GrassrootsFreedom.com is concerned about S.1, judging by a press release they’ve issued:
“Section 220 of S. 1, the lobbying reform bill currently before the Senate, would require grassroots causes, even bloggers, who communicate to 500 or more members of the public on policy matters, to register and report quarterly to Congress the same as the big K Street lobbyists. Section 220 would amend existing lobbying reporting law by creating the most expansive intrusion on First Amendment rights ever. For the first time in history, critics of Congress will need to register and report with Congress itself.
“The bill would require reporting of ‘paid efforts to stimulate grassroots lobbying,’ but defines ‘paid’ merely as communications to 500 or more members of the public, with no other qualifiers.
“On January 9, the Senate passed Amendment 7 to S. 1, to create criminal penalties, including up to one year in jail, if someone ‘knowingly and willingly fails to file or report.’
We’ll ignore the irony of encountering the phrase “knowingly and willingly” the day after the Supreme Court heard arguments surrounding the defintion of the phrase…although I guess my commenting on the bill precludes me from claiming ignorance in the future, if it becomes law.
I think that Grassroots Freedom might be overly paranoid in the purported intent of the bill, but that doesn’t deny the likelihood that there could be some sloppy drafting at work here.
The idea that I might need to register myself as a lobbyist just because my meanderings and ramblings might eventually reach 500 people (even though I secretly doubt anyone’s reading) seems needlessly bureaucratic here.
Perhaps the Senate ought to ease GF’s paranoia, and save U.S. taxpayers the burden of paying for a lawsuit or two by redrafting the offending provision to cover bloggers under a broad press exemption, akin to what was done last year when it comes to campaign finance rules.
Update: According to RedState, the offending measure was defeated this evening.