According to the article: “Now, with Congress gridlocked over the debt ceiling and an election year on the horizon — historically slower on the lobbying front until the last quarter — some firms are increasingly chasing work that doesn’t fall under the traditional definition of lobbying in order to boost their bottom line.”

Here is the full the article, “Firms look beyond lobbying,” by Catherine Ho.

The Sacramento Bee reported last week that California’s Fair Political Practices Commission has opted for a $30,000 fine against lobbyist Frank Molina, instead of the higher $5o,000 fine it had considered.

You can read the whole story here: “FPPC sticks with $30,000 fine for lobbyist Frank Molina,” by Laurel Rosenhall and Torey Van Oot.

Seal of the State of California by Zscout370 on Wikipedia.

HOWARD COUNTY, MARYLAND: County Council approved revisions to the county ethics laws, making Howard one of the first local governments to approve the new standards mandated by the General Assembly last year.

The changes provide more detail in the county ethics laws regarding gifts, financial disclosure statements and lobbying provisions. The bill also expands the role of the county’s ethics commission by requiring it to maintain an annual report of lobbying activity.

Former County Council members will be banned from lobbying on legislative issues for a year after leaving office, and former employees will be prohibited from bidding on a county contract for which they helped write specifications.

National:

Special Sessions: A calculated risk

Federal:

Obama Administration Draft Memo Could Shed Light on ‘Lettermarking’

Sunlight Foundation Follows Lobbyist Tweets

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

Alabama’s New Ethics Law Fails to Stop Exemption Requests from Lobbyists and Public Officials

California

California Legislators Head to Maui for Retreat Funded by Special Interests

California

Carrie Underwood Show Boosts Tribe’s Lobbying Expense

Colorado

Judge Warns Colorado Secretary of State Went Too Far in Raising Campaign Finance Threshold

Colorado

NBC News Can’t Pay for Colorado Governor’s Travel, Ethics Panel Says

Illinois

Clout, Corruption in Illinois to Take Other Forms

Kansas

Kansas’ Lobbyist Data Falls Far Short of Need, Watchdog Group Reports

Maryland

Maryland Sen. Currie Acquitted of Corruption Charges

Missouri

Missouri Lawmaking at Issue before High Court

North Carolina

N.C. Lobbyist Donations Ban Upheld By Federal Court

Wisconsin

First Recall Effort Launched against Walker, Triggering Unlimited Fundraising

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 a detailed look at the type of exemptions being submitted, take a look at “Alabama’s new ethics law fails to stop exemption requests from lobbyists and public officials” by Kim Chandler.

According to the article: “The Alabama Ethics Commis­sion has received nearly 200 requests to certify din­ners, trips and conferences as allowable exemptions since Alabama 10 months ago adopted a new ethics law, which caps how much a lobbyist can spend on a public official.”

A three judge panel of the 4^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously to uphold North Carolina’s ban on registered lobbyists making campaign contributions to candidates for the Legislature and the Council of State.

A lobbyist with the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the ban on contributions, saying it violated her right to freedom of speech and association.

The appeals court upheld a district court ruling by stating the ban was a “valid exercise of North Carolina’s legislative prerogative” to address potential corruption and the appearance of corruption.

He has appeared in a 60 Minutes interview, saying whatever ethics reform measures may be set in place to control the buying of influence, lobbyists will find new ways to get around it.

Here is the CBS interview, “Lobbyists can skirt ethics reform, says Abramoff.”

The Hill covers the story in “Abramoff divulges K Street secrets” by Kevin Bogardus.

Persons lobbying within any of Palm Beach County’s 38 cities and towns may soon have to register as lobbyists as part of a proposed countywide lobbyist registry and standardized set of rules.

If approved, the new rules would apply to all persons lobbying municipal personnel. Some concerns have been raised as to the definition of lobbyists and the potential inclusion in that definition of unpaid lobbyists.

If approved, a $25 registration fee per principal represented would be instituted and expenditures exceeding $25 in specified categories would be required to be reported.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA:  Mayor Michael Nutter has approved a bill which alters restrictions on lobbyists to correct problems with the lobbying law approved last year. The original law was viewed as overly broad by many, including the Philadelphia Bar Association, which had threatened to fight it in court. This version more narrowly defines lobbying activity.

The new bill also expands the number of agencies covered under the law to include the Philadelphia School District, the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation.

On November 8, Detroit voters will consider a city charter proposed to reform the city government by bolstering ethics and reducing corruption. The proposed charter creates a board of ethics and the office of inspector general to investigate alleged ethical or criminal violations.

The charter seeks to improve transparency by requiring lobbyists and contractors to reveal financial connections with elected officials. Additionally, public servants are prohibited from accepting a gift, honoraria, or anything of value from individuals or companies seeking to do business with the city and a company can be barred from doing business with the city if found to be involved in contractual bribery or corruption.

Photo of the Detroit skyline by Shawn Wilson on Wikipedia.

Today’s Birmingham News offers an article by Kim Chandler, “New Alabama ethics law sweeps in culture shift for capital lobbyists,” which describes how lobbying techniques in the state have changed since the ethics law was passed. Chandler also considers the views of those whose businesses have suffered in the capitol as a result of those changes.

“Ten months after the Alabama Legislature approved the new ethics law capping lobbyists’ spending, the culture is different in Montgomery, said several legislators. There are no more free tickets, golf outings, social trips or nightly one-on-one dinners with lobbyists.”

Photo of the Alabama State Capitol building by Jim Bowen on Wikipedia.

Federal:

Ex-Abramoff Associate Ring Sentenced to 20 Months in One of Scandal’s Harshest Punishments

Influence Industry Officially in a Funk

Lobbyist Stint Led to Cain’s Political Forays

Lobbyists Claim Victory against Tax Rule

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

Ex-Alabama Rep. Terry Spicer Enters Agreement to Plead Guilty to Bribery

Alaska

Guilty Pleas Mark End of Alaska Corruption Investigation

Arizona

Judge Rejects Arizona Campaign Finance Measure

Illinois

Ex-Teachers Union Boss Gets $242,000 State Pension

Kentucky

David Williams’ In-Law is Restoring America Group’s Sole Donor

Montana

Montana Political Practices Office to Address Social Media Campaign Complaints

Nevada

Short-Staffed Ethics Commission Wading Through Flood of Cases

New York

Operative Convicted of Stealing from NYC Mayor

Ohio

Anti-Issue 2 Group Raises More Than Twice as Much Money as Supporters of New Collective Bargaining Law

Washington

With $22 Million Bet, Costco Shakes Up Washington Election

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Capitol to Allow Guns
 
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.

Here is a brief survey of articles:

USA Today offers “Social media companies ‘friend’ politics” by Fredreka Schouten.

In the Washington Post’s Capitol Business we find “LightSquared adds lobbyists from four firms to roster” by Catherine Ho.

ReadWriteWeb.com posted “Who Are The Top Tech Lobbying Firms?” by David Strom. Last year, the top three were: Microsoft, HP, and Google. Strom claims Google employs 25 different lobbying firms.

AllFacebook.com posted “Facebook Spends Record Amounts On Lobbying, But Not As Much As Google Does”

Bloomberg’s Businessweek published “Google’s 3Q lobbying bill rises to $2.4 million” by the Associated Press.

Q: I am a registered lobbyist who would like to host a state legislator at a college football game.  Are there specific restrictions to this type of gift?

A: The most common gift restrictions are those relating to food and beverage.  Providing tickets or admission to a football game is a different type of gift, referred to as entertainment or hospitality.

Some jurisdictions do not restrict providing entertainment at all.  Pennsylvania does not restrict a lobbyist providing hospitality to an official.  However, Pennsylvania does require the lobbyist’s principal to report the gift of hospitality, even itemizing it if the aggregate of all gifts to the official is more than $650 in a calendar year.

Other jurisdictions allow a lobbyist to provide entertainment up to a certain amount.  In Texas, a lobbyist may provide expenditures for entertainment of $500 or less in a calendar year.  Ohio permits a lesser amount.  Lobbyists may provide Ohio officials gifts worth an aggregate annual value of $75 or less.  Like Pennsylvania, both Texas and Ohio require the gift to be reported.

Louisiana specifically prohibits providing tickets to sporting events except for a very narrow exception.  Other jurisdictions do not specifically mention entertainment or hospitality, but generally restrict these gifts to officials.  Though a big football state, Wisconsin generally prohibits all gifts to officials.

The question reinforces the idea that a lobbyist must understand all of a jurisdiction’s gift restrictions, not just those that pertain to food and beverage.  When considering any dollar value limitation on entertainment or hospitality, be sure to consider the proper method to value the gift in that jurisdiction.  For example, the cost of a football ticket for ethics purposes could be its face value or its fair market value.

You can directly submit questions for this feature, and we will select those most appropriate and answer them here. Send your questions to: marketing@stateandfed.com.

(We are always available to answer questions from clients that are specific to your needs, and we encourage you to continue to call or e-mail us with questions about your particular company or organization. As always, we will confidentially and directly provide answers or information you need.) Our replies to your questions are not legal advice. Instead, these replies represent our analysis of laws, rules, and regulations.