California Gift Limits and Contribution Limits Raised

The California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) held its November meeting, approving many changes for 2023.

The FPPC raised the annual gift limit to $590 and clarified the phrase “arrange for the making of a gift.”

The FPPC also expanded and further explained how a lobbyist or lobbying firm “places an official under personal obligation.”

The contribution limits have been adjusted to match increases in the cost of living, raising the limit for Senate or Assembly to $10,900 and $36,400 for governor.

The new limits take effect January 1, 2023.

Henderson voters have approved ballot question 1, amending the city charter to require that a candidate for city council be voted upon by only the registered voters of the ward that candidate seeks to represent.

Before today, all voters in Henderson voted for each ward representative.

The question was on the ballot after a mandate passed in the state legislature requiring Henderson to put the matter to a vote.

King County, Washington voters have approved Charter Amendment 1.

The amendment moves elections for county executive, county assessor, county director of elections, and county council members to even-numbered years.

For each position currently in an odd-year term, the current term is changed to a three year term to move to an even-numbered schedule.

Voters have approved Proposition H.

Proposition H changes city elections to even-numbered years.

The Mayor, Sheriff, District Attorney, City Attorney, and Treasurer will have their terms end on January 8, 2025, rather than in 2024 to accommodate for the new even-numbered year elections.

Voters in Nevada have passed ballot question 3, which establishes open top-five primaries and ranked-choice voting for all congressional, gubernatorial, state official, and state legislative elections.

An open primary is a nonpartisan primary, from which the top five candidates, regardless of party, are sent to the general election.

Ranked choice voting allows people to vote for multiple candidates for each office, ranked in order of their preference.

Once the votes are tallied, if no candidate wins the majority vote, the lower performing candidates are eliminated until a clear winner is produced.

City Council approved a special election to fill the empty District 6 seat on April 4, 2023, with a runoff taking place June 27 if necessary.

The election follows Nury Martinez’s resignation after a leaked conversation about redistricting was made public.

In the recording, Martinez with fellow council members Gil Cedillo and Kevin De Leon were heard using racist and demeaning language when discussing how to manipulate the city’s redistricting process.

After pressure for all three to resign, only Martinez has stepped down.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he plans to call a special legislative session on December 5 to tackle California’s escalating gas prices.

Currently, California’s average gas price is consistently over $2 more than the national average.

Newsom has requested the Legislature to approve a new tax that would require oil companies to pay back excessive profits to consumers.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1439, expanding pay-to-play regulations.

The prohibition on agency officials accepting a contribution of more than $250 during and following a proceeding involving a license, permit, or other entitlement for use is extended by the bill from three months to 12 months following the final decision.

The bill removes the exception for elected local government officials, applying to them the same restrictions as state officials.

The bill also creates a duty for a party to a proceeding to disclose whether that party or the party’s agent has made a contribution of more than $250 in the 12 months before the proceeding.

This bill becomes effective January 1, 2023.

Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices, Jeff Mangan, has announced his retirement, effective November 7.

During his almost six-year tenure, Mangan was celebrated by Republicans and Democrats alike for his nonpartisan approach to the role.

Before leaving office, Mangan is focusing on shoring up protections for election officials in response to the uptick of hostility towards the country’s election integrity.

Mangan stated his reason for stepping down early was to return to the private sector.

Gov. Greg Gianforte will select the next commissioner from a shortlist submitted to him by lawmakers.

The Spokane City Council voted Monday to raise the individual donor limit to $1,000 and to clear redundancies in the city’s Fair Elections Code.

The council decided, due to advances in Washington’s campaign finance statutes, that the city’s current campaign finance laws created uncertainty and were redundant.

The council moved to incorporate the State’s definitions and current individual donor limit.

The new limit will take effect October 26, 2022.

The Idaho Legislature has adjourned after one day of deliberation, passing a $1 billion package to cut taxes and increase education funding.

The bill allocates $500 million in tax rebates to be distributed to all Idahoans who filed taxes in 2020; reduces the state income tax rate to 5.8% while exempting the first $2,500 of income for all filers; and assigns $410 million for education funding.

This does affect lobbyist reporting.

A lobbyist activity report for the month of September will be due October 15.

The California State Legislature has adjourned for the year, but not before passing several bills concerning lobbying, campaign finance, and procurement in the twilight hours of the session.

Among the bills currently awaiting signature by Gov. Gavin Newsom are Senate Bill 459 and Senate Bill 1360.

Senate Bill 459 requires lobbyists, lobbying firms, and lobbyist employers to include information in the quarterly reports that identifies each bill or administrative action lobbied.

Senate Bill 459 also requires lobbying firms to file additional disclosures for lobbying activity during the last 60 days of a scheduled legislative session and requires specified reports for issue lobbying advertisements if a person spends $5,000 or more in a calendar quarter.

Senate Bill 1360 requires certain political advertisements to identify the top contributors to the campaign committee paying for the advertisement without regard to any minimum contribution threshold.

The bill also makes additional changes to the disclosure requirements for political advertisements, including changes to the required form, content, and presentation of the disclosures depending on the medium in which the advertisement appears.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little announced a special session starting September 1, focusing on education funding and cutting taxes.

During the special session, legislators will debate a bill that features the largest tax cut and investment in education funding in the state’s history.

This special session comes on the heels of Idaho’s historic surplus, one that has the possibility of creating $2 billion.

This does affect lobbyist reporting.

A lobbyist activity report for the month of September will be due October 15.

The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) of California voted to allow contributions to political candidates in cryptocurrency.

Until now, contributions made in cryptocurrency were banned under all circumstances.

Under the new regulation, the contribution must immediately be converted into dollars upon making the contribution and the cryptocurrency must be processed through an exchange registered with the U.S. Department of Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

An exchange is the marketplace where cryptocurrency is converted to different types of tender, including USD and the exchange can charge transaction fees.

The limits on cryptocurrency are the same as any non-cash contribution.

When reporting cryptocurrency contributions, the amount of the contribution is the fair market value of the cryptocurrency at the time the exchange obtains possession of the contribution and any amounts charged or withheld by the exchange must be reported by the committee as expenditures at the time the fees are deducted or charged.