NATIONAL
August 3, 2007 | Richard Simon, Times Staff Writer
Congress on Thursday sent President Bush a bill aimed at reining in the influence of special interests, completing a long-debated overhaul of ethics and lobbying rules spurred by scandals that rocked Capitol Hill. The measure grew out of a pledge by Democrats to "drain the swamp" after they won majorities in both congressional chambers in last fall's elections. It passed the Senate, 83-14, after clearing the House, 411-8, earlier this week.
NATIONAL
August 1, 2007 | Richard Simon, Times Staff Writer
In the most sweeping overhaul of congressional ethics rules since the Watergate era, the House on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill aimed at curbing the influence of lobbyists and repairing Congress' corruption-sullied image. Democrats promised to pass the measure after they won control of Congress following a campaign that denounced the Republican "culture of corruption" on Capitol Hill.
NATIONAL
January 19, 2007 | Richard Simon, Times Staff Writer
Seeking to repair Congress' tarred image, the Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed the toughest new ethics rules since the Watergate era. The legislation is aimed at reining in the influence of special interests by forbidding lobbyists and their employers from buying meals and gifts for lawmakers and paying for their junkets.
NATIONAL
January 18, 2007 | From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Senate Democrats' goal of passing strict new ethics rules as their first order of business as the majority party was stymied, perhaps only temporarily, by a partisan dispute on Wednesday. The flap came just weeks after leaders of both parties pledged to start the new session with a new spirit of bipartisanship.
NATIONAL
April 28, 2006 | Richard Simon, Times Staff Writer
House Republican leaders overcame a rift within party ranks Thursday to clear the way for passage of legislation to tighten ethics and lobbying rules, a key to the GOP effort to repair Congress' image before the November elections. The bill narrowly cleared a procedural hurdle, but only after Republican leaders scrambled to bring together their rank and file to avoid an embarrassing setback on one of their priorities.
NEWS
July 27, 1994 | HENRY WEINSTEIN, TIMES LEGAL AFFAIRS WRITER
Faced with an Aug. 15 deadline, key state legislators are trying to merge two similar bills designed to reform the state's heavily criticized judicial discipline system. The measures already have won overwhelming passage in the Assembly (78-0) and the Senate (39-0). But because the bills propose to amend the state Constitution, they have to be approved in a general election. The goal in coming weeks is to consolidate the bills into one measure and get it on the November ballot.