Waiting for Lobbying Reforms

Cross posted from ICPR's blog, The Race is On:

The Feds are still talking about lobbying reforms. It seems the contours are changing, but the prospects for reforms that move forward are still good.

Here in Illinois, the problems continue, as these two AP stories point out. Lots of lobbyists -- many with recent experience as legislators or staffers -- are taking contracts to represent private interests.

In most states, the public could know what those contracts called for, and how the lobbyists work was valued. But here in Illinois, our lobbyist registration system ranks 45th in the nation. A bill to fix that, HB 8, has been sitting on 3rd Reading in the House for nearly 4 weeks. Yesterday it received its third final action extension, to next Friday, the 25th. But when is the House going to move on reform? Will the feds once again act before we do?