The Oklahoma Legislature adjourned sine die one week early on May 24. Adjourning a week early saved $140,000 in expenses for the Legislature, according to The Times Record News.

Governor Mary Fallin, who has pocket veto power, has until June 8 to sign or veto any bills presented to her.

Montana Governor Steve Bullock has named a new commissioner of political practices, according to the Independent Record.

Jonathan Motl will begin service as the commissioner by June 10 to complete the final three years of a six-year term left vacant by prior unconfirmed appointees. A Senate confirmation hearing for the position will not be held until early 2015.

PACs and candidates behind in filing their scheduled reports with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission may be facing thousands of dollars in fines, according to NewsOK.com.

Executive Director Lee Slater will be focusing efforts this summer on clearing up the backlog of PACs and candidates not keeping up with reporting requirements. More than two dozen PACs have not filed their latest quarterly reports due April 30.

The commission can charge each committee or candidate $100 per day for each day it is late filing, with a total maximum penalty of $1,000. NewsOK.com reports the commission will be hiring a hearing officer before it starts to mail out its penalty assessments, anticipating candidates’ guaranteed right to protest.

On May 15, the Bergen County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders voted to override County Executive Kathleen A. Donovan’s veto of the new pay-to-play ordinance that passed on May 1.

This is the second pay-to-play ordinance vetoed by the county executive in the last eight months. On October 5, 2012, Donovan had vetoed a prior pay-to-play measure passed by the Board.

Freeholder Ordinance 13-06 changes the code to include lowering the debarment period for future county contracts from four years to one year. Under the new ordinance, contractors will also be able to make political contributions up to $5,200 to county political parties.

According to NorthJersey.com, another vote on the ordinance is required because the public notice for the legislation was not properly published. The board next meets on Wednesday, May 22.

A special election for the Massachusetts Sixth Bristol Representative District has been called to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative David B. Sullivan.

The office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin announced the special primary election will be held on August 13. The special general election will follow on September 10.

Sullivan resigned his position two weeks ago to become the executive director of the Fall River Housing Authority, according to The Herald News.

Bergen County, New Jersey County Executive Kathleen A. Donovan has vetoed the Board of Chosen Freeholders’ new pay-to-play ordinance that passed on May 1.

This is the second pay-to-play ordinance vetoed by the county executive in the last eight months. On October 5, 2012, Donovan had vetoed a prior pay-to-play measure passed by the Board.

In her press release, the county executive called the newer legislation “an ill-conceived attempt to weaken what has been described as one of the strongest ordinances banning pay-to-play in the State of New Jersey.” Among the reasons cited by Donovan for the veto of Freeholder Ordinance 13-06 are the increase in contribution limits and the weakening of penalties for those found in violation of the pay-to-play law.

Because the new ordinance initially passed by a 6-1 vote, the veto could be overridden by the Board in a future vote.

A bill requiring lobbyists to disclose work as campaign consultants passed in the Texas Legislature on May 9.

House Bill 1422 requires individuals registering as lobbyists with the state to include the full name and address of each person who compensates or reimburses the registrant, or person acting as an agent for the registrant, for services, including political consulting services, rendered by the registrant from:

• A political contribution;
• Interest received from a political contribution; or
• An asset purchased with a political contribution.

The legislation has been sent to Governor Rick Perry. If not vetoed, the bill will become law with or without his signature.

The Bergen County New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders passed an ordinance yesterday modifying the county’s pay-to-play laws.

NorthJersey.com reports the Board voted 6-1 in favor of changes to the code that include lowering the debarment period for future county contracts from four years to one year. Contractors will also be able to make political contributions up to $5,200 to county political parties.

The ordinance must next go to County Executive Kathleen Donovan. Executive Donovan vetoed prior pay-to-play measures last year. If the ordinance is not vetoed, or if a veto is overridden, it will become effective 20 days after publication.

Freeholder Maura DeNicola cast the single vote against the ordinance, calling it “an incumbent protection program” according to NorthJersey.com.

A precept for a special election for State Representative in Hillsborough County District 14 (Manchester Ward 7) was approved on May 1 by New Hampshire Governor Margaret Hassan and the Executive Council.

The primary election will be held on September 17 followed by a special general election on November 5. If there is only one candidate running from each party, there will be no primary election and the special election will be held on September 17.

Additionally, in the election for State Representative in Sullivan County District 4 (Claremont Ward 2), only one candidate from each party filed to participate in that election. The special election date has been changed from July 23 to June 4, the date previously scheduled for that special election’s primary.

The Massachusetts Office of Campaign & Political Finance (OCPF) is holding a public hearing on May 8 concerning proposed updates to regulations regarding campaign finance disclosure.

The hearing will address revised provisions to the existing code and a new regulatory section “concerning the identification of funding sources for tax exempt and other organizations that raise funds to make contributions or independent expenditures”.

Additional OCPF proposals include addressing the use of a candidate’s legal defense fund, clarifying subvendor reporting requirements, and amending provisions concerning credit and debit card contributions. The draft regulations are available here.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) issued a unanimous Advisory Opinion concluding same-sex couples married under state law are precluded from making joint federal political contributions from an individual bank account.

A same-sex couple married under Massachusetts law sought to make a political contribution to Dan Winslow, a candidate for the United States Senate.

The contribution check included instructions to attribute the contribution separately and equally between both individuals, even though the check was drawn from one of the individual’s bank account.

11 C.F.R. 110.1(i) provides spouses a legal exception to the prohibition on making a contribution in the name of another person. However, the term “spouse” is not defined in the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 or the Commission’s regulations.

The Commission relied the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) interpretation of spouse referring “only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife”.

In AO 2013-02, the FEC concluded DOMA prohibits applying the exception under 11 C.F.R. 110.1(i). The Commission distinguished a contribution made from a joint account, rather than an individual account, in a footnote to the opinion, noting, “Same-sex couples (whether married under state law or not) may as joint account holders make contributions in a manner similar to that afforded spouses under 11 C.F.R. 110.1(i).”

The Commission concluded its analysis and conclusions “may be affected by subsequent developments in the law including, but not limited to, statutes, regulations, advisory opinions, and case law”.

Leaders of corporations, unions, and other organizations responsible for independent political advertisements may have to be identified if a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate yesterday passes.

Senate Bill 791 was introduced jointly by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). The bi-partisan bill, called The Follow the Money Act of 2013, requires entities, regardless of tax status, to identity the funders of any political activity in which the entity engages.

An organization involved in political activity not regulated under the Federal Election Campaign Act will also be subject to a separate set of Internal Revenue Service penalties, including the possible loss of its federal tax exemption.

The Federal Election Commission will be required to replace quarterly reporting with a more frequent reporting schedule and will be required to disclose the information to the general public upon receipt.

Senator Wyden’s press release can be found here.

Video courtesy of Sen. Wyden’s YouTube channel.

The Massachusetts Lobbyist Section of Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office has informed lobbyists it will reinterpret a reporting requirement in order to comply with a court order.

Initially, Secretary of State William Galvin’s office had asserted it had the authority to interpret “all direct business associations with public officials” under state law expansively and require lobbyists disclose the names of all officials with whom a lobbyist has communicated. In reaction, a lawsuit had been brought against the Secretary of State’s office by the ACLU, AirStrategies, the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, Citizens for Juvenile Justice, Common Cause, and the Conservation Law Foundation. A Superior Court Judge ruled against the secretary.

To comply with the court’s order, the secretary will now require disclosure of the names of public officials to whom a lobbyist has made a lobbying communication only if the lobbyist also has a direct business association with the public official. Following the court’s order, the secretary informed lobbyists this means a joint enterprise or transaction of a commercial or financial nature directly by or between the lobbyist and the public official.

The Lobbyist Section has rescinded all correction and rejection notices inconsistent with this interpretation of business association.

In the 2012 Annual report issued by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) on April 15, the Commission listed several recommendations and ideas to strengthen the state’s campaign finance and lobbying laws.

ELEC recommends requiring disclosure from super PACs and non-profit groups organized under Section 527 and Section 501(c) of the IRS code, requiring disclosure of lobbying activity by local vendors who are required to report pay-to-play contributions, and expanding the 48-hour notice requirement for continuing PAC expenditures to require the filing of notices for expenditures made in May municipal, runoff, school, and special elections.

Among its other recommendations, ELEC calls for the state to expand the regulation of “wheeling” to include contributions by county political party committees to other county political party committees during the entire year.

In the report, the Commission also lists general ideas to strengthen the laws, including requiring grassroots lobbying materials to list the name and address of the committee paying for the material, increasing penalties for public financing violations, and banning the use of partnership funds for the purpose of making contributions.

The annual report can be found here.