WASHINGTON — A move in the Senate to impose reporting requirements on grass-roots lobbying campaigns faced mounting opposition Tuesday from conservative and liberal groups normally at loggerheads in policy debates.
The opponents include Concerned Women for America, which promotes conservative social causes; the Alliance for Justice, an association of liberal advocacy groups; and the American Civil Liberties Union, which bills itself as a "national guardian" of constitutional liberties.
Officials with these and other groups warn that the Senate proposal would violate their free-speech rights by hobbling their ability to galvanize support for their efforts.
The measure would require the disclosure of money received and spent to organize telephone banks, mass mailings and other campaigns aimed at rallying citizens to express their views to Congress and the White House in key policy debates.
The provision is part of a bill the Senate is debating that would rewrite ethics guidelines and lobbying rules -- a bill spurred by recent scandals that have roiled Capitol Hill. The dispute over the disclosure proposal demonstrates the potential legal thickets surrounding the bid to rein in the influence of lobbyists.
The disclosure provision was criticized as "revolting" by Kerri Houston, head of a coalition of conservative groups fighting it.
"Politicians need some cover on this lobbying reform thing, but they are passing it on the backs of the free-speech rights of citizen advocate groups," Houston said. "I guess they think it is easier to shut us up than to totally step on the air hose of money that comes out of the lobbying community" based in Washington.
Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, said she agreed with criticism of the proposal from conservatives.
The financial reports that the measure calls for "might well inhibit the ability of Americans to petition their lawmakers," Aron said.
The proposal's supporters insist such disclosures are long overdue, saying that the use by some groups of professional campaign organizers may skew the true picture of public attitudes on a given issue.
"In the past decade, orchestrated, paid-for, so-called grass-roots campaigns have become a stable and integrated part of many big-money lobbying campaigns," Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) said Monday. "There is nothing wrong with this. The question is whether we should ask for minimal disclosure."
