David Thiele became the Executive Director of the newly formed Ethics Commission at the beginning of the year and chaired the first meeting of the commission January 22.

Thiele, a Bismarck resident and former judge advocate for the U.S. Army, said his background as an attorney and ethics counselor for the National Guard will help him establish ethics rules.

State law gives the commission nine months from its creation (April 2020) to take preliminary steps to create the new rules.

Thiele believes he can meet this goal, but noted the Commission will give members of the public a chance to comment and could ask for an extension, if necessary.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos announced a special session to introduce bills regarding the state’s dairy crisis.

Gov. Tony Evers, in his State of the State address on January 22, called for the Legislature to convene a special session to address the dairy crisis.

Wisconsin lost 10% of the state’s dairy farms in 2019, breaking the previous year’s record high of 7.25%.

The governor wants the Legislature to act on a package of proposals to assist rural Wisconsin.

The Missouri Ethics Commission increased contribution limits for state House and Senate candidates.

The per election limits have increased from $2,000 to $2,046 for House candidates and from $2,500 to $2,559 for Senate candidates.

The inflationary adjustments are the first under a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2018.

The $5 lobbyist gift limit for members of the General Assembly remains unchanged.

There are several bills pending in the House and Senate that would lower contribution limits.

Progress Michigan is seeking to amend the state constitution to

• • Ban lobbyists and their clients from giving gifts, including meals, drinks, and trips, to public officials
  • Require lobbyists and public officials to make a public record of their phone calls, meetings, and other communications with each other
  • Require a two-year cooling off period before public officials could become lobbyists
  • Ban contingency pay for lobbyists

Progress Michigan is part of the Coalition to Close Lansing Loopholes, which filed proposed language with the state for the November 2020 ballot.

A constitutional amendment requires the group to collect signatures of registered voters equal to at least 10% of the number of votes cast for all candidates in the last gubernatorial election, or at least 425,055 valid signatures by July 6.

The group is seeking a constitutional amendment, rather than a legislative initiative, which requires fewer signatures, to prevent the Legislature from amending the proposal.

John Cullerton, a Democrat from the North Side, resigned from Senate District 6 after more than four decades in office. Cullerton served as the 38th president of the state Senate.

Sen. Don Harmon, a Democrat from Oak Park, was elected unanimously to replace Cullerton as Senate president.

Democratic ward and township committeemen within the 6th District have 30 days after Cullerton’s resignation to name a replacement.

Because Cullerton did not file paperwork for his retirement with the Secretary of the Senate, there will not be a primary for the seat in March.

Local Democratic and Republican party leaders in Cullerton’s district will select who will be on the November ballot to finish out Cullerton’s term ending January 2023.

The Bureau of Elections posted the Lobby Registration Act 2020 Reporting Thresholds.

Thresholds change every year in January to reflect the change in the consumer price index for Detroit.

The registration threshold for a lobbyist agent or a lobbyist’s expenditure on one public official during a 12-month period has increased from $625 to $650.

The threshold for a lobbyist compensating a lobbyist agent or other employee increased from $2,500 to $2,525 for any 12-month period.

The financial transaction threshold between a registered lobbyist or lobbyist agent and a public official increased from $1,250 to $1,275.

Food and beverage expenditures for a public official increased from $62 in any month and $375 in any year to $63 and $400 respectively.

The general gift threshold also increased from $62 to $63.

Travel and lodging reimbursements, employee reimbursements, exempt expenditures, late filing fees remain the same as last year.

The Chicago Board of Ethics issued a press release and three binding advisory opinions.

These opinions clarify what does and does not constitute lobbying activity by nonprofit organizations.

The opinions include a total of 44 scenarios or hypothetical situations addressing concerns raised by the nonprofit community in response to recently passed amendments to lobbying laws.

Effective April 20, Ethics Ordinance 2019-5305 imposes new registration and reporting requirements on certain nonprofit interactions with the city.

Sen. Dan Hegeman, a Republican from Cosby, is sponsoring a Joint Resolution for a constitutional amendment which would ban all gifts from lobbyists or lobbyist principals.

Additionally, the bill will reduce contributions made to or accepted by any candidate or committee from $2,500 to $2,000.

The proposed constitutional amendment also repeals the redistricting system approved by voters in 2018 through Amendment 1.

If passed, the proposed amendment would be voted on by the state on November 3, or at a special election to be called by the governor for that purpose.

Democrat Cynthia Neeley and Republican Adam Ford won the House District 34 special primaries held on January 7.

Less than 7% of Flint’s 62,242 registered voters participated in the special election.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called the election after Cynthia Neeley’s husband, Sheldon was elected Flint’s mayor.

A general election is set for March 10.

The candidate chosen March 10 will finish the remainder of Sheldon Neeley’s term, set to expire on December 31, 2020.

A special election has been called for Senate District 11 to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Martin Sandoval, effective January 1, 2020.

Sandoval resigned amid a federal corruption investigation.

The primary will be held on March 17 and the general election will be November 3.

On February 4, 2020, special elections will be held to fill vacancies in Minnesota House Districts 30A and 60A.

Rep. Diane Loeffler, a Democrat from Minneapolis, died in November creating the vacancy in District 60A.

Rep. Nick Zerwas, a Republican from Elk River, resigned from District 30A on December 6 to focus on spending time with his family.

The special primary for District 30A will be held January 14, while the special primary for District 60A will be held January 21.

The later date for District 60A accommodates college students living in the district who return that day to the University of Minnesota for spring semester.

Gov. Andy Beshear called a special election to fill two open seats in House District 67 and House District 99.

Rep. Rocky Adkins, a Democrat from Sandy Hook resigned to become Beshear’s senior adviser.

Rep. Dennis Keene, a Democrat from Wilder, resigned to become commissioner of the Department of Local Government.

The elections will be held February 25, 2020.

The city of Chicago announced a three-month delay for the effective date of an ordinance expanding the definition of lobbyist.

The expansion would include persons acting on behalf of a nonprofit if they undertake those efforts as a matter of professional engagement, regardless of pay or compensation.

Ethics Ordinance 2019-5305, originally scheduled to be effective January 1, 2020, will provide exceptions to the registration requirements for persons who, either as a member of, or on behalf of, a not-for-profit entity conduct nonpartisan analysis or research, provide technical advice, or examine broad social and economic problems.

Co-chairs Sen. Elgie R. Sims, Jr. and Rep. Greg Harris called the first hearing of the new Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform.

The hearing will take place Monday, December 23 at 10 a.m. in Room 16-503 of the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago.

The hearing will include a discussion about the commission’s framework of rules, protocols, and future meetings.

The commission was established to review and make recommendations for changes to the State Official and Employees Ethics Act, the Lobbyist Registration Act, the Public Officers Prohibited Activities Act, and Article 50 of the Illinois Procurement Code.