****Begin File*************Begin File**************Begin File**** ***************************************************************** ISSN 1069-7799 ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 4, Number 73 August 3, 1995 In this issue: (169 lines) HOUSE BEGINS DEBATE ON TELECOM. BILL, H.R. 1555 RESTRICTIONS ON NONPROFIT LOBBYING PENDING ***************************************************************** HOUSE BEGINS DEBATE ON TELCOM. BILL, H.R. 1555 The House has now passed rules for floor debate on H.R. 1555, the Communications Act of 1995 and is, at this writing, proceeding with debate of the bill. Only a handful of amendments were allowed by the Rules Committee in their deliberations on the rules earlier this week. Initial reports from the Rules Committee indicates that the issues addressed by the limited number of allowed amendments include the Cox-Wyden bill on "computer obscenity", TV market penetration, V-chip vs. c-chip technologies, cable regulation, and franchise fees. There is nothing that strengthens the weak education-related section on universal service. The Rules Committee refused to allow the Morella-Orton-Ney-Lofgren amendment to be put forward. The "MONL" amendment would have added "affordable" and "users of public libraries" to the pertinent section on universal service. (See ALAWON, Vol. 4, No. 72 for previous reports.) Last week, the Commerce Committee reported out H.R. 1555; the report language did not contain any favorable comments regarding educational and library access to advanced telecommunications even though many education and library advocates had sought to get such language inserted. Though there has been growing support for the "Morella-Orton-Ney" amendment as demonstrated by the additional cosponsorship by Rep. Zone Lofgren (D-CA), the Rules Committee would not consider the MONL proposal. The effort by advocates to seek at least sympathetic report language, or more importantly, an amendment that would strengthen the bill, has been part of the education coalitions strategy to be in a better position to support the Snowe-Rockefeller-Kerrey-Exon amendment that is in the Senate version, S. 652. In the course of his remarks, Rep. Thomas Bliley (R-VA), chair of the Commerce Committee, reported that he had spoken with Rep. Constance Morella (R-MD) and assured her that during the conference committee proceedings on S. 652 and H.R. 1555, he would seek to see the Senate language prevail. He will very likely be a member of the conference committee. It is now expected that the House will "debate" H.R. 1555 through the night and have a vote sometime during the day on August 3. There will be a more indepth analysis of the House proceedings as soon as it is officially reported. The House is expected to go into recess on or about this Friday, August 4, hence, their stated reasons for moving "quickly" on this legislation. ***************************************************************** RESTRICTIONS ON NONPROFIT LOBBYING PENDING Congress is considering restrictions on lobbying that would affect the advocacy activities of library associations, friends of libraries groups, and nonprofit organizations. The following is a partial list: * Curtailing lobbying by federal grantees The Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill for FY96, H.R. 2127 (H. Rept. 104-209), contains a provision sponsored by Representatives Ernest Jim Istook (R-OK), David McIntosh (R-IN), Robert Ehrlich (R-MD), Frank Riggs (R-CA), and Jon Fox (R-PA) to prohibit the use of federal funds for political advocacy. H.R. 2127 is scheduled for House floor action on August 2. The proposal's sponsors say this legislation is needed to stop the use of taxpayer money for lobbying, calling it one of Washington's "dirty little secrets." Opponents of the "gag order" believe the real impact of this proposal can be found in its sharp new limits on how much a nonprofit can spend of its own, privately raised money on advocacy activities. If an organization engages in too much advocacy (as determined by a formula), it will be barred from receiving federal grants. Further, all federal grantees would be required to describe their privately funded advocacy activities and how much money they spend on such activities. This information would be publicly posted on the Internet by the government. Opponents of the Istook proposal say if nonprofit lobbying with taxpayer funds were a problem, and there is no evidence that it is, the real answer would be enforcing existing law, not adopting new laws with accompanying red tape. In general, the use of federal funds for lobbying is already prohibited. Further, nonprofits are already prohibited from engaging in partisan politics, and the amount of money nonprofits can use for lobbying is already restricted. Despite a clause that says it does not abridge First Amendment rights, the proposal would expand the scope of prohibited activity beyond lobbying to "political advocacy," and add additional conditions and requirements. It would have a chilling impact on the democratic process as well as the rights of individuals and organizations to participate in public policy debates. Joining 400 organizations, ALA has signed a position statement on advocacy by nonprofit organizations developed by Independent Sector, a coalition of nonprofits to which ALA belongs. The statement has been widely distributed on Capitol Hill. * S. 722, USA Tax Act of 1995 Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM), Sam Nunn (D-GA) and Robert Kerrey (D-NE) introduced S. 722, USA Tax Act of 1995 on April 25, 1995 (see Congressional Record, pp. S5664-74. Under this legislation "an organization shall not be eligible for exemption as an educational organization under section 501(c)(3) if a substantial amount of its activities and funds are devoted to -- conducting research to educate Congress or the general public about public policy issues." Under current law, nonpartisan study, analysis, and research to educate Congress or the general public are not considered lobbying. Enactment of this provision would constitute a significant change in the lobbying latitude of 501(c)(3) organizations. * Senate Passes Lobbying Reform Bill By a unanimous vote on July 25, the Senate passed S. 1060, the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (see Congressional Record, pp. S10594-03). The legislation would tighten lobbying registration rules and require most lobbyists to disclose basic information about their clients, contacts and income. Senate supporters said they hoped the unanimous Senate vote would increase pressure for House action. According to press reports, a spokesman for House Majority Leader Richard Armey (R-TX) said he did think House action is likely this year on the lobbying proposal. The Senate bill extends disclosure requirements to lobbyists who try to influence executive branch officials, including those in regulatory agencies, on behalf of their clients. The legislation would require lobbyists, defined as those who earn at least $5,000 over six months in lobbying Congress or executive branch officials, to register with Congress and disclose whom they represent, what they are lobbying for, whom they lobby and how much they are paid. Violators would be subject to fines of up to $50,000. As they tried to gather support for the bill, its sponsors dropped all references to "grass-roots" lobbying, an issue that contributed to the failure of a similar bill in the last Congress. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-5675. Internet: alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-547-4440; Fax: 202-547-7363. Contributing to this issue: Anne A. Heanue; Editor: Lynne E. Bradley (leb@alawash.org). ALAWON is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your name]" to listserv@uicvm (Bitnet) or listserv@uicvm.uic.edu (Internet). Back issues and other documents are available from the list server. To find out what's available, send the message "send ala-wo filelist" to the listserv. The ALA-WO filelist contains the list of files with the exact filename and filetype. To get a particular file, issue the command "send filename filetype" to the listserv. Do not include the quotes in your commands. All materials in the newsletter subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. For other reprinting or redistribution, address requests to the ALA Washington Office (alawash@alawash.org). ***************************************************************** ***End of file************End of file**************End of file***