ATLANTA (AP) - The Georgia House is scheduled to vote Monday on new restrictions on lobbying.
Speaker David Ralston is arguably the legislature's most powerful member, so it's virtually certain the House will approve his plan tightening rules about who must register as a lobbyist and banning those individuals from buying gifts for individual lawmakers.
Ralston is responding to public criticism of the Gold Dome culture, including a trip he took to Europe on a lobbyist's dime. But in pushing an overhaul, he's also taken heat from grassroots activists who say he's targeting them with the new registration requirements.
The speaker proposes that lobbyists pay a $25 registration fee. But the bill would exempt anyone who isn't actually paid to lobby and comes to the Capitol less than five days a year.
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