On October 11, a bill was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives to increase transparency concerning gifts given to institutions of higher education by foreign entities.

House Bill 5933, the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act, would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965. These changes would:

• Require universities and colleges to provide additional information in disclosures of foreign gifts and contracts from foreign sources;
• Restrict contracts with certain foreign entities and foreign countries of concern;
• Require certain staff and faculty to report foreign gifts and contracts;
• Require disclosure of certain foreign investments within endowments;
• Lower the foreign gift reporting threshold for colleges and universities from $250,000 to $50,000 and include a $0 threshold for countries of concern; and
• Create additional penalties for colleges and universities remaining noncompliant in foreign gift reporting, including the imposition of fines and the loss of Title IV funding.

According to bill sponsor Rep. Michelle Steel’s press release, the legislation would also close reporting loopholes and provides increased transparency to Congress, intelligence agencies, and the public and would protect research-heavy institutions most targeted by adversaries of the U.S.

The bill was co-sponsored by Rep. Virginia Foxx.

Late in the afternoon on Tuesday, October 3, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy from his role as the Speaker of the House.

A small contingent of Republican members of the House, unhappy with the Speaker’s performance, were able to assemble eight of their party to vote for his removal.

This number, combined with the 208 Democratic members voting for removal, prevented McCarthy from keeping his position.

The final vote was 216 in favor of removal vs. 210 opposed.

While there is no current presumptive candidate, the House is expected to accept nominations and take a vote to fill his seat later today.

On September 11, the City Council of Kelowna, British Columbia established a Lobbyist Registry Council Policy.

The aim stated in the new policy, Council Policy 390 Lobbyist Registry, is to promote transparency by establishing registration and disclosure requirements for those seeking to influence a decision of council.

The council chose a policy rather than enacting a by-law.

The Policy applies to all lobbyists engaging in lobbying of a council member.

Lobbying is defined as communicating verbally or in writing, or to meet with an elected official for the purpose of influencing a decision of the council. A lobbyist is defined as an individual, whether paid or voluntary, who lobbies an elected official regarding a matter within the council’s jurisdiction.

The lobbyist may represent individual interests or represent an organization, whether employed by that organization or on behalf of a different organization.

A lobbyist must register with the city within 5 days of lobbying a council member.

Each registration is considered active for six months, after which a new registration must be filed for lobbying activities.

It is anticipated that the Lobbyist Registry will be available on the city’s website in the coming weeks.

On November 30, a by-election to fill the vacancy of Councillor for Ward 20, Scarborough Southwest in Toronto, Ontario, Canada will be held.

The seat became vacant on July 26 because of the resignation of former Councillor Gary Crawford, who instead ran in the July 27 by-election held for the vacant Scarborough-Guildwood parliament seat that he did not win.

The nominations to run for the office did not open until September 7 and close at 2 p.m. on October 16.

On September 8,  the Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced it was seeking public input on ways to improve its report filing processes and public website.

The FEC is interested in recommendations and comments regarding potential opportunities for improving the process for filing required disclosure reports and for improving the organization, substance, and how to best provide the public with easily accessible information on its website.

Comments must be in writing and submitted by email to publiccomment2023-14@fec.gov. The comment window will close 60 days after publication of the Notification of Request for Public Comment in the Federal Register.

On August 29, legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to impose stricter lobbying and revolving door restrictions on Department of Defense (DOD) employees and contractors.

House Bill 5306, Department of Defense Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act of 2023:

• Imposes a four-year ban on certain large DOD contractors from hiring senior DOD officials and former DOD employees who managed their contract;
• Extends to four years the existing prohibition on former military generals lobbying the DOD and expands the restrictions to other senior officials; and
• Requires defense contractors to submit detailed annual reports to the DOD regarding former senior DOD officials who are subsequently employed by contractors and requires DOD to make those reports public.

Additionally, the legislation raises the recusal standard for DOD employees by prohibiting them from participating in any matter that might affect the financial interests of their former employer or direct competitor for four years and bans senior DOD officials from owning any stock in a major defense contractor that receives more than $100 million in revenue from DOD contracts.

The bill prohibits senior national security officials from working on behalf of foreign governments and prohibits military and civilian intelligence personnel from working on behalf of foreign governments or private entity that operates predominantly on behalf of a foreign government.

The bill also requires:

• Large defense contractors to submit a report of their lobbying activities, including who they’re meeting with, what they’re lobbying about, and what (unclassified) information they’re sharing;
• The secretary of defense to publish online copies of unclassified DOD contracts; and
• Military services to maintain public websites with the names, biographies, and any associated financial disclosures, as well as DOD Inspector General reports and command climate surveys, regarding all active and reserve component senior military officers.

Congressman Andy Kim, who introduced as the House companion bill to Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Senate Bill 2050, said in his press release the government needs “to prevent conflicts of interest, root out corruption, waste, and fraud so [military] officials can focus on the mission in front of them.”

On October 2, a provincial by-election will be held in the electoral division of Jean-Talon, located in Quebec City, for the Quebec National Assembly.

The election will be held to fill the vacant seat of former Member of the National Assembly Joëlle Boutin, a member of the governing Coalition Avenir Québec, who resigned on July 19 in order to join the private sector. The seat became vacant on July 31.

The by-election was announced by the government of Quebec on August 30.

On August 10, the Federal Election Commission moved a step closer to addressing “deliberately deceptive Artificial Intelligence (AI) campaign advertisements.”

On July 13, the commission had received a Petition for Rulemaking asking the FEC to make it clear that the related statutory prohibition applies to deliberately deceptive AI campaign advertisements.

In response, the FEC issued REG 2023-02 (Artificial Intelligence in Campaign Ads) Draft Notification of Availability to seek written public comments on the Petition.

The notification will be published in the Federal Register at a future date along with the deadline for comments, according to the FEC press release.

On July 27, legislation was introduced in the U.S. Senate that would implement a lifetime ban on Members of Congress from ever becoming lobbyists.

The Close the Revolving Door Act, introduced by Sen. Jon Tester, aims to provide greater controls and restrictions on revolving door lobbying.

Additionally, the bill would ban lobbyists from working for members of Congress and Committees with whom they had a substantial lobbying contact in the previous six years; create a website entitled lobbyists.gov for searchable disclosures on lobbying activities; and increase penalties for violating the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) from $200,000 to $500,000.

Lobbying firms paying former members of Congress or senior congressional staff as employees, contractors, or for consulting services would have increased disclosure requirements under the LDA.

“I came to the Senate to fight for working families and defend our Montana way of life, and I don’t think any Member of Congress should cash out on the privilege of public service,” said Tester in his press release.

On July 24, a Canadian federal by-election will be held in the electoral district of Calgary Heritage (Alberta) to fill a vacancy in the House of Commons.

Calgary Heritage’s Member of Parliament, Bob Benzen, had announced in October of 2022 his desire to resign and return to private life.

On January 5 of this year, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Stéphane Perrault, received official notice from the Speaker of the House of Commons that Benzen’s seat was vacant.

The date for the election was not announced until June 18, which signaled the start of the by-election period.

On July 1, the updated edition of Canada’s federal Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct will come into force.

A new gift limit for lobbyists is imposed, allowing up to $40 for gifts and hospitality for an official they lobby or expect to lobby. The intention of the limit is to avoid the creation of a sense of obligation on the part of the official. The new gift limit has an annual maximum amount of $200, per calendar year, from one lobbying source. Lobbyists may still provide sponsored travel to officials they do not lobby or expect to lobby. However, given the costs of sponsored travel, providing travel to an official by a lobbyist for an official they lobby or expect to lobby could reasonably be seen to create a sense of obligation on the part of that official and be prohibited if over $40. The commissioner, on an annual basis, has the option to take inflation into account in adjusting the individual and annual gift limit amounts.

Lobbyists engaged in certain political work, acting in certain leadership or senior political roles, or fundraising “that could reasonably be seen to be significant to the official” are subject to a cooling-off period. The cooling-off period, for which an individual cannot lobby the official benefited, ranges between 12 to 24 months.

One of the purposes of the new code is to make the rules clear and comprehensive, according to the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada. The commissioner’s office states that lobbyists obligations are described in “plain language” and will eliminate the need for separate guidance documents.

On June 19, federal by-elections will be held in the electoral districts of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount (Quebec), Oxford (Ontario), Winnipeg South Centre (Manitoba) and Portage–Lisgar (Manitoba) to fill vacancies in the House of Commons.

From December 2022 until March of this year, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Stéphane Perrault, received four separate official notices from the Speaker of the House of Commons that the seats were vacant. However, the dates for the election were not announced until May 14, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a single election date for all four of the vacant seats in the House of Commons.

Three of the seats became vacant by retirement, and the fourth, for Winnipeg South Centre, became vacant upon the death of MP Jim Carr. The announcement date of the by-elections signals the start of the by-election period.

On June 19, federal by-elections will be held in the electoral districts of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount (Quebec), Oxford (Ontario), Winnipeg South Centre (Manitoba), and Portage–Lisgar (Manitoba) to fill vacancies in the House of Commons.

From December 2022 until March of this year, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Stéphane Perrault, received four separate official notices from the Speaker of the House of Commons that the seats were vacant. However, the dates for the election were not announced until May 14, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a single election date for all four of the vacant seats in the House of Commons.

Three of the seats became vacant by retirement, and the fourth, for Winnipeg South Centre, became vacant upon the death of MP Jim Carr. The announcement date of the by-elections signals the start of the by-election period.

Elections Canada published the updated limits on expenses for regulated activities of third parties involved in federal elections in Canada.

The Canada Elections Act imposes a limit on expenses a third party can incur for regulated political activities.

For the period of April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, a third party is prohibited from incurring overall election advertising expenses of a total amount of more than $579,950 during a general election. The previous limit was $543,200.

For the same period of April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, a third party is prohibited from incurring election advertising expenses in a given electoral district of a total amount of more than $4,971 during a general election. The previous limit was $4,656.

Adjustments are made annually based on a formula of a base amount multiplied by the inflation adjustment factor in effect for the period.