New Jersey Governor Chris Christie renewed calls on the Legislature to pass ethics reform. In a press release, the governor stated, “New Jersey’s ethics laws remain a patchwork of ineffective half measures and loopholes that fail to apply a uniform standard of rules of conduct for all levels of government in our state.”

Highlighting a report issued last week by the State Comptroller which emphasized the failure of the state’s pay-to-play laws, the governor reiterated the need for the changes in his proposals, which include imposing a uniform standard for awarding contracts at all levels and branches of government in New Jersey. His proposals would also end ‘wheeling,’ a practice of transferring political donations to circumvent campaign financing laws.

Governor Christie has pushed pay-to-play reform in New Jersey by linking financial Transitional Aid to municipalities with the requirement the municipalities adopt local pay-to-play ordinances.

A post about the State Comptroller report can be found here.

Federal:

New Rule Would Expand Tight Obama Lobbying Rules to All Federal Workers

‘Revolving Door’ of Employment between Congress, Lobbying Firms, Study Shows

Without Scandal, Lobby Reform Stalls

From the States and Municipalities:

Colorado

Gessler to Help Raise Cash to Pay off GOP Fine

Delaware

Social Media Policy Rejected

Kentucky

Gubernatorial Candidates Back ‘No Cup of Coffee’ Rule

Massachusetts

Disgraced DiMasi Is Given Eight Years

Montana

Conservative Groups File New Lawsuit over Montana Election Laws

New Jersey

Report: Serious flaws in N.J. ‘pay-to-play’ law

New York

Former Hospital Chief Convicted of Offering Bribes to Albany Legislators

North Carolina

Groups Seek to Overturn N.C. Campaign Spending Law

South Dakota

Ethics Rules for State Workers Weak, Critics Say

Texas

Anita Perry’s Salary Comes Indirectly from Governor’s Backers

State and Federal Communications produces a weekly summary of national news, offering more than 80 articles per week focused on ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance.

News You Can Use is a news service provided at no charge only to clients of our online Executive Source Guides, or ALERTS™ consulting clients.

Jim Sedor is editor of News You Can Use.

One measure limits gifts to the mayor and councilors to $50 or less. Another measure creates an ethics board to enforce the newly created gift limits.

The measures were somewhat controversial because many thought the gift restrictions were not strict enough.

 Federal:

Bipartisan Bill Would Require Transparency of Super Committee

Facing Voter Discontent, Lawmakers Skip Town Halls

Lobbying Groups Take a Stand

Members of Debt Panel Have Ties to Lobbyists

From the States and Municipalities:

California

Campaign Accountant Held in Theft of Funds

Connecticut

Watchdog Agencies Spared as Malloy Nails Down Budget Cuts

Georgia

Ethics Chief Arrives Amid Makeover

Rhode Island

R.I. Rep. Leo Medina Is Charged with a Felony

Washington

Seattle City Employee to Be Fined for Driving City Car to Casino

Wisconsin

Attorney: New Wisconsin ad rules too broad

State and Federal Communications produces a weekly summary of national news, offering more than 80 articles per week focused on ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance.

News You Can Use is a news service provided at no charge only to clients of our online Executive Source Guides, or ALERTS™ consulting clients.

Jim Sedor is editor of News You Can Use.

The Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission has issued recommendations to reform the state code of ethics.

The Commission has recommended repealing the provision allowing lobbyists to spend $100 annually on food and beverages for each legislative official and their respective families.

Further, the Commission has recommended that candidates for the state legislature be subjected to the same gift restrictions as legislative officials.

This would include a prohibition on the receipt of anything of value from lobbyists.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy is set to name David L. Guay as the head of Connecticut’s newly created Office of Governmental Accountability.

Guay was one of three finalists for the position of executive administrator recommended to the governor in July by the heads of the nine agencies comprising the new Office of Governmental Accountability, including the Office of State Ethics and the State Elections Enforcement Commission.

Guay has served as the executive director of the Board of Accountancy since 1989, and has also held the position of director of election campaign finance services.

Guay’s new position calls for assisting each of the nine agencies in meeting their needs, while also promoting autonomy over the watchdog function each agency provides.

A report by state Auditor Thomas Schweich found that the Missouri Ethics Commission is underfunded and understaffed.

The ethics commission was given new responsibilities in 2010, including additional abilities to initiate investigations and enforce new campaign finance laws.

The commission had been seeking seven new employees to address the new responsibilities, but budgetary constraints led to only two new hires.

The auditor’s report suggests raising lobbyist registration fees to increase revenue.

The report notes, “According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Missouri’s current lobbyist registration fee of $10 per year is one of the five lowest registration fees in the nation.”

Andrea McNamara Doyle has been selected to be the new director of the Washington Public Disclosure Commission.

Doyle, who has previous experience as a government manager and legislative staff attorney, was chosen from 71 applicants after a several month search.

She will replace interim director Doug Ellis who is retiring from the agency later this year.

Governor Nathan Deal has appointed B. Chan Caudell to replace Josh Belinfante as a member of the State Ethics Commission.

Caudell is an attorney and former commissioner of Habersham County, Georgia. He also serves on the board of directors for North Georgia Technical College and is vice chair of Common Cause Georgia as well as the State Bar of Georgia advisory committee that reviews legislation.

Belinfante resigned last week, stating he was looking into running for state senate.

Josh Belinfante, Vice Chairman of the State Ethics Commission, has announced he is resigning his position in order to consider a run for state senate. While he has yet to commit to running for the position, Belinfante has indicated an interest in the seat for senate district 6 following the release of the proposed maps for redistricting.

Belinfante’s resignation comes on the heels of the recent announcement by Chairman Patrick Millsaps that he will be stepping down from his position due to what he has determined to be his illegal appointment by Governor Nathan Deal.

The State Ethics Commission is also currently engaged in the process of finding a person to fill the role of Executive Secretary for the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission following the departure of Stacey Kalberman.

Kalberman’s departure and the termination of the Deputy Executive Secretary position, once held by Sherilyn Streicker, were the result of cost-cutting maneuvers implemented by members of the Commission this past June.

Lorne Malkiewich, the director of the Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau, has announced he is retiring before the next regular legislative session in 2013.

Malkiewich told the Reno Gazette-Journal, “I am applying for some jobs and if I get them, then obviously, it would be sooner,” he said. “But otherwise, it will probably be sometime next fall (of 2012). I just wanted to give leadership some notice so they will be able to work on recruiting a new director and things like that.” One of the duties of the Legislative Counsel Bureau is handling lobbyist registration, reporting, and information services.

Malkiewich has been with the Legislative Counsel Bureau since 1981.

Photo of the Nevada State Capitol by Dave Parker on Wikipedia.

The Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission has announced two finalists for the position of Executive Secretary.

Holly A. LaBerge, one of the finalists, is a former Budget Analyst for the House Budget Office and presently the Director of Government Relations for the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council.

The other finalist is Jerry R. Presley, who has previously been a candidate for public office in the state of Georgia, a registered lobbyist, and the city clerk of Baldwin, Georgia. He is currently the president and owner of Public Policy Consultants of Georgia, L.L.C. No timeline has been set for selecting the new Executive Secretary.

The Frederick County Board of Commissioners voted to have a public hearing for a new ethics ordinance which, among other things, would no longer require lobbyists to disclose their annual income.

Based on one of the state’s recommended models for local ethics laws for counties and cities, the ordinance drew concerns by commissioners that the requirements for lobbyists could be weaker than those currently in place. As an example, Frederick County’s requirements for registration and reporting for grassroots lobbying are not included in the proposed ordinance, which would supersede the current law.

The public hearing has been scheduled for September 6.

On July 28, 2011 the Chicago City Council passed a new ethics reform ordinance. The ordinance is part of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s efforts to provide more government transparency.

The new ordinance includes five key provisions. First, it creates a searchable online system for lobbyist registration and reporting. Second, it adds the term “lobbyist” to the group of people subject to the $50 gift restriction per single non-cash gift and $100 aggregated gift limit per each calendar year. Third, the new ordinance prohibits city employees, officials, or their businesses from applying for or receiving loans from lobbyists.

Fourth, the ordinance amends the semi-annual lobbyist activity report form to require lobbyists to disclose all campaign contributions to city elected officials and city employees running for office. Lastly, the ordinance codifies the revolving door provision created by Mayor Emanuel’s May 16, 2011 executive order.

Photo of the Chicago River by Robert S. Donovan on Wikipedia.