In deciding whether to vote for or against a bill, amendment, or other proposal, members of the Iowa Legislature consider several factors.
These factors include their own beliefs about the proposal, the effects it will have on their constituents, the impact it will have on the state as a whole, the position taken by their party or caucus, and the views of their fellow legislators.
There is an additional factor that often plays an important part in a legislator's decision-making process -- the work of lobbyists.
A lobbyist is someone who encourages the passage, defeat, or modification of legislation by conveying information and opinions to legislators.
Lobbyists get their name from the amount of time they spend in the lobbies outside legislative chambers. The term was first applied in Great Britain, where members of Parliament met with outsiders in a special room known as "The Lobby."
Normally, a lobbyist works on behalf of some group or client. A lobbyist urges legislators to support, oppose, or modify a proposal by explaining how the proposal will affect the group.
Exactly how this is done depends on the nature of the group. Large and well-organized groups with ample resources typically have one or more full-time, professional lobbyists working for them. These lobbyists are at the State Capitol in Des Moines every day the Legislature is in session to monitor the progress of legislation and talk with legislators.
In Iowa, many of these full-time, professional lobbyists are attorneys, former legislators, former state officials, and others with knowledge of the law, experience in politics, and a network of contacts in government. A full-time lobbyist may represent several clients simultaneously.
Smaller and less well-organized groups with few resources may rely on the efforts of volunteer or part-time lobbyists. They also may have their members monitor legislation and contact legislators by mail or telephone.
However large or small, these groups benefit from the work of lobbyists. Not only are group members kept informed about proposals that could affect them, but they also have someone expressing their group's positions on those proposals to legislators.
Legislators also benefit from the work of lobbyists. Given the hundreds of bills and amendments introduced during each legislative session, it's impossible for legislators to gauge the potential effects of all of them. Information provided by lobbyists helps legislators make decisions about the large volume of proposals more quickly and efficiently.
In recent years, lobbyists have become such an integral part of the legislative process that all states now have rules or laws regulating their activities.
In Iowa, lobbyists are required to register with the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate before they begin lobbying. Approximately 600 lobbyists registered during the 1992 session of the Iowa Legislature.
That session was marked by heightened concern about state and local government ethics, including the interaction of legislators and lobbyists. The concern resulted in passage of House File 2466, a bill making substantial changes in Iowa's government ethics laws. Among the changes are new provisions relating to the activities of lobbyists.
Generally, the new law defines a lobbyist as someone who is paid compensation for encouraging the passage, defeat, or modification of legislation. The definition includes people who regularly represent an organization which has lobbying as one of its purposes, and government employees representing the official positions of their agencies. The new law imposes a two-year ban on lobbying activities by former legislators, legislative employees, state officials, and state employees.
The new law prohibits a lobbyist from making a contribution to a legislator's campaign fund during the legislative session, offering or making loans to a legislator, and giving certain kinds of gifts to legislators.
Under the new law's financial disclosure provisions, each lobbyist is required to file a monthly report with the Campaign Finance Disclosure Commission. The report must include a list of all of the lobbyist's clients, all campaign contributions made by the lobbyist during the previous month, and the recipients of those contributions.
Similarly, the new law also requires a lobbyist's client to file a disclosure report with the Legislature twice a year. The report must contain information on all salaries, fees, and retainers paid by the lobbyist's client to the lobbyist for lobbying purposes during the previous six months.
The new lobbying laws are intended to increase the public's trust and confidence in legislators and the legislative process without infringing on the right of citizens to express concerns to their elected officials.
That right, expressed in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution as the right "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances," is the legal basis for the lobbying that goes on in all levels of American government today.
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© 1994 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa
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Last update: 5/31/94
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