Ballgame Ruled Foul

If it were only a question of the weather or Rep. Heath Shuler's wobbly foot, then putting on the annual congressional baseball game would be like catching a pop fly at third base.

But the 46-year-old charity game pitting Republicans against Democrats has been unexpectedly ensnared in new congressional ethics rules. Organizers now say they will be lucky to match the $120,000 they raised last year since the rules complicate the process of soliciting donations and have led to at least one corporate sponsor pulling out altogether.

"It's been really difficult to raise money," said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), manager of the Republican team. "These new rules are so technical that something that's been going on for decades almost didn't happen."

Congress overhauled the ethics rules in January in response to a string of scandals involving members of Congress becoming too cozy with lobbyists. The changes aimed to cut ties between lawmakers and lobbyists and make it more difficult for either side to trade favors.

But Barton questioned whether the high-minded changes, which he backed, might have gone too far, threatening charity events like the baseball game. So far, the new rules have dampened fundraising, forced the cancellation of the post-game party, led organizers to waive ticket charges and even jeopardized the baseballs themselves.

One ethics rule forbids lawmakers and their staffs from approaching lobbyists to solicit corporate donations, according to an April 18 letter from the House ethics committee to Barton and the Democratic team manager, Rep. Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania.

Lawmakers and their staffs are no longer able to send out fundraising appeals to lobbyists at deep-pocketed corporations. The change shifted the burden of fundraising to the charities themselves, requiring that local nonprofit representatives go hat in hand through the power corridors of K Street.

"It's a little difficult, because everyone is in different offices, and I don't know half the people. The Hill staffers know all the people," said Katherine Shrout of the Washington Literacy Council, a primary beneficiary of the game along with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. "Previously, Hill staffers did all the work and gave us a check."

Organizers have also scrapped charging for tickets. After lengthy consultations with the House ethics committee, Barton and Doyle concluded that members of Congress and staffers might run afoul of the new gift ban if they accepted the $8 tickets from corporate sponsors that employ lobbyists.

So they decided last week to give away the tickets. Anyone who has already bought a ticket for the June 25 game at RFK Stadium may obtain a refund or count the $8 charge as a charitable donation, Doyle said.

Congress passed the gift ban to prevent lawmakers and staff from falling under the sway of lobbyists offering free meals and tickets at sporting events.

Doyle said $1,500 in ticket sales accounted for only a small fraction of the event's annual take. Still, he showed some concern when asked if the new rules, conceived and trumpeted by his party, were hampering fundraising.

"It remains to be seen what the impact on charity is, whether we'll be able to raise the same amount,'' he said. "We'll see after the game."

Doyle and Barton have spent considerable time making sure they complied fully with the new rules, consulting multiple times with the ethics committee.

"What member in their right mind would want to risk an ethics violation over this?" Barton asked.

The new gift ban has also forced organizers to cancel the traditional post-game party, where players from both parties gave out Most Valuable Player awards and recounted the game over hot dogs. The sponsor of that party had been the Grocery Manufacturers of America, an industry lobbying group representing supermarket brands from Campbell oup to Hallmark Cards.

Susan Stout, vice president of federal affairs for the Grocery Manufacturers, said the group would not sponsor the party this year, nor would it make contributions to the charities as it had in past years.

"We've done (the party) for 25 years, but the lobby laws are different now,'' she said. "So we just made a policy that we're not going to do it."

The new rules also briefly imperiled the six dozen baseballs provided by Major League Baseball, a lobbying entity, which players use during the game and the practices leading up to it.

Organizers weren't sure whether the balls, donated afterward to schools, would fall under the gift ban. Eventually, Doyle said, they were deemed "OK."

Despite uncertainty over balls and some dampened enthusiasm on the financial side, neither team has let up in its practice schedule, nor do they expect the ethics rules to diminish the action on the diamond. The Democrats are still hoping to break the Republicans' long winning streak, counting on their new freshmen, the so-called Majority Makers, to make the difference on the field.

Doyle named freshman Democratic Reps. Bruce Braley of Iowa, Christopher P. Carney of Pennsylvania, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Christopher Murphy of Connecticut and Shuler of North Carolina, the former Washington Redskins quarterback, as "rookies to watch."

Barton was unfazed by the new blood. "We're ready," he avowed.