Grayson Gets Busy in the New Year

It’s only been a few weeks since the Christmas recess, but Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) is already rattling cages. For starters, he has introduced two contractor accountability bills that will likely generate plenty of attention.

Anticipating Thursday’s landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling which drastically rolled back restrictions on corporate spending in federal elections, Grayson last week introduced the “Save Our Democracy” Reform Package. One of the bills in that five-bill package, the “End Political Kickbacks Act of 2009” (H.R. 4434), is of particular interest to POGO because it applies to federal contractors. The bill would restrict the ability of any “for-profit recipient of Federal funds” to make contributions to political parties, committees or candidates or to solicit such contributions from their employees. Those employees, in turn, would be held to a $1,000 annual limit on their campaign contributions. 

POGO’s 2004 report “The Politics of Contracting” highlighted the dangers corporate money posed to the fairness and integrity of the federal contracting system. We found that the largest contractors spent an average of 8 cents on campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures for every $100 in contracts they received. Not a bad return on investment. (For what it’s worth, the amount spent by the top federal contractor, Lockheed Martin, was 4 cents.)

The bills in the “Save Our Democracy” package might be in jeopardy in light of this week’s Supreme Court decision, but Grayson may soon have some pretty powerful allies ready to join his fight. President Obama, for one, displayed a passion not seen since the 2008 campaign when he issued this statement condemning the ruling as “a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans.” He promised to get to work “immediately” with Congress to “develop a forceful response.” It’s going to be a tough fight. Now that a vast new spigot of campaign cash has been opened, how many members of Congress would be willing to close it?

The second contractor bill Grayson introduced last week, the “Defund the Crooks Act” (H.R. 4444), responds to last year’s infamous “Defund ACORN Act”. As you might recall, that bill mandated that “any organization” charged with certain misbehavior must be stripped of all federal grants and contracts, but it was obviously targeted at the community advocacy group ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now).

Grayson’s bill is patterned on the ACORN bill but with several important differences that broaden the scope of the bill while avoiding the same legal pitfalls. The most noticeable difference is that Grayson’s bill really does apply to “any organization” and does not single out just one particular organization. The bill would also require defunding for a wider variety of misconduct, but only if there is a conviction rather than just an indictment.

Of course, the broadness of the bill may prove problematic. For instance, what happens if the conviction is later overturned? Another major sticking point could be the provision that requires defunding organizations that knowingly employ individuals who have been convicted of violating a federal or state law. Again, the provision is silent on overturned convictions, but a more fundamental problem is the burden this will impose on contractors – and on pretty much anyone with a conviction on their record. Could a major contractor like Lockheed Martin lose billions of dollars in contracts just for knowingly hiring someone with a petty conviction in their distant past? Would such individuals ever be able to find work again given the sheer number of entities that receive some sort of federal funding?

POGO supports the underlying spirit of both bills, but as the saying goes, the devil is in the details.

-- Neil Gordon

Comments

[Bryan Rahija]

Hi Bruce,

Thank you for your comments -- we do appreciate hearing your perspective. We thought it was worth highlighting the bills because they shine a light on issues POGO cares deeply about. And even though we like the spirit behind the bills, I think Neil raises some important questions about them.

Bryan

[Bruce Sumner]

Since when does POGO do political adds, complete with photos for Grayson? You just lost any respect I had for your organization.