Governor Matt Mead has signed a campaign finance bill to increase contribution limits and decrease criminal penalties for violations. House Bill 187 increases contribution limits to $2,500 per candidate for statewide office and to $1,500 per candidate for non-statewide office. Currently, the limit is $1,000 for both statewide and non-statewide campaigns.

The bill also increases the total individual contribution limit from $25,000 to $50,000 per two-year election cycle. Contributions from PACs, currently unlimited, will be limited to $7,500 per candidate for statewide office and $3,000 per candidate for non-statewide office.

The penalty for a first violation of the limits will drop from $10,000 to $5,000 and filing a false report will no longer be a felony. The bill becomes effective January 1, 2015.

The Senate has passed a campaign finance reform bill, including a provision allowing public financing of local campaigns. House Bill 1499 raises campaign contribution limits, for the first time in two decades, from $10,000 to $24,000 within a four-year election cycle. The bill also curbs giving through multiple corporate entities for the purpose of evading contribution limits, increases reporting requirements, and gives the State Board of Elections new enforcement powers.

An amendment to remove a public financing option for counties was rejected by a 25-16 vote.

The Senate passed House Bill 1499 and cross-filed Senate Bill 1039 on Wednesday, April 3, 2013 by a 45-2 vote. The bill now must be reconciled with a different version passed by the House.

Legislators have passed an ethics overhaul capping lobbyist gifts at $75 and eliminating a prior proposal to require lobbying registration for volunteer advocates. The House and Senate voted unanimously for House Bill 142 shortly before adjournment on Thursday, March 28, 2013.

This is the state’s first limitation on gifts to public officials. Exceptions to the $75 limit include committee dinners, dinners for caucuses, and certain lobbyist-funded travel. The $75 cap is per occurrence and per lobbyist.

There is no explicit limit on the number of gifts permitted. As part of the deal, volunteers will not have to register as lobbyists unless they are reimbursed $250 or more in expenses from an organization.

UPDATE: The bill will also remove the $300 lobbyist registration and renewal fee when it becomes effective on January 1, 2014, following approval by the Governor

The Senate approved its version of a House ethics bill on Friday, March 25, 2013. Now the House and Senate are seeking common ground between the different versions of House Bill 142.

The House version of the bill bans most gifts from lobbyists to individual legislators, but allows unlimited gifts to legislative groups. The Senate version imposes a $100 gift cap and erases the exception for legislative groups, but does not limit the number of gifts allowed. The Senate version also erases the House version’s expanded lobbyist registration for unpaid advocates.

Both chambers are expected to appoint a joint committee to negotiate in an effort to reach compromise before the session reaches its scheduled end on Thursday, March 28, 2013.

Photo of the Georgia State Capitol dome by Connor Carey on Wikipedia.

The City Ethics Commission is upgrading the Lobbyist Electronic Filing System (LEFS) at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 27, through 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 1, 2013.

Filers will not have access to LEFS and will not be able to file or amend registrations and quarterly reports during this time.

Lobbyists and authorized signers for firms must submit a paper CEC Form 59 by April 1 in order to use the new paperless system.

Photo of the Los Angeles City Hall by Brion Vibber on Wikipedia.

Governor Jerry Brown has called a special election for Senate District 16 to fill a vacancy following the resignation of Senator Michael Rubio.

The primary will be held May 21, 2013.

If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, a special general election will be held on July 23, 2013.

A bill to change lobbying regulations has passed the House and is currently in the Senate Committee on Public Policy.

House Bill 1222 expands the definition of lobbying to include communications with any legislative employee and requires lobbyists to file registration statements and activity reports electronically.

The bill also increases the annual lobbyist registration fee from $100 to $200 and makes the lobbyist registration year match the current lobbyist reporting period.

The bill passed the House 94-0 on February 25, 2013.

This year’s push for ethics reform in several state legislatures could not happen fast enough for some elected officials. Georgia’s Senate and Missouri’s Secretary of State, Jason Kander, decided on day one to take matters into their own hands by adopting new gift rules for their respective offices.

The Georgia Senate imposed a $100 limit on gifts from lobbyists. Senators approved the gift cap on the opening day of the 2013 General Assembly session as part of new rules governing the chamber’s operations for the current two-year term. The new rule does not apply to travel costs or to gifts provided to groups of senators, including committees. The rule does allow lobbyists to give $100 gifts on multiple occasions. Meanwhile, House Speaker David Ralston has unveiled an ethics reform bill aimed at expanding the definition of a lobbyist and restricting lobbyist gifts. House Bill 142 would ban even the smallest expenditure of a lobbyist if for the benefit of a single member of the General Assembly. Lobbyists would still be permitted to spend on committees, caucuses, and expenses to public officers for trips to conferences and meetings.

Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, sworn in on January 14, 2013, announced a new ethics policy as part of his “Day 1 Achievements.” The new policy prohibits the staff in his office from accepting gifts from lobbyists. State administrative policy already curtails what state employees may accept from lobbyists, but agencies are free to adopt stricter guidelines. Additionally, Missouri’s House and Senate are both considering bills to curb lobbyist spending. House Bill 139 would prohibit General Assembly members, family, and staff from accepting more than $1,000 per calendar year from lobbyists. Senate Bill 181 would prohibit statewide elected officials, legislators, staff, employees, and family from accepting gifts over $50 from a lobbyist.

The House of Representatives has passed ethics legislation to bar lobbyist gifts to individual lawmakers and enact new rules on lobbyist registration.

House Bill 142 passed 164-4 on Monday, February 26, 2013 and now goes to the Senate.

Critics hope the Senate provides a limit for the gift ban exceptions, which allow for unlimited gifts to groups of legislators such as committees and caucuses.

Two ethics reform bills will likely be voted on by the full House on Monday, February 25, 2013. House Bill 142, sponsored by Speaker David Ralston, would ban lobbyist spending on individual lawmakers, return regulatory powers to the state ethics commission, and require activists representing an organization to register as lobbyists.

House Bill 143, also sponsored by Ralston, would require lawmakers to file a report early in the legislative session detailing campaign contributions and expenditures during the five-day period before the Legislature convenes.

Photo of the Georgia State Capitol by Autiger on Wikipedia.

The House Government and Veterans Affairs Committee held hearings on February 14, 2013, regarding the establishment of an ethics commission to investigate alleged acts of wrongdoing by elected officials and lobbyists.

House Bill 1442 would create an ethics commission consisting of nine members. Four members are to be appointed by legislators and the remaining five would be appointed by the governor.

North Dakota is currently one of nine states without an ethics commission.

Ann Ravel, Chair of the Fair Political Practices Commission, has assigned a working group to take on issues relating to lobbying disclosure practices. Currently, lobbying disclosure forms allow reporting of huge sums in a catch-all category requiring no detailed reporting to authorities.

State law allows groups hiring lobbyists to report spending related to lobbying, but not meeting the legal definition of lobbying, as a single lump sum in a category listed as “other payments to influence.” Over the past 12 years, lobbying groups have listed in this category over one-quarter of the $2.9 billion spent on lobbying efforts.

The working group is set to include lobbyists, watchdog representatives, and political lawyers.

House Speaker David Ralston has unveiled an ethics reform bill aimed at expanding the definition of a lobbyist and restricting gifts from a lobbyist. House Bill 142 would define a lobbyist to include an individual who advocates for the purpose of influencing a public officer whether the individual is compensated or working pro bono.

The new definition does away with both the $1,000 expenditure and 10 percent time spent thresholds for lobbyist registration. The bill, as originally filed, would ban even the smallest expenditure of a lobbyist if for the benefit of a single member of the General Assembly.

Lobbyists would still be permitted to spend on committees, caucuses, and expenses to public officers for trips to conferences and meetings.

The Commission on Ethics Reform, formed by Governor Nikki Haley in October, 2012, has released 23 recommendations following a series of public meetings. Recommendation 12 would revise lobbying definitions to cover individuals who lobby any political subdivision of the state, including counties, city councils, municipalities, school districts, and special purpose or public service districts.

The commission hopes to offset the additional cost associated with expanding lobbying registration and reporting by increasing the registration fee for lobbyists and lobbyist principals. Whether or not the reform recommendations will produce new legislation is up to state lawmakers.