New House oversight panel’s first report will tackle lobbying reform, chairman says 

A powerful new House committee will release its first report next week, reviewing recent changes to Pennsylvania’s  lobbying disclosure laws.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Seth Grove, R-York, confirmed to the Capital-Star that the report will provide a before and after look at a 2017 rewrite of how much hired guns must reveal about their Capitol doings.

Grove added that the review of lobbying rules came at the request of both House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, who sponsored the bill that made the recent changes, as well as House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny.

Cutler’s bill, signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf in early 2018, also increased penalties for lobbyists who don’t file timely disclosures and mandated all reporting be done digitally.

Cutler established the committee at the beginning of this session to drill into how laws passed by the Legislature are implemented. It is one of three standing committees with subpoena power.

The committee will hold an informational hearing on the report on Oct. 21, and vote on the final version Oct. 30.