WASHINGTON, June 1 – On Friday May 29th the White House announced a
series of changes to the President’s March 20, 2009, Memorandum on
Ensuring Responsible Spending of Recovery Act Funds.
MoPIRG’s Lisa Gilbert stated, “We applaud the decision to link the
disclosure requirements to all persons, rather than tying it to the
more narrowly defined lobbyist title. By making this change, the
administration has closed the loophole which allowed special interest
advocates not officially defined as lobbyists to speak to agencies on
Recovery spending.”
The changes to the rules include expanding the restriction on oral
communications on stimulus fund allocations to include all persons,
focusing the restriction on oral communications to target the scenario
where concerns about merit-based decision-making are greatest –after
competitive grant applications are submitted and before awards are
made, and continuing to require immediate internet disclosure on agency
websites of all other communications with registered lobbyists.
MoPIRG Democracy Advocate Lisa Gilbert added, “These are good
changes which will make the rules tougher on special interests and more
focused on the benefits of the spending decisions.”
