Earlier this month, the Commissioner of Lobbying for Canada, Nancy Bélanger, reiterated some of her office’s proposed modifications to Canada’s current lobbying law. Speaking at a webinar on May 13 for the Public Affairs Association of Canada, Saskatchewan Chapter, Bélanger reportedly talked about a proposal to remove the “significant part of duties” registration threshold, known as the 20% rule, for in-house lobbyists and replace it with an obligation to register lobbying activities by default, with limited exceptions. Other proposals being considered by Bélanger’s office include making reporting requirements the same for all in-house lobbyist registrations; deeming paid members of boards of directors to be employees of corporations and organizations; and harmonizing the registration deadline for consultant and in-house lobbyists to 15 days.

Bélanger has stated that she intends to issue new guidance on how the Lobbying Act should be interpreted.

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Cathryn Motherwell was appointed Integrity Commissioner of Ontario by the Legislative Assembly on April 16, replacing former Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake. Wake served as commissioner for nine years before deciding to retire earlier this year. Motherwell is a former journalist and has worked with the Office of the Integrity Commissioner since 2009.

The 57th Arizona Legislature adjourned its first regular session sine die on May 1. During the session, the legislature amended the law to require a filing officer not accept a complaint from a third party unless the complaint is filed by an individual who submits evidence that the individual is an identifiable human being. It also passed a law mandating homeowners’ associations not prohibit the display of specific flags or political signs that attempt to influence the outcome of an election, which the governor signed into law on May 2.

On April 30, Federal Election Commission (FEC) Commissioner Allen J. Dickerson announced his departure from the Commission. Dickerson, confirmed by the U.S. Senate to a term ending April 30, 2025, chose to depart on April 30 rather than wait for another commissioner to be appointed.

The FEC now only has three commissioners, Republican Vice-Chairman James E. “Trey” Trainor, and Commissioners Shana M. Broussard and Dara Lindenbaum, both members of the Democratic Party.

The FEC requires at least four commissioners to agree on any official action. No more than three commissioners can be from the same party. As it stands, because all decisions must have four commissioners’ vote, no official action can be made by the FEC until the president nominates and the Senate confirms another commissioner.

Additionally, the Commission elected Commissioner Shana M. Broussard to serve as Chair of the Commission for the remainder of 2025, effective July 1. Commissioner James E. “Trey” Trainor, III will continue to serve as Vice-Chairman.

On May 27, amendments to British Columbia’s Lobbyists Transparency Act come into force. The changes included in Bill 9, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act 2024, include removing requirements that requested government funding be reported, extending the due date to report received government funding, and clarifications on other existing filing requirements for coalition lobbying.

Designated filers will no longer be required to report requested government funding but will still need to report received government funding the previous 12 months. The deadline to report received government funding has been extended. A filer now has three months plus 15 days following the month in which government funding was received to report the funding. Designated filers may continue to file received government funding information monthly if they prefer to do so.

While requirements remain the same concerning coalition lobbying reporting, there are language changes for clarification. Designated Filers will be required to report the name and business address of any other client or organization who they work with for the purpose of lobbying and who has a direct interest in the outcome of the lobbying activities. When a consultant lobbyist or an organization ceases lobbying, the designated filer will have 30 days after the month in which lobbying stops to end their registration return in the Lobbyists Registry. They must submit any outstanding information that otherwise would have been submitted in a monthly return or any outstanding information on received government funding up to the date the lobbying ceased.

On April 15, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at reforming the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which are procedures guiding acquisitions across executive departments. The order, entitled Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement, mandates the Administrator of the Office of Federal Public Procurement Policy (Administrator) take “appropriate actions to amend the FAR to ensure that it contains only provisions that are required by statute or that are otherwise necessary to support simplicity and usability, strengthen the efficacy of the procurement system, or protect economic or national security interests.”

The order also requires these actions, which must be made in the next 180 days, be taken in coordination with the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR Council), the heads of federal executive branch agencies, and appropriate senior acquisition and procurement officials from agencies.

Additionally, in the next 15 days, each agency exercising procurement authority pursuant to the FAR must designate a senior acquisition or procurement official to work with the Administrator and the FAR Council. Within 20 days, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget must issue a memorandum to agencies providing guidance regarding implementation of the order.

As described in a prior order issued by the president in January, this order requires that for each new regulation issued, at least 10 prior regulations be identified for elimination.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced a new sample donor response form for contributions made by limited liability companies (LLCs).

Committees are required to report certain attribution information for contributions from LLCs. To assist committees and encourage compliance the FEC adopted the new sample donor response form, which was announced on April 16.

The form will help satisfy a committee requirement to show its “best efforts” to obtain, maintain, and submit information mandated by law. By requesting completion of the sample form by the donor following the receipt of the contribution, a committee is in a stronger position to be in compliance.

Current regulations require LLCs provide accurate and complete attribution information to the recipient committee at the time that a contribution is made. The LLC must also affirm to the recipient committee that the LLC is eligible to make the contribution.

On April 10, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, aimed to ensure individuals provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.

The bill prohibits states from accepting and processing an application to register to vote in a federal election unless the applicant presents documentary proof of U.S. citizenship. The bill also requires states to establish an alternative process under which an applicant may submit other evidence to demonstrate U.S. citizenship.

Additionally, the legislation allows for a private right of action against an election official who registers an applicant who fails to present documentary proof of U.S. citizenship. The SAVE Act, which specifies the documents deemed as acceptable proof, will now be considered by the Senate.

On April 11, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham vetoed a lobbying disclosure bill aimed at increasing disclosure.

House Bill 143 required lobbyists provide more details about the specific legislation lobbied, whether legislation was supported or opposed and if their positions changed, and the names of a lobbyist’s employer that lobbied on the legislation, either directly or through the registered lobbyist. The bill also required that if a lobbyist or lobbyist’s employer commenced lobbying on legislation after the adjournment of a legislative session, a lobbying activity report would have been required to have been filed prior to the end of the time period in which the governor could have acted on legislation.

In her House Executive Message No. 21 vetoing the bill, the governor wrote, “ While I support the intent of this legislation, [House Bill] 143 needs work. For example, it imposes an onerous requirement that lobbyists or their employers file these reports within forty-eight hours of commencing the lobbying activity – including any time their ‘position on legislation has changed’- irrespective of weekends and holidays.”

The bill would have also required lobbying reports be preserved for a period of 10 years.

A new bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would prohibit former members and elected officers of the U.S. Congress from lobbying Congress at any time after leaving office.

The legislation,  the Halt Unchecked Member Benefits with Lobbying Elimination (HUMBLE) Act, would also ban members of Congress from owning or trading individual stocks; prevent members from serving on corporate boards while they are serving in Congress; eliminate access to members-only perks for former members; and eliminate automatic pay raises for members.

Additionally, the HUMBLE ACT, introduced in the House on April 3 by Rep. Angie Craig,  prohibits the use of taxpayer funds for first-class airline tickets, including for legislative branch employees, and only permits coach-class accommodations.

The Council of the District of Columbia approved temporary legislation barring the public from hearing or seeing many types of the council’s deliberations.

In a trio of companion legislation, which declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the Open Meetings Act of 2010, the definition of meeting is changed. The legislation provides for a public body’s ability to be privately briefed about potential terrorist or public health threats so long as no official action is taken, exempts from the act meetings between the council and the mayor provided that no official action is taken at such meeting,  and provides that a meeting will be deemed open to the public if the public body takes steps reasonably calculated to allow the public to view or hear the meeting while the meeting is taking place, or, if doing so is not technologically feasible, as soon thereafter as reasonably practicable.

The legislation adopted on April 1 lasts for 90 days under its emergency basis. The mayor still has the ability to veto the legislation. On April 22, the council will hold a public hearing to consider a permanent version of the bill.

On April 1, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its audit of federal lobbying compliance for 2024.

For the audit, the GAO reviewed a stratified sample of 100 quarterly disclosure reports filed for the third and fourth quarters of calendar year 2023 and the first and second quarters of calendar year 2024. They also reviewed random samples of 160 LD-203 reports for the year-end 2023 and midyear 2024 reports.

Among its findings, the GAO concluded 93% of filers of lobbying disclosure reports were able to provide documentation to support reported income and expenses, 5% of LD-203 reports were missing reportable contributions, and 97% of lobbyists who filed new registrations also filed LD-2 reports as required for the quarter in which they first registered. The audit estimates at least 21% of all lobbying disclosure reports did not properly disclose formerly held covered positions.

The 54-page report is titled “2024 Lobbying Disclosure: Observations on Compliance with Requirements.”

On March 27, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) held its scheduled meeting, but with only four commissioners instead of six and without a chairperson. Ellen Weintraub, who was just elected as chair on December 12 of last year, was not present and is currently not listed on the FEC’s website as a current commissioner.

Weintraub had received a letter dated January 31 of this year from President Donald J. Trump informing her he was removing her from the FEC “effective immediately.” While there remains a question of the legality of the firing, the FEC has still been conducting business and holding meetings with just the four commissioners. On January 20, Commissioner Sean J. Cooksey had resigned from the FEC, bringing its number down to five at the time.

The FEC website lists four commissioners with two vacancies: Vice Chairman James E. “Trey” Trainor III and Allen Dickerson, both Republicans, and Shana M. Broussard and Dara Lindenbaum, both Democrats. The FEC requires at least four commissioners to agree on any official action. No more than three commissioners can be from the same party. As it stands, all decisions must be unanimous between the four commissioners. Commissioners are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

At the meeting, Commissioner Dickerson nominated Commissioner Broussard for the position of chair. Following the motion, the commission held over its consideration to a future meeting.

In an Executive Order recently issued by President Donald J. Trump relating to voting in federal elections, the president also directed the U.S. Attorney General to prioritize the enforcement of existing laws both preventing foreign nationals from making political contributions in U.S. elections and prohibiting lobbying by organizations or entities that have received any federal funds.

The majority of the order, entitled Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections, concerns various aspects of voter registration, verification of citizenship of voters, illegal voting, and substantiation of state compliance with federal voting laws.

The order, issued on March 25, directs the U.S. Attorney General to act in consultation with the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.