the general impression is that neither bill would place excessive burdens on respondents. The present law is universally considered ineffective from the standpoint of the law itself, its administration, and its enforcement. The bills are designed to require additional and more useful information to correct the current law's weaknesses. Yet, because neither bill requires minute disclosure by organizations and because they provide for exemptions, limits on types of information reported, and reporting alternatives, the burden would probably not be excessive. Senate bill 1782 would require less of a burden on respondents than S. 2160 because it does not require as much disclosure. In general, both bills contain only information requirements necessary to accomplish the intended purposes. Whether certain lobbying activities should be disclosed at additional cost to respondents to more fully inform the public and Congress of such activities is a policy matter for Congress to decide.