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North Dakota lawmakers adjourned a three day special session on Thursday.

The session concluded with the Legislature passing a bill to cover the state’s budget shortfall.

Photo of the North Dakota State Capitol by MatthewUND on Wikimedia Commons.

National:

Left Turns to Ballot Measures to Enact Political Change
The Hill – Reid Wilson | Published: 8/2/2016

Liberals are turning to ballot measures to pursue other progressive goals that would be impossible to advance in Republican-controlled state Legislatures. Even in states where Democrats have political power, such as in California, activists have turned to ballot measures to speed their agenda. The rush of liberal ballot issues is something of a reversal from the last several decades, when conservatives used the initiative process to pass limits on taxes, implement term limits for state legislators, roll back regulations, and push contentious social issues.

The States Where Third-Party Candidates Perform Best
The Atlantic – Russell Berman and Andrew McGill | Published: 8/2/2016

It seems that voters might be more likely to support third-party candidates when they feel their vote would not actually impact the election. Researchers collected state vote totals for every presidential election since 1980, comparing how the closeness of a state’s vote correlated to the relative popularity of outside candidates. The correlation between support for the long shots and a state’s ideological one-sidedness was stronger in elections after 2000, when many Democrats blamed Floridians who voted for Ralph Nader for throwing the presidency from Al Gore to George W. Bush. This correlation disappears when the third-party candidate is a recognizable or compelling figure.

Women Are Finally Breaking into the Top Tier of Political Donors
Washington Post – Matea Gold | Published: 8/2/2016

Slowly, more female donors are breaking into the top echelon of political donors, a domain traditionally dominated by male millionaires and billionaires. The biggest female donors of 2016 gave nearly $63 million to super PACs through the end of June. That puts them on track to surpass major female contributors in the 2012 elections. The boost reflects what donors and fundraisers in both parties say they see happening behind the scenes: while still outstripped by men, more wealthy women are seizing on the opportunities to finance super PACs and other big-money groups that opened up in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizen United decision. Their stepped-up participation is driven by an improved economic status and an increasing recognition that they need to play in the political arena to have an effect.

Federal:

Court: Super PACs can be named after candidates
Politico – Josh Gerstein | Published: 8/2/2016

A federal appeals court effectively loosened the already lax regulations governing the relationship between campaigns and outside groups. A panel of judges of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled the FEC had violated the First Amendment in restricting super PACs from naming themselves, or their fundraising initiatives, after the candidates they support. “The title is a critical way for committees to attract support and spread their message because it tells users that the website or Facebook page is about the candidate,” wrote Judge Thomas Griffith. The court said the FEC could address its concerns by forcing Super PACs to publish “a large disclaimer at the top of [its] websites and social media pages.”

GOP Reaches ‘New Level of Panic’ over Trump’s Candidacy
Washington Post – Philip Rucker, Dan Balz, and Matea Gold | Published: 8/3/2016

Donald Trump is facing a whirlwind of criticism from Republican leaders as he fends off reports of a staff shake up, an intervention, and even rumblings he could be urged to step aside as the party’s nominee. Trump allies publicly urged the candidate to reboot, furious that he has allowed his confrontation with the Muslim parents of slain soldier Humayun Khan to continue for nearly a week. They also are angry with Trump because of his refusal to endorse two of the GOP’s top elected officials, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Sen. John McCain, ahead of their coming primary elections. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich, one of Trump’s most loyal defenders, warned that his friend was in danger of throwing away the election and helping to make Clinton president.

Lobbyists Woo Potential Freshmen Long Before Election Day
Roll Call – Kate Ackley | Published: 8/2/2016

Lobbyists do not wait until after Election Day to begin courting next year’s freshman class in Congress. Influencers are already reaching out to prospective senators and House members, hosting fundraisers and meet-and-greets at which they can provide connections and help swell candidates’ campaign coffers. The relationships do not guarantee access once the lawmaker takes office. But they have provided outlets for lobbyists to offer advice on potential staff hires or help newly settled lawmakers and aides find their way around Washington, D.C.

From the States and Municipalities:

California – S.F. Ballot Measure Takes Aim at Lobbyists’ Fundraising
San Francisco Public Press – Noah Arroyo | Published: 8/1/2016

The San Francisco Ethics Commission has voted to put a measure on the November ballot that supporters say would restrict certain lobbyist behaviors that create – or appear to engender – a quid-pro-quo relationship between them, their clients, and the elected or appointed officials they seek to influence. If voters pass the measure this fall, beginning in 2018, lobbyists represent private interests would have to notify City Hall ahead of time when they planned to lobby specific agencies. And during elections, lobbyists could no longer give personal donations to candidates running for office in those agencies, or deliver bundle contributions on behalf of their clients or anyone else. The proposition would also ban all lobbyists from giving gifts to city and county officials or their family members.

Connecticut – Budget Director: Governor can cut watchdog agencies’ funding
Washington Times – Susan Haigh (Associated Press) | Published: 8/3/2016

Office of Policy and Management Secretary Ben Barnes contends Connecticut Gov. Dannell Malloy has the legal authority to withhold funding from the state’s watchdog agencies, despite 2004 legislation prohibiting governors from reducing the annual budgets of the State Elections Enforcement Commission, the Office of State Ethics, and the Freedom of Information Commission. Carol Carson, executive director of the Office of State Ethics, said the leaders of the three groups plan to seek an advisory opinion from state Attorney General George Jepsen on whether Malloy has the ability to make the reductions. “You can only cut so much and then you start to say, ‘We can’t do our mission,'” Carson said. “Further cuts will really damage our ability to do our basic core functions.”

Florida – Petition Drive Could Change How Miami-Dade Political Campaigns Are Financed
Miami Herald – David Smiley | Published: 8/2/2016

Activists submitted more than 125,000 signed petitions to potentially force a vote in November on a referendum that would limit contributions to candidates for county commission, mayor, and school board to $250 per person or corporation. Major county vendors and their lobbyists and principals would be barred from donating to candidates. And a system that affords candidates matching public contributions for donations of up to $100 by county residents would potentially enable candidates to multiply those donations six-fold. If enough signatures are verified, county commissioners will have to decide in the coming weeks whether to adopt proposed campaign finance legislation themselves or put the issue before voters.

Kansas – Kansas Republicans Reject Gov. Sam Brownback’s Conservatives in Primary
New York Times – Mitch Smith | Published: 8/3/2016

Moderate Republican candidates ousted at least 11 conservative state lawmakers allied with Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback in primary elections across the state. The results were widely seen as a repudiation of a second-term governor whose popularity has plummeted amid sustained budget gaps and ensuing sharp cuts in state spending. And they likely mean the staunchly conservative state Legislature will move back toward the center in 2017. In addition, Republicans in one congressional district voted out U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp, a farmer who had become a tea party favorite in Washington but had annoyed party stalwarts.

Massachusetts – Mass. Insiders Turn to Lobbying Careers
Boston Globe – Mark Arsenault and Andrew Ryan | Published: 7/31/2016

Many times, consultants who help candidates win elections in Massachusetts then go on to represent corporate clients with interests before the new officeholder – even, in some cases, as they continue to advise the officials they helped elect. The relationships can be hard to scrutinize at the state level, where whole swaths of government are exempt from the public records law. Whether consultants are selling their access to officials or not, “there is almost always an appearance of conflict of interest in these situations,” said Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts.

North Carolina – 4th U.S. Circuit Judges Overturn North Carolina’s Voter ID Law
Charlotte Observer – Anne Blythe (Raleigh News & Observer) | Published: 7/29/2016

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit struck down North Carolina’s voter identification law. The panel agreed with allegations that the state’s law selectively chose voter-ID requirements, reduced the number of early-voting days, and changed registration procedures in ways meant to harm blacks, who overwhelmingly vote for the Democratic Party. The ruling tossed out the state’s requirement that voters present photo identification at the polls and restored voters’ ability to register on Election Day, to register before reaching the 18-year-old voting age, and to cast early ballots, provisions the law had fully or partly eliminated. The court also held that the ballots of people who had mistakenly voted at the wrong polling stations should be deemed valid.

Ohio – Ethics Commission Tells Columbus Leaders to Pay Up for Buckeye Junket
Columbus Dispatch – Lucas Sullivan | Published: 8/1/2016

The Ohio Ethics Commission ordered four current and former members of the Columbus City Council to pay the market value for a trip they took to an Ohio State football game. The council members took the trip with lobbyist John Raphael. Mayor Andrew Ginther, Councilperson Shannon Hardin, Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Eileey Paley, and former council member Michele Mills were told to pay nearly $700 for the trip, not just the $250 they each spent to attend the Big Ten Championship game in 2014. Raphael was sentenced to 15 months in prison in a separate case after he pleaded guilty to extorting money from Columbus’ red-light-camera vendor for campaign contributions to city officials.

Virginia – Lobbyists Spend Less on High-End Eats, Lawmakers Spend More
Albany Times Union – Alan Suderman (Associated Press) | Published: 8/2/2016

Revelations that former Gov. Robert McDonnell and his family accepted more than $175,000 worth of gifts and loans from a businessperson led Virginia lawmakers to put limits on the largess they could legally receive in 2014. Lobbyists remain big spenders, shelling out more than $543,000 on their efforts to convince state officials to favor their clients in the six months that ended April 30, which includes the entertaining that traditionally accompanies General Assembly sessions. But lobbyists seem to be taking legislators out to somewhat cheaper restaurants, while lawmakers are more frequently covering the cost of eating out with their campaign accounts. The reforms requiring more disclosure of gifts say lobbyists must identify officials attending their events if the average cost exceeds $50.

Wisconsin – Judge Strikes Down Wisconsin Voter ID, Early Voting Laws
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Patrick Marley and Jason Stein | Published: 7/30/2016

A federal judge threw out as unconstitutional a host of Wisconsin election laws passed in recent years, saying they unfairly benefited Republicans who had enacted them and made it more difficult for Democrats to vote. U.S. District Court Judge James Peterson’s ruling keeps in place the state’s voter identification law, unlike recent rulings in North Carolina and Texas, but he ordered broad changes. The sweeping ruling will not affect Wisconsin’s August 9 primary, but will take effect for the November presidential election unless overturned on appeal.

State and Federal Communications produces a weekly summary of national news, offering more than 60 articles per week focused on ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance.

Today, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) filed an amendment with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) clarifying the two-year look-back ban on contributions from municipal advisors in the upcoming amendments to MSRB Rule G-37.

The amendments, effective August 17, 2016, apply regulatory policies to municipal advisors matching the regulatory policies applicable to dealers under the existing rules. Included in the rules is a two-year look-back provision prohibiting contributions in the two years prior to conducting regulated business.

The MSRB states contributions by persons who become associated with a dealer and become municipal finance professionals of the dealer who are affected by new amendments to Rule G-37 taking effect on August 17, 2016, are subject to the two-year look-back in Rule G-37. Contributions made in the two years prior to the August 17 effective date may subject a dealer to a prohibition on municipal securities business.

Jan Yamane has been selected to fulfill the role of executive director and legal counsel for the Honolulu Ethics Commission, effective immediately. She is the former acting state auditor.

Yamane replaces Charles Totto, who stepped down from the position on June 15.

A political committee called An Accountable Miami-Dade is sponsoring a proposal to change campaign finance rules for county elections.

The proposal would limit contributions to candidates to $250, rather than the state-set limit of $1,000, and county vendors and lobbyists would be prohibited from making contributions. A system of matching contributions with public funds would also be created.

The group delivered 125,000 signed petitions to the county clerk of courts. If enough are verified, the county commission will decide whether to adopt the measure or to place it on the ballot. The proposed changes would not take effect until the next county election cycle.

On August 2, the Redondo Beach City Council carried a motion to establish campaign finance reforms setting contribution limits.

Council recommended that the ordinance limit individual contributions to $750 for City Council candidates and $1,500 for citywide candidates. The future ordinance would also seek to create an ethics commission.

The recommendations are now being forwarded to the city attorney for drafting.

The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board has named Jeffrey Sigurdson as its new executive director.

He currently serves as a member of the Campaign Finance Board and has previously worked in the election division of the Secretary of State’s Office.

Sigurdson will replace current Executive Director Gary Goldsmith, who is retiring from the position.

The Massachusetts Legislature adjourned its formal session on July 31 with a flurry of activity.

Lawmakers passed several significant pieces of legislation, including a campaign finance law requiring certain independent expenditure-only committees to disclose their top five contributors, a law regulating services like Uber and Lyft, and bills funding state infrastructure projects.

The Legislature will continue to hold informal sessions until the body is adjourned sine die in January of 2017.

Photo of the Massachusetts State Capitol by Fcb981 on Wikimedia Commons.

The San Francisco Ethics Commission voted unanimously to submit an initiative ordinance to the November 2016 ballot.

The measure would restrict lobbyist gifts, campaign contributions, and bundled contributions.

If passed by voters, the ordinance will become effective January 1, 2018.

Today, a federal court ruled an unconnected committee should be allowed to use candidates’ names in the titles of their websites and social media pages while the case is being resolved.

In Pursuing America’s Greatness v. FEC, the United States Court of Appeals for The District of Columbia Circuit reversed the district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction and remanded the case for the district court to enter a preliminary injunction enjoining the Federal Election Commission (FEC) from enforcing the application of 11 C.F.R. § 102.14(a) against the plaintiff pending the outcome of the case.

Federal law requires a candidate’s committee to include the name of the candidate in the committee’s title and requires an unauthorized political committee to not use a candidate’s name in its title. The purpose of the law is to avoid confusion. Through regulation, the FEC has extended the naming prohibition to other committee activities, solicitations, and communications, including special project names for websites or social media pages.

The court found there is a substantial likelihood the regulation violates the First Amendment and the plaintiff will prevail in the lawsuit because the FEC has not shown the regulation is the least restrictive means of achieving the government’s interest.

Q. Our company is active and registered as a lobbyist employer in several states. What are best practices for record-keeping? What will we need to access and keep in the event of a state audit?

A. Each state takes a different approach to auditing, requiring registered companies and lobbyists to keep substantiating records for varying periods of time.  As a conservative rule of thumb, it’s generally advisable to keep substantiating records for seven years.  However, for each state where your company has an active registration, you should determine if there is a set document retention policy.  While some states have no set period of time for lobbyists/employers to retain records, a majority of states require retention for a set period of time, usually within a three to five year range.

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Progress Now New Mexico has filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office alleging state Rep. Paul Pacheco failed to disclose a conflict of interest on a major project.

According to the complaint, Pacheco violated state law and House ethics rules when he requested over $1.2 million in state funds for the project managed by his brother, architect David Pacheco.

The Attorney General’s Office is currently reviewing the complaint.

Photo of Rep. Paul Pacheco by Gopmario on Wikimedia Commons.

Gov. Jay Nixon issued a writ of election to fill the vacancy for Missouri Senate District 4. Joseph Keaveny vacated the seat on July 7, 2016, to become an administrative law judge at the Department of Labor.

Interested candidates must file declarations of candidacy with the Office of the Secretary of State by September 7, 2016, for the special election on November 8, 2016.