Peters may have violated House rules

Rep. Gary Peters may have gotten a little overzealous in his criticism of Sen. Jim Bunning’s actions in blocking a bill to extend unemployment benefits — and violated House rules in the process. In a Feb. 26 press release, Peters railed against Bunning for his actions, but then he went one step further and urged people to call Bunning’s office and provided the phone number.

The Hill says this is a violation of House franking rules:

House franking rules bar members from using press releases for “grassroots lobbying or soliciting support for a member’s position on a legislative, public policy or community issue,” according to House regulations on the use of the franking privilege.

Meredith McGehee, policy director of the Campaign Legal Center, said language in the release urging people to call Bunning and giving out his number would be “reasonably interpreted” as violating the franking rules.

“It strikes me that this is probably an inadvertent violation, but it would be worthwhile to have the Franking Commission … make clear and give guidance if this kind of exhortation is acceptable,” she said.

Peters has removed the press release from his website. As McGehee said, this is almost certainly an inadvertent violation, just a first term legislator learning his way around the rules. It’s not likely any action would be taken against him beyond a letter explaining the rules.