House approves new lobbying rules

? The House voted Thursday to make lobbyists disclose when they round up campaign donations for members of Congress and to broaden their prohibitions on accepting gifts, meals and travel from lobbyists.

The two bills, which Democrats promised voters in November in reaction to influence-peddling scandals in the GOP-led Congress, did not come easily for party leaders now in the majority themselves.

The most contentious issue involved requiring lobbyists to disclose a practice known as bundling, in which they solicit and collect donations from several sources on behalf of a candidate. This bill passed 382-37.

The second bill, passed 396-22, would require lobbyists to disclose efforts to insert special projects into spending bills.

All four members of Kansas’ delegation voted for both bills.