Shawn Diggory is a Democrat running for the 160th District in Pennsylvania's State House. He kindly agreed to respond to our questions about lobbying reform:
Question 1: What should be the goals of any lobbying laws or reform in Pennsylvania?
Shawn Diggory: All lobbying laws should have one underlying goal: To increase the transparency with which our Legislature operates. All Pennsylvanians have a right to know who is seeking to persuade their elected officials and on what issues.
Question 2: What entity or entities should be responsible for administering these laws?
Shawn Diggory: The ideal would be to have a truly independent agency to enforce the law, outside of the Executive branch. This agency would also have authority over all lobbyists, not just the non-lawyer lobbyists. Absent this new entity, the State Ethics Commission should have this responsibility, and lawyers who feel that the Commission has over-reached its authority could appeal to the Judiciary.
Question 3: Are there any other states that could or should serve as a model for lobbying regulation?
Shawn Diggory: The State of Washington has very good disclosure laws, according to the Center for Public Integrity. Kentucky and South Carolina also ban or severely limit or ban gift-giving by lobbyists, which Pennsylvania should model. (I would prefer an outright ban, which would do away with a need for the bureaucracy to report gifts.)
Question 4: What kind of public reporting requirements should be required for lobbying? How much information should a citizen be able to find publicly about the activities of a lobbyist, and how should that information be made available?
Shawn Diggory: All lobbyists should be registered with the Commonwealth, and that information should be publicly available at an easy-to-navigate website. Additionally, quarterly expense reports detailing which public officials were lobbied and how much was spent should be posted at the same website.
Question 5: Should lobbyists be required to pay, through registration fees, for all costs involved in providing such registration/regulation/public reporting?
Shawn Diggory: The Commonwealth should absorb the costs associated with regulation and reporting. Registration fees are common, but should not be so high as to be a burden to lobbying groups that may not be well-funded, such as social issue lobbying groups.