Indigo Journal

McLeod Proposes New Lobbying Regulations

Posted on 08. Sep, 2009 by Tim Kelly in SC Politics

Gubernatorial candidate Mullins McLeod is proposing several tough new lobbying reforms “…designed to end the powerful reign that registered lobbyists have enjoyed over South Carolina government.”

“Time and time again the lobbyists have run rough-shot over the people. They run the show in Columbia and don’t have to answer for their actions,” McLeod said. “Most of what they do is done behind closed doors and the voters back home never know about it.”

The most intriguing part of McLeod’s reform package will force lobbyists to report all meetings they have with legislators or their staff to the State Ethics Commission, which will post those meetings on-line within 24 hours. Voters will be able to sign up for email notices alerting them when their representative interacts with a lobbyist.

“The voters back home deserve to know when a highly paid lobbyist working for special interests like polluters or tobacco companies attempt to influence their legislator. The voters should be in charge, not the lobbyists,” McLeod said.

Other reforms proposed by McLeod include immediate public on-line reporting of all lobbying contracts, daily public on-line reporting from each lobbyist detailing the number of hours they spent on State House grounds, and lobbying bans on immediate family members of top government officials.

“The same old ways in Columbia have given us record unemployment and failing schools. As Governor I will shake things up so that our government starts putting people ahead of the special interests.” McLeod said.

The McLeod Lobbying Reform Package:

• Registered lobbyists must disclose all of their clients and the amount of money they are being paid within 24 hours of signing a contract. This reporting must be made on-line on the SC Ethics Commissions web site.
• Registered lobbyists must report to the SC Ethics Commission by midnight every night the number of hours they spent on State House grounds that day and the exact times they were present. This information must be reported on-line.
• All registered lobbyists must report to the SC Ethics Commission any and all meetings or interactions with legislators or their aides that pertain to pending legislation. This must be reported on-line on the ethics commission’s web site within 24 hours of such meeting or interaction. A legislator’s constituents will have an option to sign up for email alerts notifying them when lobbyists have made contact with their representative.
• An immediate ban on state agencies using taxpayer money to hire lobbyists. This will include the Governor’s office.
• A ban that keeps Governor’s office staffers from leaving state government and lobbying while the Governor they worked for is still in office.
• A ban on immediate family members of the Governor, President of the Senate and Speaker of the House from becoming lobbyists.