Team State and Federal Communications is attending National Conference of State Legislatures 2013 National Summit. You’ll find us at Booth #921. Come by and say hello!

Team State and Federal Communications is on its way to the National Conference of State Legislatures Legislative Summit in Atlanta, Georgia! We are looking forward to a full schedule of NCSL and SGAC events.

If you are attending the exciting conference, be sure to say hello at our NCSL headquarters, Booth 921. If you are not attending, keep an eye on our NCSL page for our live webcam.

August 2-5, 2013   National Governors Association Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

August 8, 2013   Public Relations Society of America, Tangiers in Akron, Ohio

August 12-15, 2013   NCSL Legislative Summit Booth 921, Atlanta, Georgia

September 19-22, 2013   CSG National Conference, Kansas City, Missouri

September 25-27, 2013   Public Affairs Council State and Local Government Relations Conference, Washington, D.C.

Q. I will be attending the NCSL conference this summer.  Do regular gift limits on expenditures for public officials apply during this event?

A. The answer will vary depending upon whether you are paying for a private event or sponsoring a conference-affiliated event.  Taking a legislator to dinner, paying for cab fare or other transportation, or giving him or her a ticket to a ballgame are not considered part of the official conference agenda and normal gift limits will apply.  Also, for private events, the answer will depend upon whether you or your company are registered as a lobbyist or lobbyist employer.  In most instances, states have more stringent gift laws applicable to lobbyists and lobbyist principals.

Many states have gift limit exceptions specifically carved out for expenditures at national conferences to which all members of the legislature are invited. Further, State Night events at NCSL are considered part of the conference agenda; therefore, when national conference gift exceptions exist, they will apply.

Although a State Night sponsorship may be permissible, it is important to determine if and when the expenditure must be disclosed.  Know the reporting requirements before the event, because an attendee list may be required. The reporting implications range from simple aggregate disclosure to detailed reporting where the name of every legislator attending must be listed.

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.

All our bags are packed, we are ready to go. We are standing here, outside our door…If you follow my columns you will know I use a lot of references to songs. That’s about all I have in common with this one…but I was thinking of it today.

NCSL’s Legislative Summit begins on August 11th in Atlanta and you will find the State and Federal Communications team ready for action. We are involved with the Legislative Summit, NCSL’s Foundation Board meeting and its activities, SGAC’s activities, Virginia Night reception, WASRG’s reception, Women’s Legislative Network events, etc. Basically you will find us everywhere.

Stop by Booth 921 beginning on Tuesday and we will give you a tour of our new website, which will be presented to everyone within the month. We will also run a LIVE feed from our booth so you can stop by and wave to our on-line audience.

Thank you,

Elizabeth Z. Bartz

President and CEO

May 8-10, 2013   OSBA – Ohio State Bar Association Convention Booth 24, Cleveland, Ohio

May 16, 2013   WGR Spring Reception, Washington, D.C.

May 30-June 2, 2013   NCSL Executive Committee Spring Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts

June 2-5, 2013   Heartland Governmental Ethics Conference, Louisville, Kentucky

June 21-24, 2013   CSG Leadership Meeting, Washington, D.C.

April 14-16, 2013   NASPO Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana

April 22-25, 2013   BIO International Convention, Chicago, Illinois

April 25, 2013   Washington Program in National Issues 40th Anniversary, Washington, D.C.

May 8-10, 2013   OSBA Annual Convention, Booth 24, Cleveland, Ohio

May 16, 2013   Women in Government Relations Spring Reception, Washington D.C.

May 30-Jun 2, 2013   NCSL Executive Committee Spring Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts

Lobbying

Georgia: “Ga. Senate expected to unveil lobbying rules” by The Associated Press in WSAV TV.

Indiana: “Purdue moving to trim its federal lobbying costs” by The Associated Press in the Indianapolis Business Journal.

Ethics

Arizona: “Campaign-finance case against Horne recommended for dismissal” by Lindsey Collom and Craig Harris in the Arizona Republic.

Georgia: “Ethics reform at critical juncture” Chris Joyner and Kristina Torres in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

New Jersey: “N.J. Politics Roundup: House committee investigates Andrews over spending” by Brent Johnson in the Star-Ledger.

Rhode Island: “R.I. ethics panel mulls statute of limitations on complaint filings” by Karen Lee Ziner in the Providence Journal.

Elections

Ohio: “Ohio House panel OKs elections bill” by Michelle Everhart in the Columbus Dispatch.

Procurement

Iowa: “Iowa businesses would get preference on state contracts under bill approved by Iowa Senate” by William Petroski in the Des Moines Register.

From the State Legislatures

“State Legislative Leaders Gather in Washington” by  Jon Kuhl in NCSL’s The Thicket.

Term Limits

Texas: “Senate votes to let voters decide on term limits for statewide officeholders” by Mike Ward in the Austin American-Statesman.

Don’t miss the latest updates in the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Ethics Update. You’ll also find links to newsletters from the state ethics commissions.

It can all be found on the NCSL 2012 Legislative Summit Resources page.

Have a great weekend!

The National Conference of State Legislatures has announced its leadership team for the upcoming year.

Take a look at their news release found on NCSL’s website: “NCSL Welcomes New Leadership: Norelli, Starr and Spaw set to lead national organization for 2012-13.”

On Thursday, former lobbyist Jack Abramoff spoke at the NCSL Legislative Summit in Chicago. While he maintained that 99 percent of his work in lobbying had been ethical, his speech championed the need for ethics and campaign finance reform.

For the full story, be sure to read “Jack Abramoff Urges Ethics Reform In NCSL Speech” by John Celock in the Huffington Post.

According to the article: “Abramoff, who served four years in federal prison for crimes related to the Indian gaming lobby, told the National Conference of State Legislatures that public officials need to be mindful of what lobbyists do, and take money and gifts out of politics. Abramoff has spent his time since prison advocating for ethics reform, along with writing a 2011 book on his crimes.”