Boehner Suggests New Tack on Lobbying

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), left, and the new majority leader, John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), sit down for a leadership meeting at the Capitol. (By Jonathan Ernst -- Reuters)

Where those leaders sought to separate lawmakers from lobbyists, Boehner will emphasize the immediate disclosure of contacts between lobbyists and lawmakers, allowing the voting public to decide whether those contacts are proper. And he will tackle what many Republicans see as the root of the lobbying problem -- the ease with which lawmakers can dole out millions of dollars in favors through pet provisions in spending bills.

Boehner said he endorsed only "in concept" a bill by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) that would make every such provision -- or "earmark" -- subject to challenge on the House or Senate floor. But he did say: "We need less numbers of earmarks. I think they've grown out of control, and we need more transparency -- where they come from, what their purposes are -- and we need more accountability."

Hastert's proposal to end all privately funded trips, even those funded by well-known nonprofit organizations such as the Aspen Institute, would be counterproductive, Boehner said. Members could be required to seek preapproval from the House ethics committee of any trip, he said.

But, he added, "members need to understand what's happening in the world. They need to understand what's happening with industry. That won't happen if they're locked up in a cubbyhole here in the Capitol."

Boehner called for the disclosure of any meal or gift from a lobbyist within 24 hours, both by the lawmaker and the lobbyist.

"If you can't go out and justify a $60 meal and see it in the press, then maybe you shouldn't go," he said. "But if you can, go ahead and do it, and let the world see what that relationship was. I think that's a far smarter way to go about this."

The lobbying industry should be better regulated, Boehner said, and he pledged to convene a House task force in hopes of creating federal rules that incorporate the most effective measures already in place in the states.

Those proposals are receiving mixed reviews from watchdog groups. If Boehner's task force produced an independent public integrity board patterned after those in many states, that could be the most effective proposal so far, said Mary Boyle, a spokesman for the watchdog group Common Cause.