The Ethics Commission will conduct two interested persons meetings following a report comparing the city’s campaign finance, enforcement, and lobbying laws with the laws of the city of Los Angeles.

Discussion topics include whether or not the city should increase pay-to-play restrictions, prohibit political contributions from lobbyists, and whether to adopt more stringent enforcement policies.

The meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. in Room 408 of City Hall and for Monday, December 10, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. in Room 416 of City Hall.

Feedback may also be sent by email to ethics.commission@sfgov.org.

On November 20, 2012, lawmakers met for Organization Day, the first official day of the 118th General Assembly.

Lawmakers will reconvene on January 7 for the start of the legislative session, which must be adjourned by April 29, 2013.

Organization Day is largely procedural, including the ceremonial swearing in of new and reelected members.

Photo of the Indiana State House by Jasont82 in Wikipedia Creative Commons.

The Board of Commissioners of the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission has issued an order for lobbyists with unpaid fines, fees, and unfiled reports.

The commission will deny lobbyist renewal for 2013 to individuals registered with outstanding fees for previous registrations, supplemental registrations, or identification cards.

The commission will also deny lobbyist renewal to individuals with unpaid fines or unfiled reports previously due.

The order goes into effect on December 16, 2012.

A special election will be held to fill the House District 17 seat, left vacant by Tom Corbin following the November 6, 2012 election. Corbin, elected to both the House and Senate, resigned as a state representative November 12th to become a state senator.

Filing for the open seat begins November 30th and closes December 10, 2012. Primaries will be January 22nd followed by possible runoffs on February 5, 2013. The special election will be held on March 12, 2013.

The Georgia Alliance for Ethics Reform is holding town hall meetings throughout the state to encourage citizen feedback on comprehensive ethics reform to be introduced in the 2013 legislative session. Senator Josh McKoon plans to pre-file ethics legislation in four separate bills by mid-December.

The legislation will include a comprehensive bill, a $100 gift limit bill, and two constitutional amendments to regulate funding for the ethics commission and to authorize a statewide grand jury to investigate corruption.

The next stop on the town hall tour will be in Columbus on November 27th.

The Georgia Alliance for Ethics Reform includes Common Cause Georgia, Georgia Conservatives in Action, Georgia Tea Party Patriots, League of Women Voters in Georgia, and Georgia Watch.

Mayor Joshua J. Cohen has introduced legislation to revise the city’s ethics code, based upon recommendations prepared by the City Ethics Commission. Ordinance 41-12 will grant the commission additional power to impose penalties for ethics violations and will prohibit city officials from accepting tickets to sporting events.

The proposed legislation was reviewed and approved by the State Ethics Commission in late October. Annapolis is required by a 2011 state law to revise certain provisions of its ethics code.

Voters approved an amendment to the state constitution requiring the governor and lieutenant governor to run on the same ticket.

Beginning with the general election of 2018, the lieutenant governor will no longer be elected separately and will no longer preside over the senate.

Voters defeated Proposition 32 and the effort to prohibit corporations and unions from collecting money for state political activities through paycheck deductions. The initiative would have impacted unions the most since corporations rarely deduct money from employee pay for political activities.

If Proposition 32 had passed, unions and corporations would have been prohibited from making donations directly to state candidates. It would not have stopped corporations, individuals, or unions from spending unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns through independent expenditure committees.

A federal court’s preliminary injunction has found the state’s 100-year ban on election-day campaigning to be an unreasonable restraint on free speech. The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Competitive Politics, a pro-free speech group. The Center represents Gary Emineth, who wishes to post yard signs on his property, distribute fliers, and discuss the upcoming election with his neighbors.

The North Dakota statute bans any person, on election day, from trying to induce or persuade others to support or oppose any candidate or ballot measure.

The court’s ruling also orders state officials to refrain from prosecuting any person for a violation of N.D.C.C. §16.1-10-06 for the pendency of the case.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has created an independent commission responsible for making recommendations to reform state ethics and open records laws.

The executive order establishes an 11-member panel to review several ethics areas including conflict of interest rules, lobbying regulation, and enforcement of existing laws.

The governor expects a report from the commission by January 28, 2013, just weeks after the beginning of the next legislative session.

Photo of Governor Haley courtesy of Albert N. Milliron on Wikipedia.

City Council has passed the resident-driven Sunshine Ordinance with the intention to make city government more transparent. The ordinance requires builders to hold community meetings in connection with certain developments and calls for online posting of additional information regarding requests for proposals.

Although advocates originally proposed registration requirements for lobbyists, the new law provides only online access to city officials’ scheduled meetings with lobbyists and to information on forms already required to be filed by campaign committees and public officials.

The measure’s effective date will be November 14, 2012, 30 days from Monday’s final vote.

Photo of the Santa Ana City Hall courtesy of Eli Pousson on Wikipedia.

Assembly Bill 481, recently signed by Governor Jerry Brown, is the latest amendment to the Political Reform Act of 1974. The changes are an effort to increase accountability and transparency by requiring faster disclosure of major contributions and independent expenditures occurring shortly before an election.

Definitions for late contributions and late independent expenditures have been expanded to include any aggregated contributions or expenditures of $1,000 or more made within 90 days before the date of the election. Disclosure of these late transactions is required within 24 hours of delivery. The law also requires advertisements to contain a disclosure of the two top contributors of the committee making the independent expenditure.

The Fair Political Practices Commission is currently revising the 2013 filing schedules in preparation of the January 1, 2013 effective date.

The Fair Political Practices Commission has announced cancellation of the October 18, 2012 meeting. Regulations previously scheduled for review included a requirement for political committees to report expenses associated with online communications such as blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. Biennial adjustment reviews of campaign contribution limits, voluntary expenditure ceilings, and gift limits have also been postponed.

These and other potential regulation changes are tentatively scheduled to be considered during the December 13, 2012 commission meeting at 10:00 a.m. The meeting will be held in Board Chambers Room 310, County Administration Center, 1600 Pacific Highway, San Diego, California 92101.

The Oregon Supreme Court has sided with state officials who refused to enforce a ballot measure limiting campaign contributions and spending. In 2006, voters approved Measure 47, but also rejected Measure 46, a constitutional amendment needed in order to allow the Measure 47 regulations.

Then-Secretary of State Bill Bradbury did not enforce Measure 47 based on the failure of Measure 46 and a 1997 decision by the high court finding contributions were protected under Oregon’s constitutional guarantee of free expression. Unless voters change the state constitution, or a future court decides differently, Oregon will continue to allow unlimited campaign contributions.