From this morning's Earlybird:

•The Republican members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee have instituted a new rule this year -- any lobbyists wanting to meet with staff about a Member-sponsored project or earmark must be accompanied by the Member or a staffer from the Member's personal office," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "'We wanted to be as transparent as we could possibly be,' said Jim Coon, Republican chief of staff for the committee."

•Lobbyists who represent key stakeholders in health care reform quietly have begun plotting how their clients' legislative priorities would fare if Members make good on the threat of moving reforms to a budget reconciliation package," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "A budget reconciliation bill in the Senate would require a simple 51-vote majority, vastly easier to obtain than the usual 60 votes needed to break a filibuster. As the health care debate has grown increasingly partisan, lobbyists say they are taking more seriously the looming possibility of having many reforms added to reconciliation."