For the record: Jack Abramoff.

• Position: Interview

Jack Abramoff was one of Washington's most successful lobbyists until he was convicted of mail fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion and served 43 months in federal prison. Now he is proposing major federal lobbying reform. He is the author of "Capitol Punishment: The Hard Truth About Corruption From America's Most Notorious Lobbyist" and lectures about the need for ethics and lobbying reform. He was part of an ethics panel during the 2012 NCSL Legislative Summit.

State Legislatures: What are the major provisions of the legislation you are proposing, and where are you in the process?

Jack Abramoff: Trevor Potter, the former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, and his team of constitutional attorneys are drafting an actual bill. Our hope is to come forward with a completed piece of legislation and then politically organize a campaign around that bill. The bill will include a virtual proscription on lobbyists giving money politically. It will reduce them to $100 per cycle and will remove their abilities to bundle and participate in fundraising if they are a lobbyist. It will also redefine what a lobbyist is. Secondly, legislators would not be able to solicit funds from industries they regulate, even in the smaller amounts. One could easily imagine a corporation having a thousand people each giving $100, and now you have a significant fundraiser, so if they're regulating them, they can't do that. The next step is to create more of a gap between leaving public service and entering the lobbying industry. We hope to extend that on the federal level to 10 years so that members and staff can't leave Capitol Hill and then enter the influence industry.

SL: Why are you skeptical that meaningful reform will be enacted at the federal level?

JA: I think it's possible to enact reform, but to do so will require a very strong political plan because you're asking members of Congress to give up perks they've come to rely on and methods by which they raise campaign funds for themselves. The reforms we're looking at dramatically impact their lives. Other than with a very hard political plan that organizes massive amounts of voters, it's going to be very tough to get them to do it, but not impossible at all.

SL: Many states have tougher ethics laws than the ones that apply to Congress. Why do you think that is?

JA: Probably because the states are always closer to the voters and citizens. As government is more local, it becomes more accountable to people who...