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Rep Anna Eshoo

Huffington Post - Obama Executive Order To Expand Disclosure Survives, Thanks To Dems' Omnibus Bill Stand

December 16, 2011

Paul Blumenthal, staff writer for the Huffington Post, recently covered Rep. Eshoo's efforts to ensure that President can issue his draft executive order requiring the disclosure of political spending by government contractors. Specifically, Democrats led by Eshoo ensured that the $900 billion "omnibus" spending bill just passed removed riders attached to previous bills that specifically prohibited any disclosure for government contractors. This compromise language allows President Obama to move forward with disclosure requirements for contract recipients.

An excerpt of the article is below:

Hidden within the mammoth omnibus appropriations bill crafted by House, Senate and White House negotiators is a 19-word change to a rider attached by House Republicans that would clear the way for President Barack Obama to issue an executive order requiring some disclosure of political contributions from government contractors.

The bill, which previously sought to ban the administration from carrying out an executive order requiring all companies submitting bids for contracts to disclose their political contributions, now only restricts the administration from requiring disclosure during the bidding process. The omnibus language does not prevent the administration from requiring disclosure from companies that have been awarded a contract.

"Today's compromise omnibus spending bill leaves the President free to require disclosure from any company receiving taxpayer dollars," Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), the leading congressional supporter of the proposed executive order, said in a statement. "We should all agree that with public dollars come public responsibilities. In the aftermath of the Citizens United decision, it's even more important for us to stand up for transparency and disclosure. I hope the President takes this opportunity to finally issue his long-awaited Executive Order."

The change in language comes after a yearlong fight over a draft executive order that leaked from the White House in April. The proposed order would have required all entities submitting a bid for a federal contract to disclose all contributions made by the entity and its top officers to candidates, political parties, political committees, nonprofits and trade groups making independent expenditures.

"Pushing to keep the ban out of this bill is the first sign of life among congressional Democrats we've seen in a while," said John Wonderlich, policy director of the Sunlight Foundation, a pro-transparency nonprofit that has supported the language in the draft order. "If they're opposed to banning executive action, perhaps we can conclude it's still on the table."

To read the full article, please click here.