The Bergen County New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders passed an ordinance yesterday modifying the county’s pay-to-play laws.

NorthJersey.com reports the Board voted 6-1 in favor of changes to the code that include lowering the debarment period for future county contracts from four years to one year. Contractors will also be able to make political contributions up to $5,200 to county political parties.

The ordinance must next go to County Executive Kathleen Donovan. Executive Donovan vetoed prior pay-to-play measures last year. If the ordinance is not vetoed, or if a veto is overridden, it will become effective 20 days after publication.

Freeholder Maura DeNicola cast the single vote against the ordinance, calling it “an incumbent protection program” according to NorthJersey.com.

In the 2012 Annual report issued by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) on April 15, the Commission listed several recommendations and ideas to strengthen the state’s campaign finance and lobbying laws.

ELEC recommends requiring disclosure from super PACs and non-profit groups organized under Section 527 and Section 501(c) of the IRS code, requiring disclosure of lobbying activity by local vendors who are required to report pay-to-play contributions, and expanding the 48-hour notice requirement for continuing PAC expenditures to require the filing of notices for expenditures made in May municipal, runoff, school, and special elections.

Among its other recommendations, ELEC calls for the state to expand the regulation of “wheeling” to include contributions by county political party committees to other county political party committees during the entire year.

In the report, the Commission also lists general ideas to strengthen the laws, including requiring grassroots lobbying materials to list the name and address of the committee paying for the material, increasing penalties for public financing violations, and banning the use of partnership funds for the purpose of making contributions.

The annual report can be found here.

From the States and Municipalities:

California – Legislative Staffers Lavished with Gifts

Indiana – Indiana Speaker Pro Tem Turner Defends Supporting Company Daughter Represents as Lobbyist

Kentucky – Kentucky Group Is the PAC That Couldn’t Shoot Straight

Montana – Montana House Panel Kills Bill to Disclose ‘Dark Money’ in Campaigns

Nebraska – Golf Tops List of Gifts Dave Heineman Reported

New Jersey – Bergen County Freeholders Introduce Plan to Relax Pay-to-Play Restrictions

New Jersey – In N.J. Governor’s Race, Christie and Buono Choose to Keep Some Donors Secret

New York – Sandra Lee OK’d for Takeoff

Ohio – Cuyahoga County Prosecutor McGinty Pursues Corruption Charges against Those Brought Down in Federal Probe

Pennsylvania – Pennsylvania Turnpike Scandal Has Some Eyeing a Pay-to-Play Law

Pennsylvania – Senate Passes Three Bills to Strengthen Transparency and Efficiency in State Government

South Carolina – National GOP Campaign Arm Withdraws Sanford’s Financial Support

Tennessee – Bill Fails That Would Raise Campaign Contribution Limits, Allowing Direct Corporate Donations

Texas – Exotic Trips, Luxury Gifts Are Perks of Elective Office

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.

Lobbying

“Former Rep. Connie Mack joins lobby firm” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

Washington: “66 Wash. lobbyists get warning letters for lack of transparency” by Austin Jenkins on KPLU.org.

Campaign Finance

“Proposal could drag political funding into the light” by Michael Kirkland in the United Press International.

“Influence of big-money ‘SuperPACs’ not so clear” by Aaron Delatte in the Orlando Sentinel.

“Members of Congress Fill War Chests for Next Campaign” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

California: “Universities Join Effort to Overturn Citizens United Decision” by Anjuli Sastry on ABC News.

Florida: “Lawmakers raking in contributions even as they debate campaign law changes” by Jim Saunders in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Maryland: “Massive Campaign Finance Revamping Awaits Gov. O’Malley’s Pen” by The Associated Press on WNEW.

Missouri: “Ethics rules changes considered for KC leaders, employees” by Mike Hendricks in the Kansas City Star.

Missouri: “Time running short for Mo. campaign finance issues” by The Associated Press in the San Francisco Chronicle.

New York: “Public financing of campaigns could be a key issue in Albany” by Tom Wrobleski in the Staten Island Advance.

New York: “Senator Carlucci Unveils New Campaign Finance Reform Proposal” by Michael Riconda in the Rockland County Times.

Texas: “$27 Million Republican Political Donor Dies” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

Vermont: “Vt. Senate passes campaign finance law” by The Associated Press in the Boston Globe.

Ethics

Connecticut: “Donovan Campaign Manager Pleads Guilty” by Dave Altimari in the Hartford Courant.

Pennsylvania: “Latest Pa. scandal has some eyeing pay-to-play law” by Marc Levy in the Beaver County Times.

Texas: “Ethics commission up for review at Legislature” by Chris Tomlinson (Associated Press) in the Houston Chronicle.

Texas: “Exotic Trips, Luxury Gifts Are Perks of Elective Office” by Emily Ramshaw in the Texas Tribune.

Texas: “A Slim Chance for Lawmakers to Self-Regulate” by Ross Ramsey in the Texas Tribune.

From the State Legislatures

Nevada: “It’s roundup time for Nevada legislators, bills” by Sandra Chereb (Associated Press) in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Ohio:  “Former Rep. Charlie Wilson of Ohio dies at 70 after suffering stroke” by Jonathan Easley in The Hill.

Elections

“Alaska Legislature passes elections bill” by Joshua Berlinger (Associated Press) in the Anchorage Daily News.

Social Media and Government Technology

“Top Phoenix lobbyists sound off on the impact of social media” by Dale Brown in the Phoenix Business Journal.

“TechPresident Podcast: ‘Open Government’” by Nick Judd on TechPresident.

On December 19, 2012, the Jersey City, New Jersey City Council adopted a number of new pay-to-play measures while tabling another competing version of changes.

City ordinance 12-158 limits vendors winning no-bid contracts from making political contributions over $200 to committees for local state senate, local state assembly, and school board candidates, and to other entities, associations, and forms of association required to register annually with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Vendors are also prohibited from participating in voter-registration drives, get-out-the-vote activities, and advertising for municipal candidates.

Once signed by the Mayor, the ordinance takes effect on January 8, 2013. City ordinance 12-157, with alternate pay-to-play measures, was tabled by the city council.

Photo of the Jersey City skyline by Gryffindor on Wikipedia.

The Ethics Commission will conduct two interested persons meetings following a report comparing the city’s campaign finance, enforcement, and lobbying laws with the laws of the city of Los Angeles.

Discussion topics include whether or not the city should increase pay-to-play restrictions, prohibit political contributions from lobbyists, and whether to adopt more stringent enforcement policies.

The meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. in Room 408 of City Hall and for Monday, December 10, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. in Room 416 of City Hall.

Feedback may also be sent by email to ethics.commission@sfgov.org.

Two separate pay-to-play ordinances were proposed at yesterday’s meeting of the Jersey City Council. While one proposal was not approved by the council, the remaining ordinance will be considered for a final vote on November 14, 2012.

The surviving ordinance expands the existing pay-to-play law by placing restrictions on vendors contracting with the city from contributing to Board of Education candidates.

Aerial photo of Jersey City courtesy of Creative Commons on Wikipedia.

An ordinance passed last week to alter Bergen County, New Jersey’s pay-to-play law was vetoed by County Executive Kathleen A. Donovan on Friday.

The Board of Chosen Freeholders had voted to remove much of the current ordinance’s disclosure requirements, requiring reporting only of contributions made to candidates for county offices. The existing pay-to-play ordinance, just passed in December of 2011, requires contractors report their contributions to candidates on the municipal, county, state, and federal level.

National:

Aflac and Chubb Join Ranks of Companies Expanding Disclosure

Federal:

Judge Backs Obama Ban on Lobbyists Serving on Federal Advisory Panels

Super PACs Get New Use – As Lobbying Arms on Hill

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

Judge Sentences Gambling Lobbyist Pouncy to 3 Years Probation

California

Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Bill to Modernize Campaign Disclosure Web Site

Georgia

Deal Lawyer Goes After Accuser for Legal Fees

Maryland

Bill Before City Council Aims to Close ‘Gaps’ in Ethics Code

Massachusetts

Goldman Sachs Will Pay $12 Million in SEC ‘Pay-to-Play’ Case

Minnesota

Catholics Asked to Pay for Marriage Vote Ads

North Carolina

Ethics Guidance on Legislative Staffers and Lobbyists

South Carolina

Harrell Offers No Details on Self-Reimbursement of $325,000 from Campaign Funds

Washington

Lobbyists, Staff Aided Lt. Gov. Owen’s Nonprofit

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.

Lobbying

“Trade groups fear gift ban after the election” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

Florida: “Senate president scolds lobbyists who opposed his candidates” by Mary Ellen Klas in the Tampa Bay Times.

Campaign Finance, Campaigns and Elections

“How the presidential campaigns are spending money, in one chart” by Sean Sullivan in the Washington Post.

“‘Super PACs’ Finally a Draw for Democrats” by Nicholas Confessore in the New York Times.

“Money trouble: Barack Obama faces a cash gap in the final weeks of the campaign” in The Economist.

“Attentive.ly, a Tool to Mine Your Supporters’ Minds, Just Launched” by Miranda Neubauer in TechPresident.

Pay-toPlay

“Goldman Sachs Will Pay $14.4 Million to Settle Pay-to-Play Cases” by Joshua Gallu, Michael McDonald, and Christine Harper in Bloomberg’s Businessweek.

Ethics

“Watchdog Groups Urge House Leaders to Fill Vacancies on Ethics Board” by Janie Lorber in Roll Call.

California: “After shoplifting plea, lawmaker seeks another office” by Michael J. Mishak in the Los Angeles Times.

Maryland: “Alston’s Maryland law license lifted for ethical violations” by David Hill in the Washington Times.

Procurement

“New federal contracting jobs site launches” by Kedar Pavgi in Government Executive.

The Bergen County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders will consider revising its pay-to-play ordinances on Wednesday, September 19.

Bergen County has only had its local pay-to-play ordinance since December. According to NorthJersey.com, proposed changes “would strip the requirement that contractors report their contributions to candidates on the municipal, state, and federal level, leaving only county campaigns on the mandatory reporting form.”

While the proposal was introduced on September 12 and is scheduled for an October 3 consideration, the Freeholder’s agenda lists the ordinance introduction for Wednesday.

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.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has extended the date advisers and third-party solicitors must comply with new pay-to-play rules until April 2013.

The Commission is extending the compliance date for the ban on third-party solicitation under rule 206(4)-5 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 in order to ensure an orderly transition for third-party solicitors and advisers and as well as to provide additional time to adjust compliance policies and procedures after the transition.

Rule 206(4)-5, the “Pay to Play Rule,” prohibits an investment adviser from providing advisory services for compensation to a government client for two years after the adviser or certain of its executives or covered associates make a contribution to elected officials or candidates.

The rule also prohibits an adviser and its covered associates from providing or agreeing to provide, directly or indirectly, payment to any third-party for a solicitation of advisory business from any government entity on behalf of such adviser, unless such third-party was an SEC-registered investment adviser or a registered broker or dealer subject to pay to play restrictions adopted by a registered national securities association.

More information can be found here.

The 18 month time-limit prohibiting political contributions under New Jersey’s pay-to-play law starts from the time when bids for a request for proposals (RFP) are submitted, a court has ruled.

The Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey affirmed a decision prohibiting Langan Engineering & Environmental Services, Inc. from contracting with the New Jersey Schools Development Authority because of a political contribution given prior to Langan’s submission of its bid. Langan had submitted its bid on the due date for the RFP.

The Court examined the language in N.J.S.A. §19:44A-20.14, which describes the prohibition period as “within the 18 months immediately preceding the commencement of negotiations for the contract or agreement.”

The Court reasoned, “[W]e deem the point at which bids are submitted to be the time when ‘negotiations’ occur. Stated differently, because the submission of the bid is the triggering event culminating in the eventual award of a contract, and because the term ‘negotiations’ suggests a point in time at the beginning of the contracting process … the term ‘negotiations’ describes the point in time when bids are submitted. Consequently, we conclude that the agency’s receipt of bids constitutes the ‘commencement of negotiations’.” It rejected the appellant’s contention that a disqualification period begins on the day a political contribution is made, and continues for the next eighteen months.