The link between Washington lobbying and campaign fundraising would be broken if new recommendations from a bipartisan task force commissioned by the American Bar Association are adopted, BNA Money & Politics reports.

A report released Jan. 11 by the ABA task force calls for lobbyists to be banned from fundraising for any lawmakers whom they lobby. The report also called for changes in lobbying disclosure rules to reveal more activity, such as "grassroots" lobbying and lobbying by people who claim exemption from current rules.

The task force was led by veteran lawyers with strong ties to leading Democrats and Republicans. The co-chairs included Charles Fried, a Harvard law professor and former U.S. solicitor general under President Reagan, and Republican election lawyer Trevor Potter, counsel to 2008 Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

The task force recommends that lobbyists have a lower limit on the total annual contributions they can give, that they be banned from making contributions to those they've lobbied to support "earmarks" and that there be a ban on "contingent fees" for lobbyists. Contingent fees are paid if a lobbyist secures an earmark or other spending provision.

The types of lobbyist fundraising activities that would be restricted include: serving on a lawmaker's campaign fundraising committee; soliciting or "bundling" contributions; and organizing or hosting fundraising events. A lobbyist who did any of these things for a lawmaker would be barred from lobbying that lawmaker for two years.

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