On February 12, President Barack Obama issued an executive order establishing a minimum wage for federal contractors.

Effective January 1, 2015, contractors and subcontractors for the federal government must pay employees a minimum of $10.10 an hour or $4.90 an hour for employees who are tipped. The wages will be annually adjusted according to the consumer price index.

The order applies only to new contracts starting in 2015.

Beginning in March 2014, contractors with the federal government will have additional disclosure requirements concerning the hiring and employment of veterans and individuals with disabilities.

One regulation change sets up a hiring goal for individuals with disabilities. The goal is for federal contractors and subcontractors to have seven percent of each job group in their workforce staffed with qualified individuals with disabilities, according to the U.S. Labor Department press release released August 27, 2013.

The Labor Department identifies the seven percent goal as an “aspirational utilization goal” and states “the goal is not a quota.” The rule also specifies actions vendors must take in the areas of recruitment, training, record keeping, and policy dissemination. The U.S. Labor Department identifies these rules as being similar to those currently required to promote workplace equality for women and minorities.

Additionally, regulations concerning the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act have been amended to include hiring benchmarks, data collection, and access to a contractor’s documentation related to compliance by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. According to the Labor Department’s notice of the program, contractors will utilize one of two benchmark methods: they can use a benchmark equal to the national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force, or they may establish their own benchmarks using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, data from the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service/Employment and Training Administration, and other factors reflecting a contractor’s hiring circumstances. When listing job openings, contractors must invite applicants to self-identify as protected veterans at both the pre-offer and post-offer phases of the application process. Sample invitations to self-identify will be provided by the Labor Department.

Contractors must document and annually update quantitative comparisons revealing the number of people with disabilities and veterans applying for jobs and the number hired. Contractors must then maintain the information for three years.

On October 28, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa introduced a bill dealing with federal vendor suspensions and debarment.

The Stop Unworthy Spending Act (SUSPEND Act), House Resolution 4435, establishes a Board of Suspension with the General Services Administration for purposes of serving as a centralized body to manage and improve all executive agency suspension and debarment activities. The bill terminates any suspension and debarment office or functions in other executive agencies effective October 1, 2016 but it does allow for some exceptions.

“While the vast majority of contractors and grantees fulfill their obligations, the SUSPEND Act streamlines the procedures for dealing with the ones that do not,” said Issa in a House Oversight Committee press release.

The legislation provides $2 million dollars for each fiscal year from 2015 to 2021 to carry out the functions of the newly created Board.

Eight moms from Portland, Maine, joined hundreds of other moms from across the country to demonstrate on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol in a campaign called the Safe Chemicals Stroller Brigade. The purpose of the demonstration was to raise awareness about unsafe chemicals used in household products and to urge lawmakers to consider updates to the 1976 federal Toxic Substances Control Act, which has not been updated since its passage.

The Maine moms also met with members of the state’s congressional delegation to lobby Congress for the passage of legislation proposed by Maine Sen. Susan Collins. The Chemical Safety Improvement Act would require federal regulators to test chemicals for their health effects across a variety of consumers, including children and pregnant women.

Photo of the United States Capitol by Zack Rudisin in Wikimedia Commons.

Beginning in March of 2014, contractors with the federal government will have additional requirements of disclosure concerning the hiring and employment of veterans and people with disabilities.

One regulation change sets up a hiring goal of people with disabilities for federal contractors and subcontractors. The goal is that seven percent of each job group in their workforce be staffed with qualified individuals with disabilities, according to the U.S. Labor Department press release released August 27, 2013.

The Labor Department identifies the seven percent goal as an “aspirational utilization goal” and states “the goal is not a quota”. The rule also specifies actions vendors must take in the areas of recruitment, training, record keeping, and policy dissemination. The U.S. Labor Department identifies these rules as being similar to those currently required to promote workplace equality for women and minorities.

Additionally, regulations concerning the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act have been amended to include hiring benchmarks, data collection, and allowing access to a contractor’s documentation related to compliance by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

The rules become effective 180 days after their publication in the Federal Register.

On August 19, 2013, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) issued a Legal Advisory to Designated Agency Ethics Officials stating it “now interprets the terms ‘marriage’ and ‘spouse’ to include a same-sex marriage and a same-sex spouse where those terms appear in federal ethics provisions, regardless of the employee’s state of residency.”

The OGE will also interpret the term “relative” to include same-sex spouses.

The directive was created as a result of United States v. Windsor, a U.S. Supreme Court decision made earlier this summer striking down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional. The OGE consulted with the U.S. Department of Justice before making the Legal Advisory, which took effect on the date of the directive, August 19, 2013.

Leaders of corporations, unions, and other organizations responsible for independent political advertisements may have to be identified if a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate yesterday passes.

Senate Bill 791 was introduced jointly by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). The bi-partisan bill, called The Follow the Money Act of 2013, requires entities, regardless of tax status, to identity the funders of any political activity in which the entity engages.

An organization involved in political activity not regulated under the Federal Election Campaign Act will also be subject to a separate set of Internal Revenue Service penalties, including the possible loss of its federal tax exemption.

The Federal Election Commission will be required to replace quarterly reporting with a more frequent reporting schedule and will be required to disclose the information to the general public upon receipt.

Senator Wyden’s press release can be found here.

Video courtesy of Sen. Wyden’s YouTube channel.

“State of the Union 2013: President Obama’s Speech is Just the Beginning” from The White House Blog.

“Check Out This Cool Thing the White House Is Testing For #SOTU” by Nick Judd in TechPresident.

“Upcoming State of the Union Will Be Interactive” by Joseph Marks in Mashable.

“Obama to Do a ‘Hangout’ After State of the Union” by Miranda Neubauer in TechPresident.

“5 things to watch for in the State of the Union” by Carrie Budoff Brown and Reid J. Epstein on Politico.

“The 10 Most Historic State of the Union Moments in Modern History” by Mark Micheli in Government Executive.

“Memorable guests at the State of the Union” by Kourtney Geers in Politico.

“Lobbyists Vie for Mentions in State of the Union” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

“Obama to use State of the Union to make case against spending cuts” by Amie Parnes in The Hill.

The Fifty-Seventh Inauguration Official Website

“Inaugural Funds Raise Questions” by Eliza Newlin Carney in Roll Call.

“Why Sunday? Obama’s dual inauguration ceremonies honor tradition and law” by Dan Merica in CNN Politics.

“All the President’s Shoes: Inaugural Product Placement” by Ira Boudway in Bloomberg Businessweek.

“7 Huge Mistakes of Inaugurations Past” by Mark Micheli in Government Executive.

“Hotels Hit by Second Inaugural Slowdown” by Joshua Miller in Roll Call.

“Smaller Crowds May Ease Security Problems” by Rob Margetta in Roll Call.

“Braving the Elements on Inauguration Day” by Niels Lesniewski in Roll Call.

“Capturing the Presidential Inauguration from Space” by Chris Herwig on PBS Idea Lab.

“President Obama’s Inaugural 2.0: Breaking the Second-Term Jinx” by David Kusnet in the Huffington Post.

“Presidential Inauguration: What to do when you’re in town celebrating” by John Gonzalez in ABC News.

“Presidential inauguration guide for the disabled and elderly” by Alex Kane Rudansky in the Washington Post.

In the first week of the 113th Congress, House Representative Marcy Kaptur introduced several pieces of legislation dealing with campaign finance.

Three separate House Joint Resolutions propose constitutional amendments aimed at limiting corporations’ influence in public elections. She also introduced a bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require radio and television broadcasters to provide free broadcasting time for political advertising.

Additionally, Representative Kaptur introduced House Concurrent Resolution 6, which expresses “the sense of Congress that the Supreme Court misinterpreted the First Amendment to the Constitution in the case of Buckley v. Valeo.” Buckley v. Valeo is a Supreme Court case decided in 1976 which crystallized the distinction between direct contributions and independent expenditures in political campaigns.

An alert for municipal securities dealers concerning pay-to-play rules has been issued by a department of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations has released a National Examination Risk Alert summarizing observations and providing some guidance of pay-to-play compliance by firms engaged in municipal securities.

The alert identifies issues found “in the course of examinations regarding compliance by firms” subject to municipal securities pay-to-play prohibitions. Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) Rule G-37 prohibits certain political contributions for two years prior to engaging in a municipal securities business where a related official received contributions.

The alert details problems with recordkeeping, inaccurate filing of reports, and inadequate supervision by firms to ensure compliance with MSRB Rule G-37.

Additionally, the alert’s reporting staff “has observed facts that suggest that some firms may have engaged in municipal securities business with issuers within two years of their MFPs making [prohibited] contributions.”

The full report can be found at http://www.sec.gov/about/offices/ocie/riskalert-munipaytoplay.pdf.

During a Rules Committee hearing, the U.S. Senate considered a bill requiring senators to file electronically with the Federal Election Commission, just as members of the House of Representatives and presidential candidates do. The bill, called the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, was sponsored by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and received support from Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

For full news coverage, be sure to read:

“Senate considers entering digital age for campaign filings” by Susan Davis in USA Today.

“Schumer: Senators should file campaign reports electronically” by Tom Brune in Newsday.

Image of the Seal of the United States Senate by Ipankonin on Wikipedia.

1797-1801   John Adams*

1825-1829   John Quincy Adams*

1837-1841   Martin Van Buren*

1841-1841   William Henry Harrison

1841-1845   John Tyler**

1845-1849   James Polk

1849-1850   Zachary Taylor

1850-1853   Millard Fillmore**

1853-1857   Franklin Pierce

1857-1861   James Buchanan

1865-1869   Andrew Johnson

1877-1881   Rutherford Hayes

1881-1881   James Garfield

1881-1885   Chester A. Arthur

1885-1889   Grover Cleveland ****

1889-1893   Benjamin Harrison*

1909-1913   William Taft*

1921-1923   Warren Harding

1929-1933   Herbert Hoover*

1961-1963   John Kennedy

1974-1977   Gerald Ford**

1977-1981   Jimmy Carter*

1989-1993   George H.W. Bush*

2016-2020   Donald J. Trump*****

2020-2024   Joseph R. Biden***

* Ran for re-election unsuccessfully

** John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur and Gerald Ford were never elected President.

*** Pulled out of the 2024 November General Election and his VP Kamala Harris ran in his place.

**** Ran for re-election unsuccessfully – 1889.  Then ran successfully in 1897.

*****  Ran for re-election unsuccessfully – 2020 .  Then ran successfully in 2024.

Updated:  November 6, 2024

There still might be a few of you out there who remember before BCRA and HLOGA, when we only needed to submit a quarter of a page card as our federal lobbying report. Those were the days, my friend!

These days you need to clear your schedule so you can:

1. Compile and track activity in accordance with your organization’s needs;
2. Conduct extensive outreach and follow up to capture applicable expenses/costs;
3. Obtain salaries of all employees engaged in lobbying activities—whether registered or not;
4. Respond to questions about reporting requirements;
5. Provide definitions for determining applicability;
6. Institute tracking mechanisms for Issues and Agency contacts;
7. Coordinate with outside consultants to ensure accurate reporting;
8. Coordinate LD-203 filing process;
9. Prepare documentation in case of an audit; and
10. File the report.

What??? You are not doing this? You are guesstimating! Tell me that is not the case.

If you are in DC you have probably seen me with Rebecca South, Federal Compliance Associate. She has created an amazing program to help the top Fortune 500 companies insure timely and accurate compliance for the LD-2 and LD-203 reports. If we can help alleviate your quarterly headaches, please feel free to contact her at rsouth@stateandfed.com.

Until next month, remember the LD-2 isn’t the only report due in April. According to our Key Dates chart, there are 112 lobbying/employer reports due in this country’s states, counties, and cities.