We’ve made some great steps towards a more open, accountable government — but our work is far from done.

What’s standing in our way? What can we do to make our government more transparent? Come find out at our mini-conference in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, March 20 as part of Sunshine Week 2014.

Here’s everything you need to know:

Roadblocks to Transparency: Problems With Money-in-Politics Disclosure

DATE: 2:00-5:00 p.m., Thursday, March 20

LOCATION: American Bar Association

John Marshall Conference Room

1050 Connecticut Ave. NW, 5th floor

Washington, D.C. 20036

AGENDA:

2:00-3:00 p.m. “Why So Down, K Street? Hard Times in Washington’s Influence Industry”

Did the economy take a bite out of K Street? Are recent declines in lobbying caused by a “do-nothing Congress,” or the stigma of the scarlet letter “L”? Or could this be another case of unintended consequences — this time resulting from the 2007 transparency bill, HLOGA (the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act)? Whatever the cause, spending on federal lobbying by corporations, trade associations, interest groups and unions reached a high water mark of $3.5 billion in 2010. But by the end of 2013, that figure had dropped 9.6 percent to $3.2 billion. The number of registered, active lobbyists peaked in 2007 at more than 14,800 and then started its downward trend, dropping 17.2 percent to end 2013 with fewer than 12,800. Do we know the cause of this decline? Can we, even? Experts and reporters who cover lobbying will explore the state of the lobbying industry and our ability to fully understand and measure its activities.

Panelists

Kate Ackley – Reporter, CQ Roll Call (moderator)

Tom Susman – Director of Government Affairs Office, American Bar Association

Sarah Bryner – Director of Research, Center for Responsive Politics

Kevin Bogardus – Staff Writer, The Hill

3:00-4:00 p.m. “Subtle, Subversive, and Significant: Incremental Threats to Campaign Finance Disclosure”

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Much of the focus on campaign finance disclosure lately has been the ever-growing specter of dark money spent by non-disclosing 501(c)(4) groups. Political nonprofits aside, though, there are plenty of other challenges to meaningful disclosure in campaign finance, including the FEC’s perennial partisan stalemate. Join our panel of experts as they delve into some of the biggest issues bedeviling transparency in campaign finance and discuss what, if anything, can be done about them.

Panelists

Dave Levinthal – Senior Political Reporter, Center for Public Integrity (moderator)

Bob Biersack – Senior Fellow, Center for Responsive Politics

Meredith McGehee – Policy Director, Campaign Legal Center

Russ Choma – Money-in-Politics Reporter, Center for Responsive Politics

4:00-5:00 p.m. “Dark Money Rules: The IRS Effort to Rein in Secret Money”

Each passing election brings more spending by 501(c) organizations — predominantly 501(c)(4) “social welfare” groups — trying to influence voters without providing them with valuable information about who is funding the attacks. The amount of “dark money” in elections has grown from just over $5 million in 2006 to more than $310 million in 2012. Already in the 2014 midterms, spending by such groups is four times higher than it was at this point in 2012.

Despite the drastic increase, attempts to require disclosure have failed. Recently, the IRS proposed new guidelines for what it referred to as “candidate-related political activity” in an effort to clarify permissible activities for 501(c)(4) organizations in particular. In the months that followed, the IRS has been bombarded with opinions and scrutiny from all sides and must now sift through over 140,000 comments — mostly critical — before deciding how to proceed, if at all. Our panel of experts will discuss the response to the IRS’ proposed rules, the comments themselves, and the role of dark money going forward.

Panelists

Matea Gold – Money-in-Politics Reporter, the Washington Post (moderator)

Robert Kelner – Chair of the Election and Political Law Practice Group, Covington & Burling LLP

Adam Rappaport – Senior Counsel, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

Lisa Gilbert – Director, Public Citizen Congress Watch Division/Project Director, Bright Lines Project

Robert Maguire – Political Nonprofits Investigator, Center for Responsive Politics

5:00-5:45 p.m. Wine & Cheese Reception

Registration for this event is free of charge. Sign up here!

We hope to see you there!



For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]





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