National/Federal

The First Rule in Trump’s Washington: Don’t write anything down

MSN – Hannah Natanson (Washington Post) | Published: 6/29/2025

Across the Trump administration, a culture of secrecy is overtaking personnel and budget decisions, casual social interactions, and everything in between, according to interviews with more than 40 employees across two dozen agencies. No one wants to put anything in writing anymore, federal workers said, and communication among colleagues has increasingly shifted to the encrypted messaging app Signal. This shift is affecting every aspect of external and internal communications. The overall effect has been to impede honest discussion, slow work, stir confusion, and depress morale.

GOP Sen. Thom Tillis Won’t Seek Reelection After Opposing Trump Tax Bill

MSN – Theodoric Meyer, Liz Goodwin, Mariana Alfaro, and Hannah Knowles (Washington Post) | Published: 6/29/2025

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said he will not seek reelection next year, less than 24 hours after President Trump threatened him with a primary challenge for opposing the massive tax and immigration bill. Tillis’s decision not to run for a third term scrambles the Senate race in North Carolina. It injects fresh uncertainty into the GOP’s push to pass the proposed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump’s top legislative priority, by their July 4 deadline. It underscores the perils for Republicans of defying Trump when his grip on the party is stronger than ever.

US Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Campaign Spending Curbs in JD Vance Case

MSN – John Kruzel (Reuters) | Published: 6/30/2025

The Supreme Court announced it will consider a challenge to the limits on how much national political parties can spend in coordination with federal candidates. The justices took up an appeal by two Republican committees and Vice President JD Vance, who was running for the U.S. Senate in Ohio when the litigation began, of a lower court’s ruling that upheld restrictions on the amount of money parties can spend on campaigns with input from candidates they support. The justices are due to hear the case in their next term.

Appeals Court Seems Likely to Back Trump’s Deportations Under Wartime Law

MSN – Jeremy Roebuck (Washington Post) | Published: 6/30/2025

A federal appellate panel appeared poised to back President Trump’s use of a centuries-old wartime law to fast-track deportations of Venezuelan migrants in a case widely expected to put that debate back before the Supreme Court. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit grilled an attorney for targeted detainees during oral arguments, asking what authority judges had to “second-guess” the president’s decisions in defending the country amid armed conflicts.

DOGE Has the Keys to Sensitive Data That Could Help Elon Musk

MSN – Desmond Butler, Jonathan O’Connell, Hannah Natanson, and Aaron Gregg (Washington Post) | Published: 6/30/2025

For months, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency plumbed the federal government’s information systems, scouring arcane internal records that the billionaire said were guiding his hunt for waste. Now that Musk has stepped away from his government role, some of that data could be valuable in another way – by giving the world’s richest man a competitive advantage over his rivals in the private sector.

Judge Finds Trump Executive Order Punishing Susman Godfrey Unconstitutional

MSN – Melissa Quinn (CBS News) | Published: 6/27/2025

A federal judge struck down President Trump’s executive order that sought to punish the law firm Susman Godfrey, ruling it is unconstitutional and blocking the administration from enforcing it. The decision from U.S. District Court Judge Loren AliKhan caps an unbroken streak of victories for the four major law firms that were targeted by Trump as part of his efforts to go after his perceived enemies and chose to challenge his directives in court, rather than commit millions of dollars in free legal services, as nine other firms have done.

Carveouts for Alaska and Tax Breaks for Whalers: How Lisa Murkowski got to yes on Trump’s agenda bill

MSN – Eric Bradner, Sarah Ferris, Lauren Fox, and Annie Grayer (CNN) | Published: 7/1/2025

The fate of President Trump’s domestic agenda was in U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s hands, and she used that leverage to force a series of changes that will deliver more federal dollars to Alaska. The Senate passed the bill after a marathon of negotiations and amendments during which Murkowski, as she put it later, “struggled mightily” with the impacts of cutting Medicaid and food stamp benefits in Alaska before voting for the legislation.

How Trump’s Media War Brought Paramount to Its Knees

MSN – Sarah Ellison and Jeremy Barr (Washington Post) | Published: 7/2/2025

CBS’s parent company agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit over the network’s editing of a campaign interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The deal makes Paramount, which is attempting to complete an $8 billion sale to Skydance Media, the latest company to pay millions of dollars to Donald Trump-aligned entities to avoid punitive government action. The money, minus plaintiffs’ fees and costs, will go to Trump’s presidential library.

DOJ Considers Criminal Charges for State Officials Over Election Integrity Policies: ‘No option off the table’

MSN – Ross O’Keefe (Washington Examiner) | Published: 7/2/2025

The Department of Justice is considering whether it can charge local or state election officials who do not adhere to Trump administration standards on voting security. The administration is reportedly driving the effort forward based on its skepticism about the security of the nation’s elections. President Trump previously said the 2020 election was “rigged” and called for an investigation into widespread voter fraud.

Trump Says He Will Move Aggressively to Undo Nationwide Blocks on His Agenda

MSN – Justin Jouvenal, Cat Zakrzewski, and Jeremy Roebuck (Washington Post) | Published: 6/28/2025

An emboldened Trump administration plans to aggressively challenge blocks on the president’s top priorities, from immigration to education, following a major Supreme Court ruling that limits the power of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions. Scholars and plaintiffs in the lawsuits over Trump’s executive orders agreed the ruling could profoundly reshape legal battles over executive power even as other legal experts said the effects would be more muted. Some predicted it would embolden Trump to push his expansive view of presidential power.

Bondi Made Changes to DOJ Policy. Her Former Client Pfizer Might Have Benefited

MSN – Ben Wieder (Miami Herald) | Published: 7/3/2025

For the past several years, Pfizer has been under investigation by the Department of Justice for potential foreign corruption violations related to its activities in China and Mexico, according to the company’s financial filings. But that appears to have changed after the Trump administration tapped Pam Bondi, previously an outside legal counsel for Pfizer, to be attorney general.

Dead Members of Congress Can’t Stop Posting

MSN – Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing (Politico) | Published: 6/28/2025

After Zohran Mamdani’s apparent victory in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary on, former U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee liked an Instagram post congratulating him on his win. But Jackson Lee died last July. From new profile pictures to a posthumous endorsement, accounts for dead lawmakers have seemingly resurrected on social media in an unsettling trend of beyond-the-grave engagement. How to handle the social media presence of politicians when they die is a fairly new phenomenon.

Trump Tried to Fire Them. But These Democratic Appointees Are Still on the Job.

MSN – Hassan Ali Kanu (Politico) | Published: 6/30/2025

President Trump fired a host of Democratic appointees at independent boards and commissions across the government. But some of them are still working. More than a dozen leaders of independent federal agencies received emails from the White House purporting to fire or demote them, even though their roles are governed by laws that bar termination without cause. Those officials’ resistance could end up shaping how courts view pending questions about the hiring-and-firing powers of the presidency, and whether Congress can create federal agencies with some degree of independence from the chief executive.

From the States and Municipalities

California – Irvine City Council Re-Adopts Lobbying Rules to Settle Lawsuit

Voice of OC – Angela Hicks | Published: 6/30/2025

Irvine city leaders are settling a lawsuit with a group of residents who alleged the city council violated the state’s open meeting law when it passed new lobbying regulations last year. In a series of meetings, the council discussed and approved new regulations that require lobbyists to register with the city earlier and disclose their activities more often. Orange County Advocates for Transparency alleged the city violated the Brown Act by improperly agendizing the item and failing to fully alert the public.

California – Ex-Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet Gets Probation, No Jail Time for Taking Bribes

Yahoo News – Christopher Damien (Palm Springs Desert Sun) | Published: 7/2/2025

Former Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet was sentenced to two years’ probation, avoiding jail time despite admitting he took bribes from developers for years. Pougnet pleaded guilty to a scheme in which he conspired with real estate developer Richard Meaney to be paid money in exchange for facilitating the developer’s projects in the city council.

Connecticut – CT Veterans Affairs Director Ousted Over Questionable Ethics Violation

Inside Investigator – Mark Fitch | Published: 7/2/2025

The former director of safety and security for the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs says he was forced to retire from his position under threat of termination and the loss of his medical benefits after the department claimed he violated state ethics laws by asking maintenance personnel to do small contracting jobs at his home, contrary to a determination of the Office of State Ethics (OSE). Stephen Scatena said officials threatened if he did not voluntarily sign a stipulated agreement by April 9, 2025, roughly two months before the OSE issued their finding.

Connecticut – Ted Kennedy Jr., Former CT State Senator, Cleared After 11-Year Election Investigation

Stamford Advocate – Ken Dixon | Published: 7/2/2025

Connecticut election regulators closed the books on one of its longest-lingering investigations, finally dismissing a 2014 case involving former state Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr. and nearly $300,000 in campaign support he received from the Democratic State Central Committee. The State Elections Enforcement Commission agreed there was not enough evidence to link the party’s contribution to a direct exchange with Kennedy family members and friends who raised more than $308,000 from 188 people for the state party.

District of Columbia – As Indicted Ex-D.C. Lawmaker Seeks Election, Opponents Urge Voters to Move On

MSN – Meagan Flynn and Jenny Gathright (Washington Post) | Published: 6/27/2025

At a rare appearance at a Ward 8 candidates forum, ex-District of Columbia Council member Trayon White Sr. answered one last question. Why, a voter wanted to know, had White never explained himself to residents after his bribery indictment? It was the unignorable question at the center of the July 15 special election, in which White, who stands accused of pocketing tens of thousands of dollars in bribes, is asking voters to reelect him even with the risk he could be disqualified from office if convicted.

Florida – DeSantis Vetoes Bill Aimed at Limiting Corruption in Office

Yahoo News – Lawrence Mower (Tampa Bay Times) | Published: 7/1/2025

Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill that would, in part, have prohibited state officials from using their position to solicit campaign contributions. The legislation was in part a reaction to NBC News reports since 2023 that officials in his administration were asking lobbyists for political donations, raising ethical concerns.

Hawaii – State Watchdogs Are Keeping the Pressure on for Government Reform

Honolulu Civil Beat – Chad Blair | Published: 6/29/2025

Fired up by the fate of a major “pay-to-play” bill that died in April at the Legislature, the heads of the Campaign Spending Commission and Hawaii State Ethics Commission are stepping up their efforts to lobby for reform in the 2026 session that beings in January. The cooperation between Kristin Izumi-Nitao, executive director of campaign spending, and Robert Harris, executive director of ethics, entered a new phase when Izumi-Nitao appeared by invitation at the ethics commission’s public meeting. The purpose was to hear insights and explore collaboration between the agencies.

Illinois – Mayor Brandon Johnson’s ‘Pending’ Springfield Lobbyist Team Draws Ethics Questions

Yahoo News – Alice Yin, Jeremy Gorner, and A.D. Quig (Chicago Tribune) | Published: 6/30/2025

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s inner circle worked with outside lobbyists who were not registered to lobby on behalf of the city in the Illinois General Assembly. Email records and sources indicate three lobbyists coordinated with top Johnson officials during the most recent session. But they did not update their state registration to show the city among their lobbying clients before the Legislature adjourned June 1. If state officials were to find the three did not properly disclose their representation, they could be in violation of the law.

Illinois – Cook County Tax Board Commissioner, Staff Face Multiple Fines from Ethics Board

Yahoo News – A.D. Quig (Chicago Tribune) | Published: 6/27/2025

Cook County’s Board of Ethics fined Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele and her aides for a series of breaches, finding she provided confidential information to the press about the Chicago Bears’ Arlington Heights property and wrongly allowed a staffer to attend a conference on county time. Steele is one of three commissioners on the county’s Board of Review, which hears property tax appeals. She must pay the $3,000 fine in 30 days.

Iowa – Trump Drops Federal Lawsuit Against Iowa Pollster, Refiles in State Court

MSN – Brianna Tucker and Frances Vinall (Washington Post) | Published: 6/30/2025

Lawyers for President Trump filed a motion to drop his federal lawsuit against J. Ann Selzer – a longtime Iowa pollster, and the Des Moines Register – and refiled the suit in a state court in Iowa. Attorneys for Trump sued Selzer and the newspaper in December over a poll that showed him trailing Vice President Kamala Harris in the state just days before the 2024 presidential election. The suit alleged Selzer’s poll amounted to “election interference” and accused the newspaper of violating the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act.

Kansas – Judge Allows Kansas Law Barring Foreign Contributions to Constitutional Amendment Campaigns

Yahoo News – Anna Kaminski (Kansas Reflector) | Published: 7/1/2025

A federal judge sided with state officials and allowed a Kansas law to go into effect that bans “foreign nationals” from contributing financially to campaigns for or against state constitutional amendments. Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, which has accepted such funds directly and indirectly in the past, said the law was broad, vague, and infringed upon constitutionally protected political speech.

Louisiana – Supreme Court to Rehear Case Over Louisiana’s Second Majority-Black District

MSN – Justin Jouvenal and Patrick Marley (Washington Post) | Published: 6/27/2025

The Supreme Court put off deciding whether to uphold a Louisiana map that added a second majority-Black congressional district in the state, saying it would rehear the case in its next term. The justices said they would consider whether race was the predominant factor in the drawing of the new Louisiana district.

Maine – Why Maine Lawmakers Pulled Back on Ranked Choice Voting Expansion

Portland Press Herald – Randy Billings | Published: 6/27/2025

Lawmakers recalled a bill from Gov. Janet Mills’ desk that would have allowed ranked choice voting to be used in the 2026 gubernatorial race after Mills signaled she would veto the bill. Advocates say they plan to ask the Maine Law Court to revisit its 2017 advisory opinion, which would not be possible if Gov. Janet Mills vetoed the bill as they expected.

Massachusetts – MCAS Ballot Question Supporters Pay $4K Penalty to Resolve Late Reporting Accusations

MSN – Chris Van Buskirk (Boston Herald) | Published: 7/1/2025

The group that backed a successful ballot question to end the use of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System as a high school graduation requirement paid a $4,000 penalty to resolve accusations that officials did not report $2.3 million in contributions in a timely manner ahead of the November 2024 election. The fight between the Massachusetts Teachers Association and business groups was the most expensive ballot question battle in the state in 2024, with tens of millions flowing between the two sides.

Michigan – New Ballot Committee Aims to Get More Corporate, Utility Money Out of Michigan Politics

Detroit Free Press – Arpan Lobo | Published: 6/30/2025

A new ballot committee hopes to ask Michigan voters next year whether the state should ban large corporations that hold government contracts and utility monopolies from making political donations through affiliated PACs. Backers of the committee say companies like DTE and Consumers have outsized political influence due to their contributions to candidates and campaigns. The companies defended their political spending practices, saying the money does not come from ratepayers and they have an obligation to advocate for their best interests.

New Mexico – Joseph Shepard Sued by the New Mexico State Ethics Commission

Yahoo News – Joshua Bowling (Searchlight New Mexico) | Published: 6/28/2025

In addition to staying at five-star resorts, buying luxury furniture, and traveling the world at taxpayers’ expense, former Western New Mexico University President Joseph Shepard also took money intended for building an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant walkway and ramp and used it to build a patio near his house where he could host a welcome event and dancing for his daughter’s wedding, a new lawsuit by the New Mexico State Ethics Commission alleges.

New York – Ex-Trump Lawyer Chesebro Disbarred Over Fake Elector Scheme

Reuters – Dave Thomas | Published: 6/26/2025

A New York appeals court disbarred Kenneth Chesebro, a former lawyer for Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, following his 2023 guilty plea to a charge stemming from efforts to overturn Trump’s defeat in Georgia. Chesebro had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit filing of false documents in Fulton County after prosecutors accused him of crafting the legal strategy behind a scheme to use alternate electors to circumvent Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state.

North Carolina – NC Republicans Unveil Sweeping Elections Bill. Could It ‘Purge’ Nonpartisan Staff?

Yahoo News – Kyle Ingram (Raleigh News and Observer) | Published: 6/26/2025

North Carolina House Republicans unveiled a broad elections bill that could convert about a third of the State Board of Elections’ nonpartisan civil service staff into political appointees, alongside a host of other changes to ballot counting, voter ID, and more. It comes a month after Republicans gained a majority on the elections board and ousted Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell, replacing her with a lawyer who has worked for the state’s top GOP legislators.

North Dakota – North Dakota Ethics Commission Makes First Finding of Violations by Public Official

Yahoo News – Mary Steurer (North Dakota Monitor) | Published: 6/30/2025

The North Dakota Ethics Commission found Rep. Jason Dockter committed three ethics violations related to his ownership of a Bismarck building, but the agency did not hand down any penalties for the lawmaker. The Ethics Commission noted Dockter likely leveraged his position and his relationships with state employees to arrange a lease with the attorney general’s office.

Oregon – Lawmakers Nix Proposal to Delay Campaign Finance Limits for Years After Backlash

MSN – Carlos Fuentes (Portland Oregonian) | Published: 6/27/2025

State lawmakers did not advance a bill this year that would have delayed the imposition of campaign contribution limits in Oregon for four years. The effort died after good government advocates said the proposed delay was an attempt by lawmakers to avoid restricting the massive flow of money into politics. Oregon is one of just five states without such limits. Secretary of State Tobias Read said he was “deeply disappointed” that lawmakers finished this year’s session without making any substantial refinements to last year’s law.

Oregon – Longtime Oregon Legislator Faces Ethics Investigation Over Pay Raise

Portland Oregonian – Les Zaitz (Salem Reporter) | Published: 6/28/2025

The Oregon Government Ethics Commission ordered an investigation into whether state Rep. Greg Smith illegally used his position as a public agency executive to raise his own pay. Investigators also were directed to examine whether Smith failed to disclose a conflict-of-interest in the process, a violation of state ethics laws.

South Dakota – Kristi Noem Secretly Took a Cut of Political Donations

MSN – Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan, and Alex Mierjeski (ProPublica) | Published: 6/30/2025

While Kristi Noem was governor of South Dakota, she accepted a portion of the money she raised for a nonprofit that promotes her political career. In what experts described as a highly unusual arrangement, the nonprofit routed funds to a personal company of Noem’s that had been established in Delaware. Since the group is not required to disclose the names of its donors, the original source of the money remains unknown. She did not include the income on her financial disclosure form, which experts called a likely violation of federal ethics requirements.

Tennessee – Tennessee Campaign Finance Agency Seeks Probe of Secret PAC

Yahoo News – Sam Stockard (Tennessee Lookout) | Published: 6/23/2025

The Registry of Election Finance requested an investigation into a former state staffer’s secret PAC to determine whether it involved criminal activity. The registry formally asked the Williamson County district attorney’s office to reactivate a 2020 request for a probe of Cade Cothren, a former aide to one-time House Speaker Glen Casada, and the Faith Family Freedom Fund PAC. Registry Chairperson Tom Lawless has said the investigation should commence now that a trial of Casada and Cothren is complete.

Texas – Elon Musk Hired a Dozen Texas Lobbyists This Year. State Law Keeps the Extent of Their Influence Under Wraps.

MSN – Lauren McGaughy (Texas Newsroom) | Published: 7/3/2025

Elon Musk’s team of Texas lobbyists during the 2025 legislative session did not rival those of huge energy and telecommunications companies, which typically employ dozens of people to represent them. But Musk and his companies still hired more lobbyists this year than any other since 2021. His lobbyists spent money on things like gifts and meals for elected officials and others during the session. In most cases, the state’s transparency laws do not require lobbyists to disclose which politicians they entertained or on behalf of which clients. Ethics experts said the responsibility to improve transparency lies with Texas lawmakers.

Vermont – Gov. Phil Scott Signs New Campaign Finance Rules, Other Election Changes into Law

VTDigger.com – Shaun Robinson | Published: 6/27/2025

Gov. Phil Scott signed a package of changes to Vermont’s election procedures into law, among them an expansion of who must file campaign finance disclosure forms and a restriction on candidates running in a general election who have lost a preceding primary election. A provision in the new law is meant to clarify that certain campaign finance rules apply to individuals who raise and spend money on behalf of a candidate, but who are not directly affiliated with that candidate.

Virginia – State’s First-Ever Audit of Campaign Finance Report Leaves Many Questions Unanswered

Cardinal News – David Poole | Published: 7/2/2025

Virginia’s inaugural audit of campaign finance reports raises almost as many questions about state oversight than it does in answering how accurately a group of seven randomly selected candidates listed their contributions and expenses. In a report to the General Assembly, the Department of Elections suggested changes to the audit law, providing more time to complete future reviewing and updating the agency’s computer systems.

Washington – Foes of WA Initiative to Repeal Climate Law Fined $20K for Campaign Finance Violations

Yahoo News – Jerry Cornfield (Washington Standard) | Published: 6/26/2025

A political committee that helped defeat last year’s ballot measure to repeal a Washington climate law was fined $20,000 for not disclosing how it spent $1 million until after the election. The Public Disclosure Commission levied the civil penalty on Green Jobs PAC, which admitted to the violation and two other breaches of state campaign finance laws as part of an agreed upon settlement.

Campaign Finance

Kansas: “Judge Allows Kansas Law Barring Foreign Contributions to Constitutional Amendment Campaigns” by Anna Kaminski (Kansas Reflector) for Yahoo News

Massachusetts: “MCAS Ballot Question Supporters Pay $4K Penalty to Resolve Late Reporting Accusations” by Chris Van Buskirk (Boston Herald) for MSN

Elections

Iowa: “Trump Drops Federal Lawsuit Against Iowa Pollster, Refiles in State Court” by Brianna Tucker and Frances Vinall (Washington Post) for MSN

Ethics

National: “Appeals Court Seems Likely to Back Trump’s Deportations Under Wartime Law” by Jeremy Roebuck (Washington Post) for MSN

National: “DOGE Has the Keys to Sensitive Data That Could Help Elon Musk” by Desmond Butler, Jonathan O’Connell, Hannah Natanson, and Aaron Gregg (Washington Post) for MSN

National: “Judge Finds Trump Executive Order Punishing Susman Godfrey Unconstitutional” by Melissa Quinn (CBS News) for MSN

Illinois: “Cook County Tax Board Commissioner, Staff Face Multiple Fines from Ethics Board” by A.D. Quig (Chicago Tribune) for Yahoo News

Lobbying

California: “Irvine City Council Re-Adopts Lobbying Rules to Settle Lawsuit” by Angela Hicks for Voice of OC

The Oklahoma Ethics Commission has delayed the launch of Guardian 2.0, the state’s next-generation online campaign finance and lobbyist reporting system. The original launch date has been pushed from July 1 to early September. The timeline shift allows for final data conversion and system readiness following a six-month development effort. The current Guardian system will remain fully operational through August.

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Representatives from the Michigan Department of State (MDOS), Tyler Technologies, and the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget (DTMB) testified at a joint committee hearing regarding issues with the Michigan Transparency Network (MiTN) platform. MiTN is the state’s new consolidated online reporting system for personal financial disclosure, campaign finance, lobbying, and legal defense fund information. The hearing was called after lawmakers had trouble filing their financial disclosure reports and approved a one-month extension for their deadline. MDOS and Tyler Technologies are now working to implement substantial improvements by the filing deadline for candidate committees on July 25.  As part of the department’s continuing commitment to transparency, MDOS has launched a new webpage to track existing technical issues, recent fixes, and FAQs for each MiTN module at https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/disclosure/mitn-information.

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The Commission on Lobbying and Ethics in Government (COELIG) released their report of preliminary lobbying data from 2024. Lobbying spending was up over 4.5% from 2023, with a preliminary total of $377 million spent in 2024. The number of lobbying filings increased almost 6% from 2023. The top three subjects lobbied included miscellaneous business, appropriations, and health.

Q. My company is running ads in several states asking the public to contact their legislators in favor of pending legislation, so-called grassroots lobbying. My team member insists we do not need to worry about disclosing this activity. Is that correct?

A. As is often my response when talking about state lobbying, the answer is, “It depends on the state.” Your colleague is correct in a number of states. Alabama, Oklahoma, and Utah are among the states that do not require registration or reporting for solely engaging in grassroots lobbying.

Many states consider grassroots activities to be lobbying, and they will therefore count towards lobbyist registration. Rhode Island includes a good example of this, providing in its statute that lobbying includes soliciting others to act for the purpose of promoting any action by any member of the legislative branch of state government. In Pennsylvania, lobbying includes an effort to influence legislative action through indirect communications. You should know the definition of lobbying in the affected states so you can determine if lobbyist registration is required for your ads.

The expenses for these advertisements may need to be disclosed. If your company is not registered as a lobbyist employer or principal, special reporting may be required. California requires entities expending $5,000 or more in a calendar quarter in connection with soliciting or urging others to enter into direct communications with any elective state official or legislative official to file Form 645 according to the same quarterly schedule for lobbyist reports. Washington requires a company who has made expenditures, not reported by a registered lobbyist, exceeding $3,000 in the aggregate within any three-month period or $1,500 in the aggregate within any one-month period in presenting a campaign to the public, a substantial portion of which is intended to solicit the public to influence legislation, to register and file monthly reports as a sponsor of a grassroots lobbying campaign. Keep in mind that California and Washington are like a number of states, requiring grassroots lobbying expenses to be disclosed if you company is already registered.

We are seeing increasing regulation of grassroots lobbying in the states. You should be aware of your disclosure requirements before running any such campaigns.

The information from this response can easily be found on our website in the Lobbying Compliance section of the United States Lobbying Compliance Guidebook. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions.

The Maryland Legislature adjourned sine die at midnight on April 7. Several bills affecting government affairs were passed through both houses and are waiting on the governor’s desk to be signed. These bills include Senate Bill 945 and House Bill 945. Together, they will change the gubernatorial primary election date to the fourth Tuesday in June. Senate Bill 262 alters the dates for special elections, requiring them to be set within 90 days of being called. Senate Bill 633 allows registered lobbyists to complete ethics training online. These bills will be effective October 1, if signed by the governor.

Lawmakers adjourned abruptly last week on April 4, resulting in many bills being carried over to the second year of the session in 2026. One important passed bill awaiting the governor’s approval is Senate Bill 199. The bill removes the requirement for legislative lobbyists to report semi-monthly during the session. Under this new system only a single monthly report will be required for lobbyists beginning in 2026. The bill also changes campaign finance reporting requirements. Reports for election as well as nonelection years are due January 31, April 30, July 31, and October 20. This does affect lobbying reporting. The final semi-monthly lobbyist report is due April 15.

The 68^th Legislature adjourned sine die on Friday, April 4. The session lasted 89 days with a focus on tax cuts but also included a passed bill affecting the Lobbyist Registration Act. House Bill 398 reorganizes the state’s Sunshine Laws by moving the lobbying provisions within Title 67, Chapter 66, State Government and State Affairs, to Title 74, Chapter 7, Transparent and Ethical Government. The bill also updates the definition of lobbying to clarify both direct and indirect efforts to influence covered officials are considered lobbying. The bill becomes effective July 1.

A new bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would prohibit former members and elected officers of the U.S. Congress from lobbying Congress at any time after leaving office.

The legislation,  the Halt Unchecked Member Benefits with Lobbying Elimination (HUMBLE) Act, would also ban members of Congress from owning or trading individual stocks; prevent members from serving on corporate boards while they are serving in Congress; eliminate access to members-only perks for former members; and eliminate automatic pay raises for members.

Additionally, the HUMBLE ACT, introduced in the House on April 3 by Rep. Angie Craig,  prohibits the use of taxpayer funds for first-class airline tickets, including for legislative branch employees, and only permits coach-class accommodations.

The Georgia House has just passed a bill removing the requirement to submit semi-monthly lobbyist activity reports when the Legislature is in session. Senate Bill 199 requires all reporting to be filed on the fifth of each month, which would bring reporting of state-level legislative lobbying in line with executive branch lobbying. The bill now goes to Gov. Kemp and if signed, will be effective January 1, 2026

The Department of State issued a declaratory ruling clarifying an exception to the lobbying gift ban regarding expenses for officials attending conferences. In the Detroit Regional Chamber Declaratory Ruling issued March 31, the department concluded a lobbyist or lobbyist agent may provide complimentary admission to public officials attending the Mackinac Policy Conference where the officials are providing a service with a value equal to or greater than the price of admission. The burden of demonstrating a public official is providing a service is on the lobbyist or lobbyist agent. An earlier ruling issued on March 10 concluded complimentary admission was an impermissible gift, but additional evidence submitted during the public comment period demonstrated public officials attending the Mackinac Policy Conference provide a service in exchange for complimentary admission. Lawmakers are currently considering Senate Bill 101, which would codify an exception to the gift ban for admission to a conference or educational event with subject matter directly related to the duties of the public official.

On April 1, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its audit of federal lobbying compliance for 2024.

For the audit, the GAO reviewed a stratified sample of 100 quarterly disclosure reports filed for the third and fourth quarters of calendar year 2023 and the first and second quarters of calendar year 2024. They also reviewed random samples of 160 LD-203 reports for the year-end 2023 and midyear 2024 reports.

Among its findings, the GAO concluded 93% of filers of lobbying disclosure reports were able to provide documentation to support reported income and expenses, 5% of LD-203 reports were missing reportable contributions, and 97% of lobbyists who filed new registrations also filed LD-2 reports as required for the quarter in which they first registered. The audit estimates at least 21% of all lobbying disclosure reports did not properly disclose formerly held covered positions.

The 54-page report is titled “2024 Lobbying Disclosure: Observations on Compliance with Requirements.”

The New Mexico Legislature adjourned at noon on March 22 after 60 days in session. During the session, lawmakers passed a bill requiring lobbyists to file activity reports disclosing their stances on legislation, and, if positions change, to update their stances within 48 hours. House Bill 143 is being transmitted to the governor’s desk for signature. During a news conference following the Legislature’s adjournment, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham indicated a special session to address public safety is likely in the aftermath of a March 21 mass shooting in Las Cruces.