The Joint Commission on Public Ethics has developed online ethics training, as required by the New York Legislative Law. Enrollment in the online training is available here.

All registered lobbyists, including principals, must complete the online training.

All lobbyists registered for both the 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 biennia must complete the online training by December 31, 2014. Beginning in 2015, all registered lobbyists will be required to complete the training once every three years.

A federal judge rejected Citizens United’s request to air a documentary critical of Colorado Democrats without disclosing its donors in accordance with state law.

The conservative group argues its free speech rights are violated when the law requires it to disclose donors while effectively exempting traditional print media and broadcasters from the same requirement.

Although its motion for a preliminary injunction was denied, Citizens United President David Bossie claims the organization will appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

The executive director of the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance is stepping down. Sarah Jackson, who has held the position since 1999, announced her retirement effective November 1.

During her tenure, Jackson expanded the state’s electronic campaign finance reporting program and established an online searchable database.

Rebecca Feland, a budget analyst with the Registry, has been named the interim director.

As a part of our unrivaled commitment to government relations compliance expertise, we are attending the Practising Law Institute’s seminar, Corporate Political Activities 2014: Complying With Campaign Finance, Lobbying and Ethics Laws.

The full schedule includes coverage of issues such as federal and state lobbying laws, gift laws, and corporate political contributions. PLI has gathered first-rate presenters such as Lee Goodman and Ann Ravel of the Federal Election Commission, as well as many others from state ethics agencies and corporate compliance.

Why are we taking the time to attend PLI’s Corporate Political Activities 2014?

As their website states: “Lobbying, campaign finance and ethics rules in Washington, and in every state, are changing, and new court cases are affecting lobbyists, corporations, associations, and unions. Compliance with federal, state and local laws is more complex than ever.”

Compliance is more complex than ever – and we are making sure we have it covered.

Lobbying

“Under Contract” in The Hill.

Illinois: “Lobbyists banned from doing business at county board meetings” by Brian Slodysko in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Campaign Finance

“Campaign-Finance Amendment Drives Wedge Between ACLU, Public Citizen” by Daniel Fisher in Forbes.

“Campaign Money Debate Won’t Help Hill’s Reputation” by David Hawkins in Roll Call.

“Too strong for McConnell to resist” by Robert Weissman in The Hill.

“State of political consulting: Rapid growth, long hours, new approaches” by Tarini Parti in Politico.

“How campaigns are losing the mobile war” by Daniel Lippman and Darren Samuelsohn in Politico.

“Former Connecticut governor secretly paid to advise congressional campaign, staff testify” by Richard Weizel in Reuters.

New Jersey: “NJEA Spent Nearly $60M on Campaigns and Lobbying in Past 15 Years” in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

South Carolina: “S.C. House Speaker Indicted on Campaign Finance Violations” by Valerie Bauerlein in The Wall Street Journal.

Ethics

Arkansas: “Why Some Say Arkansas’ Ethics Reform Is a Trojan Horse” by J.B. Wogan in Governing.

Elections

Massachusetts: “Baker, Coakley to square off for control of Corner Office” by Matt Stout in the Boston Herald.

New Hampshire: “Tech-Funded Mayday PAC’s Candidate Loses Big in New Hampshire” by Amy Schatz in Re/code.

New York: “Cuomo survives revolt” by Matthew Hamilton in the Times Union.

Ohio: “Early voting hours should be set by counties, Democrats say” by Jackie Borchardt in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

State Legislatures

Nevada: “Tesla-related bills argued in Nevada Legislature” by Charles Fleming in the Los Angeles Times.

At any given time, more than 1,000 legislative bills, which can affect how you do business as a government affairs professional, are being discussed in federal, state, and local jurisdictions. These bills are summarized in State and Federal Communications’ digital encyclopedias for lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying and can be found in the client portion of our website.

Summaries of major bills are also included in monthly email updates sent to all clients. The chart below shows the number of bills we are tracking in regard to lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying.

Lobbying

Canada: “A fond farewell to former staffer and lobbyist Devon Jacobs” by Rachel Aiello in Hill Times.

Massachusetts: “AG hit on settlement with lobbyist” by Chris Cassidy in the Boston Herald.

Miami-Dade County, Florida: “Ethics Backs Lobbying Ban” on Miami Today.

Campaign Finance

“Planes, trains and campaign finance reports — the bane of every Senate candidate” by Jaime Fuller in The Washington Post.

Ethics

“I-Team: North Carolina Ethics Commission’s website problems could be a sign of a bigger issue” by Jon Camp on WTVD ABC News.

Georgia: “Ethics Commission: We’re back on track” by Aaron Gould Sheinin in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

North Carolina: “Carteret County man named chairman of State Ethics Commission” by Brad Christian on WNCT News.

Oklahoma: “Ethics Commission To Consider Fees For Training” on KGOU.

Washington: “Ethics Board Settles On 12 Lobbyist-Paid Meals Per Year” by Austin Jenkins on Northwest Public Radio.

Elections

“The 65 people who may run for president in 2016” by Bob Cusack in The Hill.

Lobbying

“White House vs. K Street” by Byron Tau in Politico.

“Antonia Ferrier Settles Into New Role at Forbes-Tate | Downtown Moves” by Bridget Bowman in Roll Call.

Wisconsin: “Taxpayers group is top-spending lobbyist again” by Bill Leuders in the Post-Crescent.

Campaign Finance

California: “California campaign finance measure booted off ballot” by Christopher Cadelago and Jim Miller in the Sacramento Bee.

Florida: “Watchdogs want data on campaign spending” by James L. Rosica in The Tampa Tribune.

Ethics

Alaska: “APOC approves opinion saying lawmakers can use to state resources to stake referendum position” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

Georgia: “State Ethics Commission Hires 2 New Staff Lawyers” by Kathleen Baydala Joyner in the Daily Report.

New York: “Poll: Shrugs at Andrew Cuomo ethics woes” by Jonathan Topaz in Politico.

Redistricting

Florida: “Florida Legislature Approves New Congressional Map” by Bridget Bowman in Politico.

Florida: “Arguing Florida Failed Again, Dems Want Court-Drawn Map” by Mary Ellen Klas and Michael Van Sickler in Governing.

The state of Mississippi is challenging a lower court ruling affecting its campaign finance laws. In September, 2013, U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock ruled the state’s campaign finance registration and reporting requirements unconstitutional for people or groups spending money to support or oppose a ballot initiative.

Under Mississippi law, groups seeking to support or oppose statewide ballot issues must register as political committees if receiving or making expenditures in excess of $200 during a calendar year. Moreover, campaign finance reports must include the name and address of any person donating more than $200 to a ballot issue committee.

The state argues the disclosure requirement provides transparency and is, therefore, substantially related to a sufficiently important government interest. Others claim the extensive and confusing regulations regarding political committees impose an undue burden and chill First Amendment speech.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit will hear the case September 3.

Here is our August – September calendar. If you are attending any of the coming events, please stop by and say hello!

August 9-13, 2014 CSG National & CSG West Annual Conference, Anchorage, Alaska

August 19-22, 2014   NCSL Legislative Summit, Minneapolis, Minnesota

September 8, 2014  WGR Toastmasters, Washington, D.C.

September 11-12, 2014   PLI: Corporate Political Activities Seminar, Washington, D.C.

September 22, 2014  WGR Toastmasters, Washington, D.C.

September 29 – October 1, 2014   PAC State and Local Government Affairs Conference, Alexandria, Virginia

Lobbying

“New king of K Street” by Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.

“Business Bottom Line” in The Hill.

“How to Disclose Your Lobbying While Keeping the Public In the Dark” by Ben Geman in National Journal.

Texas: “Activist fined $10,000 for not registering as lobbyist” by David Saleh Rauf in the Houston Chronicle.

Campaign Finance

“Want to reduce polarization? Give parties more money.” by Ray LaRaja and Brian Schaffner in The Washington Post.

“Politicos souring on FEC advice?” by Dave Levinthal in The Center for Public Integrity.

“Money gap: Why don’t women give?” by Anna Palmer and Tarini Parti in Politico.

Massachusetts: “Mass. Senate To Debate PAC Disclosure Bill” by The Associated Press on WBUR.

Ethics

“Stars may be aligning for transparency legislation” by Josh Gerstein in Politico.

Pennsylvania: “State Ethics Commission confirms investigation of Pennsylvania’s legislative sting case” by Charles Thompson in The Patriot-News.

Congress

“… And Congress punts” by Burgess Everett in Politico.

“Issues pile up in Congress” by Jake Sherman in Politico.

“One chart that shows Congress can actually get things done” by Chris Cillizza in The Washington Post.

“Members of Congress Plan to Live on Minimum Wage for a Week” by Scott Wilson on ABC News.

Government Tech and Social Media

“Washington D.C. Launches Open Data Policy, FOIA Portal” in Government Technology.

Lobbying

Canada: “Foreign lobbying transparency bill another attack on environmental groups: critics” by Mark Burgess in The Hill Times.

Iowa: “Lobbyists of All Kinds Flock to Farm Bill” by Peggy Lowe on Iowa Public Radio.

Kansas: “Hearing held on 38 Studios lobbying questions” by The Associated Press in The Wichita Eagle.

Campaign Finance

“Lawrence Lessig’s Public Q&A on How His $12 million Super PAC Will Fix Campaign Finance” by Rebecca Chao in TechPresident.

California: “San Diego Ethics Commission Votes To Rein In Independent Committees” by Joe Yerardi in KPBS.

Connecticut: “Banned Donors Skirt Law Designed To Prevent Pay-To-Play” by Dave Altimari and Matthew Kauffman in the Hartford Courant.

Maine: “Analysis: One candidate’s unfair campaign finance law is another’s protection” by Mario Moretto in the Maine Daily Journal.

Maryland: “Excuses abound for Md. campaign report failings” by The Associated Press in The Washington Post.

Massachusetts: “Union fights to strip reporting provision from campaign finance reform bill” by Frank Phillips in The Boston Globe.

Missouri: “Money, Money, Money: Five Things To Look For In Tuesday’s Campaign Finance Reports” by Jason Rosenbaum on KBIA.

Ethics

Indiana: “Bennett accepts $5,000 fine in ethics settlement” by Tom LoBianco (Associated Press) in the Naples Daily News.

Nevada: “What a difference a word could make” by Steve Sebelius in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Pennsylvania: “Pa. lawmakers left town with plenty of unfinished business” by Andrew Staub in the Daily Local News.

Redistricting

Florida: “House Democrats Have Mixed Reaction to Florida Redistricting Ruling” by Abby Livingston in Roll Call.

State Sen. Chris McDaniel is questioning the integrity of Mississippi’s GOP Senate primary runoff. McDaniel refuses to concede the election to U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran and claims some election activity was unfair, unethical, and illegal.

Evidence suggests hundreds, if not thousands, of voters crossed party lines between primary and runoff elections. Mississippians who voted in the Democratic primary illegally cast votes in the Republican primary runoff.

State election law experts speculate the election results will stand because it is impossible to assume all the irregular votes went to Cochran. Additionally, a strong public policy interest exists in accepting the finality of the runoff election; questioning the integrity of or redoing elections is a slippery slope.

Nevertheless, a conservative group known as True the Vote filed suit in federal court on Tuesday, July 1, against the Mississippi secretary of state and the Republican Party of Mississippi to challenge the results of the runoff.

Lobbying

“Lobbying World” in The Hill.

“Under Contract” in The Hill.

Campaign Finance

“Karl Rove and the Modern Money Machine” by Kenneth Vogel in Politico.

Louisiana: “Gov. Jindal signs campaign finance reforms into law” by Tom Wright on WVUE Fox News.

Massachusetts: “House supports super PAC disclosure bill, boosts donation limits” by Colleen Quinn on MassLive.com.

Ohio: “Prosecutor: Ohio man knew donations were illegal” by The Associated Press on WSYX ABC News.

Ethics

“Ethics panel defers Michael Grimm probe” by John Bresnahan in Politico.

Alabama: “Ethics Commission to search for new leader; AL senator expresses interest” by Max Reiss on WSFA News.

Georgia: “Former State Ethics Commission Secretary: The System Is Broken” by Ellen Reinhardt on Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Congress

“With 28 Days Left, What Can Congress Do?” by Molly O’Toole in Defense One.

National Conventions

“Cleveland, Dallas make cut for GOP convention” by James Hohmann in Politico.

Government Tech and Social Media

“Jason Chaffetz: Tech’s pace ‘scares a lot of members of Congress’” by Alex Byers and Jody Serrano in Politico.

Montana: “State notifies 1.3 million people whose data were in hacked computer” by Mike Dennison in the Independent Record.