Danville Register & Bee

U.S. Rep. Robert Hurt, R-5th District, has introduced a bill that attacks some of the funding for lobbying organizations.

The No Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying Act is designed to keep federal funds from going to any kind of lobbying activities.

It is currently illegal for federal funding to go toward lobbying, but Hurt said “recent reports” indicate loopholes and some of the federal dollars are slipping through the cracks, especially when it’s in the form of a grant.

“…Recent reports have indicated that recipients of federal funding are circumventing the law and using grant money for taxpayer-funded lobbying campaigns,” said Hurt in a news release. “Among other things, these federal lobbying campaigns have gone as far as to limit the use of legal products and engagement in legal activities, such as the lawful consumption of a food product.”

This is a reference to efforts by different bureaucracies and organizations to limit unhealthy foods and tax businesses that sell sugary drinks. Hurt also said there was one instance where an organization used grant funding to lobby for tighter restrictions on firearms, a lawful product.

Hurt said this new bill coincides with his efforts to cut wasteful spending from the federal government. While it is a newly introduced bill, Hurt said he has not heard from any opposition yet.

Hurt added that the No Taxpayer-Funded Lobby Act is designed to include any kind of organizations not properly using their grant money that comes from tax paying citizens — he said it was not intended to be “political legislation” for one side or the other.