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Full disclosure

Under pressure to change his bill requiring lobbyists to report their fees, the Senate president made a smart compromise that doesn't sacrifice its goals.

Senate President Tom Lee has everyone's attention in Tallahassee with his effort to require lobbyists to disclose their fees and detail how they spend money on lawmakers. He has been under tremendous pressure from lobbyists and colleagues to back off. Instead, the Brandon Republican has turned up the heat by tweaking his proposal to take away the critics' strongest arguments while cracking down even harder on freebies for legislators.

The initial bill called for all lobbyists to report how much they are paid by each of their clients. Lobbyists complained that violated their privacy, so Lee now proposes that lobbying firms report all compensation from their clients quarterly. That is a reasonable compromise, and it would still achieve the overarching goal: informing the public about how much private interests are paying to change public policy to benefit themselves.

Requiring lobbying firms rather than individuals to report their compensation will make the record-keeping less burdensome for everyone, and fees of less than $25,000 a quarter could be reported in categories. But Lee should continue to insist that all money paid to the lobbying firms by their clients be reported. Letting the firms only report a portion that they believe paid for direct lobbying instead of say, office expenses, would create too many loopholes. No matter how much lobbyists complain, random audits of the reports also are essential.

The loudest protests undoubtedly will be about Lee's proposed changes to the rules regarding gifts and free meals for legislators. Now legislators can accept any gifts worth up to $100 as long they report those gifts over $25. Food and drink under $25 are not reported at all. Lee would ban all gifts but novelty items worth $25 or less. The value of every meal and the name of the lobbyist who paid for it would have to be reported, and no meal could cost more than $100 per legislator. The lobbyist also would have to be present at the meal.

Translation: No more free tickets to football games or concerts for legislators. No more leaving a lobbyist's credit card on the bar to pay for unidentified lawmakers' drinks. No more slipping off to dinner paid for by a lobbyist who wasn't there. No more eating several meals a week with the same lobbyist picking up the tab without constituents knowing.

This is not some quixotic effort by a naive legislator. Lee has never been comfortable with the way Tallahassee works, and he is determined to permanently change the culture. He has listened to critics and made adjustments to his proposal without compromising the goals. With two weeks left in the legislative session, it is time for Lee's colleagues to declare whether they stand with the reformers or the lobbyists.

[Last modified April 25, 2005, 01:04:14]