FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Jan. 11, 2006

Contact: Ed Frank or Annie Patnaude (202) 349-5880

Americans for Prosperity Calls for Congress to Close Loopholes Exempting Taxpayer-Funded Lobbyists From Gift Limits

Loophole Gives Government Lobbyists Unfair Advantage in Earmark Battles

WASHINGTON – The free-market grassroots group Americans for Prosperity today called on Congress to immediately close loopholes in House and Senate Ethics Rules that exempt lobbyists for federal, state and local government agencies from a $50 gift limit that almost all private-sector and not-for-profit lobbyists must obey.

House and Senate Ethics Rules cap most individual gifts, such as meals or sports tickets, to $50 per elected official or staffer, with an annual limit of $100 per recipient from any single source.  However, the rules exempt from this limit “Anything that is paid for by the Federal Government, by a State or local government, or secured by the Government under a Government contract.”

These loopholes allow lobbyists for public universities and city governments, for example, to ignore the typical $50 gift limit and shower elected officials and their staffs with free luxury skybox tickets to the biggest football games or free front-row tickets to the most popular concerts.  While they’re out on the town with elected officials, these taxpayer-funded lobbyists are able to pitch their earmark wish lists – most likely the supposed “need” for more federal taxpayer dollars to fund a new building on campus, or possibly a new bridge or museum for the city government.

“These loopholes are extraordinarily unfair to the American taxpayer,” said Americans for Prosperity Executive Vice President Michelle Korsmo. “They grant these taxpayer-funded lobbyists an exclusive right to ignore the gift limit and use precious taxpayer dollars to convince Senators and Members of Congress to earmark even more precious taxpayer dollars for their wasteful pet projects.   If our elected officials on Capitol Hill are serious about curbing pork-barrel spending and reforming lobbying rules, they should immediately close these loopholes when they return to Washington.”

To curb the growing problem of unauthorized earmarks and federally funded pork-barrel spending, Americans for Prosperity also supports a one-year moratorium on all unauthorized earmarks, posting the full text of all spending bills online for at least 72 hours before allowing Congress to vote on them, and other fundamental budget reforms.

 Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org

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