Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin signed Senate Bill 6 on March 25.

The bill requires executive agency lobbyists to disclose compensation and prohibits compensation contingent on awarding of a government contract or based on a percentage of a government contract awarded.

Senate Bill 6 also extends the length of time a public servant must wait to have certain government contracts from six months to one year.

The bill becomes effective 90 days after the General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn sine die on March 30.

Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy announced the government of Ontario intends to centralize all provincial procurements in an effort to save the public money.

On March 20, Bethlenfalvy tweeted centralizing government procurement will save $1 billion a year, make it easier and more efficient to deliver services to the people, and allow the province to invest in other core public services like healthcare and education.

In his press release on Monday, Bethlenfalvy said there would be interim measures, such as the limiting of long-term contracts during the building of a centralized system. The province will also hire consulting services to support the development of a centralized procurement system.

“Currently there is far too much duplication and fragmentation in the system. We are not taking advantage of our shared buying power to drive efficiencies and cost savings,” Bethlenfalvy told CP24.

Vendors selling internet-of-things (IoT) to the federal government may soon be required to follow certain security guidelines concerning those devices.

House Bill 1668, the Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2019, introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives on March 11, would require all federal contracts involving the purchase and use of internet-connected devices meet certain security requirements to better ensure these devices are secure against cyber-attacks.

The legislation requires contractors and vendors providing internet-of-things devices to the U.S. government adopt coordinated vulnerability disclosure policies, so that if a vulnerability is uncovered, that information is disseminated.

The bill also requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to issue recommendations addressing, at a minimum, secure development, identity management, patching, and configuration management for IoT devices.

Additionally, the legislation directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue guidelines for each agency consistent with the NIST recommendations and mandates the OMB with reviewing these policies at least every five years.

“As the government continues to purchase and use more and more internet-connected devices, we must ensure that these devices are secure. Everything from our national security to the personal information of American citizens could be vulnerable because of security holes in these devices,” said the bill’s sponsor, Congresswoman Robin Kelly, in her press release.

Campaign Finance

Arizona: “Judge Says Ex-AG Horne Denied Due Process in Campaign Violations Case” by Howard Fischer (Capitol News Services) for Arizona Daily Star

Kansas: “Prosecutors Weigh Options After Jury Acquits Michael O’Donnell on Most Counts” by Amy Renee Leiker for Wichita Eagle

Nevada: “Senate Majority Leader Kelvin Atkinson Resigns After Admitting to Misappropriating Campaign Funds for Personal Use” by Riley Snider, Megan Messerly, and Michelle Rindels for Nevada Independent

Ethics

National: “Trump Tweet Touting One of His Scotland Golf Courses as ‘the Greatest’ in the World Draws Criticism” by David Fahrenthold and Joel Achenbach (Washington Post) for San Francisco Chronicle

District of Columbia: “Towing Contractor Hooked D.C. Officials with $50,000 in Bribes, He Admits in Court” by Ann Marimow and Peter Jamison for Washington Post

Lobbying

National: “Ilhan Omar’s Criticism Raises the Question: Is Aipac too powerful?” by Sheryl Gay Stolberg for New York Times

Canada: “Lobbying Commissioner Should Investigate Facebook, Says MP Angus” by Elizabeth Thompson for CBC

Louisiana: “Entergy Fined $5M, Can Move Forward with New Power Plant” by Michael Issac Stein (The Lens) for Louisiana Weekly

Procurement

National: “Nationwide Lobbying Push for Contractor Monitoring Software Alarms State CIOs” by Benjamin Freed for StateScoop

Campaign Finance

National: “Court Ruling Doesn’t Stop Untraceable Election Spending” by Brian Slodysko (Associated Press) for apnews.org

Tennessee: “Tennessee Lawmakers Appeared to Violate Fundraising Rules – but They’re Unlikely to Face Penalties” by Joel Ebert for The Tennessean

Elections

National: “How Manafort’s 2016 Meeting with a Russian Employee at New York Cigar Club Goes to ‘the Heart’ of Mueller’s Probe” by Rosalind Helderman and Tom Hamburger for Washington Post

National: “Former Federal Election Commission Chair Ann Ravel Runs for State Senate in San Jose” by Casey Tolan for San Jose Mercury News

Oregon: “Oregon Secretary of State Proposes $95K Fine for Ballots Turned in Late” by Hillary Borrud for Portland Oregonian

Ethics

National: “Top Leader at Interior Dept. Pushes a Policy Favoring His Former Client” by Coral Davenport for New York Times

Montana: “Who Should Fall Under the Montana Legislature’s Anti-Harassment Policy? No Easy Answer” by Holly Michels for Helena Independent Record

New Mexico: “Ethics Commission Measure Unveiled” by Dan Boyd for Albuquerque Journal

Lobbying

Washington: “Seattle Ethics Commission May Shine Light on Political Work, City Hall Lobbying” by Daniel Beekman for Seattle Times

Procurement

California: “To Do Business with L.A., City Contractors Now Must Disclose Ties with the NRA” by Dakota Smith for Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Ethics Commission announced it will be taking another look at a proposal to ban certain developer contributions to elected officials and candidates after Los Angeles City Council members revived the idea.

Six council-members reintroduced the new motion last week, with Council President Herb Wesson seconding it.

The motion prohibits developers from making political contributions to city elected officials or candidates from the date of application for the property is filed until 12 months following the final resolution of the application.

The Ethics Commission also announced it could include restrictions on nonindividual entity contributors and payments made by third parties at the behest of elected officials.

Campaign Finance

National: “Democratic, GOP Super PACs Quadruple Fundraising as Big-Money Groups’ Influence Grows” by Maggie Severns for Politico

Elections

North Carolina: “Harris Campaign Owes $34K, in Part for Disputed Bladen Absentee Effort” by Travis Fain for WRAL

Ethics

National: “Billionaire GOP Donor Gave Scott Pruitt $50,000 for Legal Expenses” by Brady Dennis and Juliet Eilperin (Washington Post) for MSN

Legislative Issues

New York: “Commission Recommends Pay Increases and Ethics Reforms for State Legislators” by Ben Brachfeld for Gotham Gazette

Lobbying

Kansas: “Lynn Jenkins Sets Up Lobbying Business — But She’s Still a Kansas Congresswoman” by Jonathan Shorman (Wichita Eagle) and Bryan Lowry for McClatchy DC

Missouri: “Missouri Lawmaker Quits in Last Moment Before Lobbying Limit” by David Lieb (Associated Press) for Columbia Missourian

Procurement

Tennessee: “Nashville Mayor David Briley Taps Former Judge as First-Ever Chief Compliance Officer” by Joey Garrison for The Tennessean

The D.C. Council unanimously approved a bill in a second full council vote that aims to restrict political contributions by government contractors doing business with the district.

The bill also addresses improper coordination between campaigns, political action committees and independent expenditure committees.

The pay-to-play component of the bill would ban campaign contributions by businesses seeking contracts of $250,000 or more.

Provided the mayor approves the legislation, the act of the council travels to Congress for a 30-day review. If approved and funded, the bill would take effect on October 1, 2019.

Pay-to-play provisions would take effect after the November 2020 general election.

The Washington D.C. Council approved a bill in a first full council vote that aims to restrict political contributions by government contractors doing business with the district.

The bill also addresses improper coordination between campaigns, political action committees and independent expenditure committees.

The pay-to- play component of the bill would ban campaign contributions by businesses seeking contracts of $250,000 or more.

The council votes again on the bill in December. If approved and funded, the bill would take effect on October 1, 2019.

Pay-to-play provisions would take effect after the November 2020 general election.

Act A22-0442, which included the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability Amendment Act of 2018, passed congressional review.

The Act expands the scope of procurement lobbying in the District of Columbia to include action by an executive agency or official in the executive branch to contract, grant or procure goods or services.

The lobbyist reporting periods change from semi-annual to quarterly reporting in January 2019.

Additional registration requirements were added including the precise description of the subject matter, including any bill, proposed resolution, contract, or other legislation of all writing or oral communications related to lobbying activities conducted with an executive or legislative member or official’s staff.

The Washington D.C. Council Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety unanimously passed a bill that aims to restrict political contributions by government contractors doing business with the district.

The bill also addresses improper coordination between campaigns, political action committees and independent expenditure committees.

The pay-to-play component of the bill would ban campaign contributions by businesses seeking contracts of $250,000 or more.

If passed by the full council, the bill is subject to appropriation and, if funded, would take effect on October 1, 2019.

Pay-to-play provisions would take effect after the November 2020 general election.

Guam Governor Eddie Baza Calvo vetoed Bill 28-34 aimed at restructuring the process of procurement protests.

The governor indicated that the Attorney General and the General Services Agency also opposed the measure as ambiguous because it allowed anyone who showed an interest in the procurement to have the ability to file a protest.

Elections

Georgia: Voting Rights Become a Flashpoint in Georgia Governor’s Race by Ben Nadler (Associated Press) for WRAL

Ethics

National: Watchdog: Issues with IRS processing of improper political activity complaints by Naomi Jagoda for The Hill October

National: Facebook Purged Over 800 Accounts and Pages Pushing Political Messages for Profit by Elizabeth Dwoskin and Tony Romm for Washington Post

New York: Assemblyman Joe Errigo Charged with Accepting a Bribe to Eid a Development by Gary Craig and Steve Orr for Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

South Carolina: Will SC Lawmakers Close Loopholes Exposed by State House Corruption Probe? by Maayan Schechter for The State

Lobbying

National: From Wall Street to K Street, Companies Gauge the Risks of Doing Business with Saudi Arabia by Mark Landler, Kenneth Vogel, and Kate Kelly for New York Times

Alaska: Alaska Law Says Lobbyists Can’t Fundraise for Candidates. But the Invitations Keep Coming by Nathaniel Hertz for Alaska Public Media

Procurement

Louisiana: Louisiana’s Lucrative Voting Machine Contract Award Canceled by Melinda Deslatte (Associated Press) for Washington Times

Campaign Finance

New York: “Mayoral Charter Revision Commission Puts Three Questions on November Ballot” by Samar Khurshid for Gotham Gazette

Elections

National: “Once Bipartisan, an Election Security Bill Collapses in Rancor” by Catie Edmonson for New York Times

Massachusetts: “Ayanna Pressley Upsets Capuano in Massachusetts House Race” by Katharine Seelye for New York Times

North Carolina: “Court Won’t Force North Carolina Redistricting This Year” by Josh Gerstein for Politico

Ethics

National: “A Broken Relationship and Accusations of Emotional Abuse: The case of Keith Ellison” by Julie Turkewitz and Farah Stockman for New York Times

Colorado: “Colorado Lawmakers Who Don’t Attend Sexual Harassment Training Could Be Publicly Shamed” by John Herrick for Colorado Independent

Florida: “Andrew Gillum’s Receipts for New York and Costa Rica Trips Leave Unanswered Questions” by Jeff Burlew and Jeffrey Schweers for Tallahassee Democrat

Maryland: “Ex-Maryland Lawmaker Sentenced to 48 Months in Liquor Board Bribery Scheme” by Lyn Bui (Washington Post) for Danbury News Times

Procurement

Texas: “Texas Schools Agency Botched Award of Huge No-Bid Contract on Special Ed Student Data, Audit Finds” by Robert Garrett for Dallas News