HENDERSON, NEVADA: The Henderson City Council has passed lobbyist and revolving door regulations. Lobbyists must now file a disclosure form after each communication with a city official or employee.

Additionally, elected officials and employees must wait one year after leaving office or employment before they can lobby on behalf of a private person or business.

The new provisions go into effect on Friday January 6, 2012.

“Lobbyist Is Expected to Plead Guilty in Corruption Case” by Benjamin Weiser in The New York Times .

“Why Would a Lobbyist Need Social Media?” by John Hall on Social Media Today.

“Too many lobbyists? There’s an app for that” by Anthony Man and Larry Barszewski in The South Florida Sun-Sentinel. (Thank you George Ticoras for seeing this one!)

This quick desk reference combines information from our online resources and lists the information by state:

– The Executive Source Guide on Lobbying Laws™;
– The Executive Source Guide on Political Contributions™; and
– The Executive Source Guide on Procurement Lobbying™.

This guidebook is filled with valuable information. However, we also caution it has two limitations:

The online resources, which you receive either through your subscription or as part of your lobbying compliance service, are comprehensive. This guidebook summarizes information in the online resources, and is meant only as a quick-reference guide.

While this guidebook is accurate and timely when we print it, please understand our online resources are updated continually. We provide this guidebook to you as a convenience, but your ultimate source of information should always be the online resource(s) to which you subscribe.

We consider this guidebook another value-added benefit of your partnership with State and Federal Communications. You also receive, via e-mail, monthly updates of important compliance legislation on the federal and state levels; News You Can Use™, our weekly summary of current news and events regarding compliance; and the Compliance Now newsletter with even more information.

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Title 15 requires government officials and employees to disclose their financial affairs and sets minimum ethical standards for the conduct of state and local business. The law also requires all counties, municipalities, and school boards adopt ethics standards at least equal to the state’s ethics law with regard to conflicts of interest, financial disclosure, and lobbying. Each local ethics commission is required to certify its compliance with the Maryland Ethics Commission on or before October 1st of each year, beginning in 2011.

Some local officials are still working toward agreement and passage of the required bills. Although officials may follow the state’s guidelines, many are choosing their own paths. For instance, the registration thresholds for lobbyists in Title 15 include an expenditure clause and a gift clause: $500 in expenditures towards influencing legislative or executive action; or $100 in gifts for the purpose of influencing executive action. The recently passed Charles County bill has a $100 gift threshold, while Alleghany County’s gift threshold is $200. Neither bill includes an expenditure clause. However, in Howard County, there is a $100 expenditure threshold for any lobbying activity, but no gift threshold.

Conflict of interest rules have also been the subject of debate. Title 15 forbids former public officials (other than legislators) and employees from assisting or representing a party in a contract or other specific matter for compensation if the former official or employee participated significantly in the matter as an official or employee. Frederick County attempted to limit this prohibition to one year for former commissioners with an exemption for former employees. This modification was rejected by the state. The Frederick County delegation now plans to propose changes to Title 15 before the general assembly to allow the one year limitations.

Counties such as Baltimore and Montgomery continue to debate and, as of December 1, 2011, had yet to approve a final version of the required ethics bill.

In the latest development, the State Ethics Commission met to respond to exemption requests. According to the Maryland Municipal League web site:

“The Maryland State Ethics Commission met on December 8 to consider a number of exemption requests from various municipalities around the state. Several jurisdictions were requesting an extension of an existing exemption, while some cities and towns were requesting new exemptions from the recently enacted financial disclosure reporting requirement. The results were varied, although it seemed as though population and budget size were the criteria most often cited by the members of the Ethics Commission when exemptions were being considered. For more information, please contact Tom Reynolds or Candace Donoho on the MML staff.”

Lobbyists wishing to lobby in any of Palm Beach County, Florida’s 38 cities will soon be subject to a countywide lobbyist registry, as approved by the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners at their most recent meeting.

Lobbyists will be required to pay $25 to register the names of their clients, while also being required to submit annual expense reports. There will also be limits on gifts from lobbyists.

A city may opt out of the countywide registry, but then must create its own registry.

Photo of Palm Beach by Michael Kagdis on Wikipedia.

Read the full story in “Evans regains top lobbying spot in Annapolis” by John Wagner in the Washington Post.

Here is a list of the top 135 lobbyists in compensation in Maryland by the State Ethics Commission.

The City of Philadelphia Board of Ethics has provided interim paper registration forms and instructions for lobbyists, lobbying firms, and principals to be used until an online registration and reporting system is completed.  The registration forms allow filers to fill-in information before printing.

The board reminds filers that registration is not complete until a form is printed, signed, and mailed or delivered to the board of ethics with the registration fee.

Registration must occur within ten days after both the commencement of lobbying and the exceeding of thresholds.  However, no event occurring prior to January 3, 2012 is relevant to determining the thresholds, registration date, or expense reporting.

Bloomberg Business Week has gathered a variety of opinions about the emerging Jack Abramoff redux-as-ethics-teacher phenomenon. The Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission hired Jack Abramoff to be a speaker on the subject of ethics at their upcoming legislative training and people are reacting.

Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, and Howard Marlowe, President of the American League of Lobbyists offered their thoughts. You also can find opinions from Craig Holman of Public Citizen in Washington, Melanie Sloan, the director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, and even Jack Abramoff himself.

Bartz was quoted saying: “Certainly you want to give people a chance to rehabilitate themselves. But is Jack Abramoff rehabilitated? I don’t think so.”

You can read the coverage in “Abramoff as Ethics Guru Latest Chapter in Political Second Acts” by Julie Bykowicz.

Don’t miss Scott Suttell’s “Even Those in the lobbying business aren’t Jack Abramoff fans” where he says Bartz’s comment is a contender for “quote of the year.”

Federal:

Fundraisers Take a Gamble on Lotteries

Romney Charity Used for Conservative Donations

Ron Paul’s House Record Marked by Bold Strokes, and Futility

From the States and Municipalities:

California

Business Interests Were Top Bill-Killers in California’s Capitol This Year

California

State Senator Aims to Double Lobby Fee in California – to 14 Cents a Day

Colorado

Gessler Issues 2012 Campaign Finance Rules

Florida

Palm Beach County Approves Countywide Lobbyist Registry

Ohio

Jimmy Dimora Faces Trial as Convictions in Federal Court Soar

South Carolina

Colbert Offering $500,000 to Pay for S.C. GOP Primary

Tennessee

Tennessee Lawmakers Still Haven’t Filled Ethics Commission Seat That Expired in ’09

Washington

Court Invalidates Washington State Cap on PAC Donations

West Virginia

Ethics Agency’s Informal Advice Kept Secret
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.

The city of Pembroke Pines, Florida passed a lobbyist registration ordinance at the most recent city commission meeting. The ordinance requires lobbyists to register with the city clerk prior to engaging in lobbying activities.

Registration will be required annually and lobbyists must pay a registration fee of $50. Lobbyists will also be required to complete a contact log to document meetings with members of the city commission or members of other decision-making bodies under the jurisdiction of the city commission.

The ordinance was passed in response to Broward County’s new code of ethics, which extends the county’s code of ethics to all municipalities within the county. Lobbyists will be required to begin registering on January 2, 2012.

Map of Florida by Bastique on Wikipedia.

California State Senator Leland Yee has formally announced plans to introduce legislation to raise the lobbyist registration fees upon commencement of the 2012 legislative session.

The money raised by the increased fees would be used to finance maintenance and upgrades to CAL-ACCESS, the state transparency database for lobbying and campaign finance filings. CAL-ACCESS has been down since the end of November.

Federal:

FEC Quashes New Disclosure Rules

Super PACs: The bad cops of 2012

From the States and Municipalities:

Alaska

Pebble Opponent Fined for Flying Candidates to Villages

Arizona

Arizona Prosecutor Won’t Charge Politicians Who Took Free Tickets, Trips from Fiesta Bowl

California

California Lobbyists Write Checks to Legislators Running for Congress

Colorado

Gessler, Lawmakers Clash on Campaign Finance Deadlines

Connecticut

Draft Report Renews Fears about Watchdogs’ Autonomy

District of Columbia

D.C. Council Overhauls Ethics Laws

Illinois

Donor to Madison County Judge Says Contribution Looks Bad, But Isn’t

Kentucky

Ex-Lobbyist Jack Abramoff to Speak at Kentucky Legislative Ethics Session

Maryland

Baltimore County Council Scales Back, Passes Ethics Reform Bill

Utah

Utah Lawmaker Resigning Due to Fundraising Ban

Washington

Firm Agrees to Big Fine over Tactics in Political Campaign

Wisconsin

State Elections Board Should Be Replaced, Assembly GOP Leader Says

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.

For full news coverage of the group’s statement, read “Trade group says Abramoff shouldn’t teach ethics” by Catalina Camia in USA Today.

According to the article: “To have a state-run, government ethics commission give this ex-con a paid platform sends the public the wrong message about the Kentucky Legislature,” Howard Marlowe, president of the American League of Lobbyists, said in a statement. “I doubt that many of the lawmakers will want to have their picture taken with this crook.”

Here is the League’s press release on Scribd.

Lobbying:

“Lobbying a bust in AT&T T-Mobile bid” by Tony Romm in Politico.

“Not all Missouri lawmakers accept gifts from lobbyists” by Jake Wagman in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Campaign Finance

“OUR VIEW: Fortunately, a judge’s ruling last week does not gut the state’s ban on money transfers between political action committees” by the Birmingham News editorial board.

Government Ethics:

“Blagojevich attorneys begin appeals process” by The Associated Press in NWI Times.

“Secrecy cloaks new [NY] ethics watchdog panel” by Jimmy Vielkind in the Albany Times Union.

Redistricting:

“The Texas Redistricting Case Explained”  by Karl Kurtz on NCSL’s blog The Thicket.

Gov 2.0:

“Agencies question value of social media” by Alice Lipowicz in Federal Computer Week.