Trustees of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) hope to change ethics rules involving vendor contracting.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the new rules would require trustees to disclose relationships with vendors, prohibit trustees from voting on contracts where a vendor contributed $500 or more to a trustee’s political campaign, and prohibit vendors’ contributions while bidding for HISD contracts.

Last October, similar ethics changes were discussed but not implemented by HISD. The trustees are expected to vote on new policies in September.

Q. My company has existing, ongoing contracts with various state agencies. Sometimes, I have discussions with employees of these agencies (technicians, managers, and directors) regarding their use of my company’s products. Do I have to register and report as a lobbyist?

A. As a general rule for state-level lobbying, as long as discussions are limited to the evaluation and servicing of existing contracts, this type of activity will not typically be considered lobbying, the definition of which often includes influencing executive branch action.

However, in some states, executive branch action encompasses the state’s procurement process, including decisions to modify, extend, expand, or renew existing contracts. Once discussions of this type occur, lobbyist registration and reporting may be triggered, depending on the state’s specific time and expenditure thresholds. Every state has different thresholds, and requires its own specific analysis.

Here are some important things to track when evaluating whether you need to be registered in a specific jurisdiction:

1. Who are you talking to? In jurisdictions requiring registration for procurement lobbying, registration may hinge on whether the agency employee is considered a covered official. In some states, covered official is broadly defined to include all employees, while other jurisdictions require registration and reporting for attempting to influence directors or other major decision makers.
2. How many contacts have you had with the agency? How much time have you spent? Some jurisdictions require registration before the very first contact, while other jurisdictions require registration and reporting once you spend a certain amount of time engaging in procurement lobbying. You may need to determine your pro-rata share of compensation for time you have spent preparing for and engaging in the communication.
3. Is there a pending RFP or a contract renewal on the horizon? In some jurisdictions, the timing of your conversation with an agency official is important. Is there a pending decision before the state agency which would affect your company’s bottom line? If so, registration as a lobbyist may be required before engaging in communication which could be perceived as influencing the decision making process.
4. Did you expend any money on behalf of agency employees or officials? In some jurisdictions, registration may be triggered by expenditures on behalf of employees or officials.

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.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed a bill he hopes will help ease the financial burdens facing some local governments within the state. Senate Bill 5525, which was passed by the state legislature in late June, allows all New York cities and counties to piggyback contacts from other cities and counties.

If a public contract already exists, a city or county may choose to use the contract already in existence, instead of having to solicit the work itself. In order to take advantage of this opportunity, the original contract must have followed all state and local laws involving the procurement of government contracts, including competitive bidding requirements.

The law takes effect immediately.

Campaign Finance

“Political Spending by Unions Far Exceeds Direct Donations” by Tom McGinty AND Brody Mullins in The Wall Street Journal.

“Campaigns to Compete for Ads During Olympic Games” by Nathan L. Gonzales in Roll Call.

Alaska:  “Committee weighs in on ethics of pre-election pledges” by Becky Bohrer (Associated Press) in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

District of Columbia: “Jeanne Clarke Harris is charged in ongoing investigation of Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s campaign” by Mike DeBonis and Nikita Stewart in the Washington Post

District of Columbia: “D.C. activists deliver 30,000 signatures for ballot initiative to ban corporate contributions” by Nikita Stewart and Tim Craig in the Washington Post.

Idaho:  “Idaho Democrats use state seal for campaign email” by John Miller (Associated Press) in the Idaho Statesman.

Ethics

“Ethics panel clears Buchanan on charge of misleading Congress” by Jordy Yager in The Hill.

Procurement

Arkansas: “New Arkansas Site Reveals State Salaries” in Government Technology. “The contracts page offers details on contracts or individual purchase orders for more than $25,000. Construction contracts with a value of greater than $20,000 are also listed.”

Governor Jack Markell signed Senate Bill 212 into law in an effort to improve the online presence and public notice capabilities of the state’s procurement office.

The bill mandates that the state create, by May 1, 2013, a one-stop website which will post all bids with an estimated value of more than $50,000.

This website must be accessible to all contractors and the general public. Further, the website will allow the state’s municipalities to advertise their bidding opportunities on the same site.

Both houses of the New York state Legislature recently passed a bill aimed at lowering procurement costs for municipalities. Senate Bill 5525 authorizes state municipalities to piggyback off existing public contracts entered into by the federal government, any state, or any municipalities within those states.

New York state municipalities will still have to abide by state contracting rules when utilizing this piggybacking ability. Therefore, the original contract must have utilized competitive bidding when necessary and the municipalities must still comply with the laws regarding minority and women owned businesses as well as any preferred source requirements.

The bill will now head to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s desk where he will decide whether to sign it into law or veto it.

Photo of the New York State Capitol by UpStateNYer on Wikipedia.

Sarah Kovit is a Compliance Associate at State and Federal Communications who is a fluent Spanish speaker and who has experience working with Puerto Rican officials and tracking newly enacted legislation. She is here to assist you with your Puerto Rican compliance needs.

According to Kovit: “Navigating the lobbying, political contribution, and procurement lobbying laws in Puerto Rico can be tricky. English copies of newly enacted legislation are rarely available and English language assistance with your questions is not always available. In the last year alone, Puerto Rico has passed a new election code, updated the PAC reporting structure, and created a pay to play law which affects organizations conducting business in Puerto Rico.”

You can contact Sarah Kovit at skovit@stateandfed.com.

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.

The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County rolled out a new online procurement system today. The system, iProcurement, was developed by Oracle Procurement Software.

Vendors and suppliers, as well as all subcontractors, wishing to do business with the Metro Government will have to register with the new system. The new system can be accessed through the Metro Government’s Procurement Division website.

Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, and John Cozine, Research Manager for the company, contributed to a publication by the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO). The white paper, “Effective Communication between State Procurement and Industry,” was presented at NAPSO’s recent national meeting.

The How to Market to State Governments Meeting was held April 15-17 in Orlando, Florida.

State and Federal Communications’ contribution can be found in the “Vendor Reporting and Disclosure” section, which covers compliance issues regarding lobbying, vendor disclosure, and pay-to-play.

“We felt it was important that we participate to make sure the paper included information about compliance,” said Bartz.

Governor John Kitzhaber has signed Senate Bill 1518. The bill’s provisions are intended to improve transparency in the procurement process.

The bill prohibits a vendor from writing the specifications of a project and then turning around and bidding on the project. Bidders will be able to include information on the number of jobs that will be created if the bid is chosen for the project.

In addition, the Department of Administrative Services will have to report to the legislature about special procurements, a contracting procedure that allows state agencies to bypass competitive bidding rules.

Although the bill took effect upon passage, the operative date for the above provisions is January 1, 2013.

Take a tour of our site and click on the “Free Live Online Demo” on the middle of the left column of the home page. You will open a page with three blue links, located in the middle of the page:

•Executive Source Guide on Lobbying Laws
•Executive Source Guide on Political Contributions
•Executive Source Guide on Procurement Lobbying

Click on any one – or all three – to view the state of Alaska compliance information we provide to clients. This comprehensive and vital compliance information is updated continuously.

We have this same online information for all 50 states, the federal government, and 226 municipal and regional governments.

If you would like to view everything we have for online clients, contact us at info@stateandfed.com or 330-761-9960 and ask about our two-week trial. There is no cost for the trial, and you are under no obligation to purchase.

We can think of no better way for you to see the value in our online resources than for you and your team to actually use them for two weeks in your compliance efforts.

The 2013 Federal Budget proposed by President Obama would remove provisions put in the Fiscal Year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act which prohibit federal agencies from requiring the disclosure of political contributions and expenditures from vendors bidding on federal contracts.

The prohibition was inserted into the 2012 Act as a response to a draft executive order which was leaked in the spring of last year. The executive order would have required disclosure of campaign contributions and political expenditures by bidders of federal contracts.

“The White House, contrary to the intent of Congress, is apparently still trying to advance a policy that would inject politics into the federal contracting process instead of focusing on promoting competition and best value in contracting,” said U.S. Senator Susan Collins in a minority press release from the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs.

Even with the current prohibition of disclosure from bidders, some groups are urging the President to require federal contractors disclose their political contributions after the bidding process is completed and a federal contract is awarded.

A brief review of this issue can be found here.

Petitions with more than 100,000 signatures have been submitted to the White House urging the president to require federal contractors to disclose political contributions.

Last spring a leaked draft executive order requiring vendors submitting offers for federal contracts to disclose political contributions and expenditures resulted in both fervent support and opposition. A compromise amendment was inserted into the 565-page National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 2012, which passed in December, precluding federal agencies from requiring vendors bidding on federal contracts to disclose political contributions.

In their press release arguing for full transparency of corporate political spending, Public Citizen and MoveOn.org explained its petitions are asking for disclosures after the contracts are awarded.

For previous articles on Lobby Comply by George Ticoras on this topic, you can read posts from May 10, May 12, May 20, June 1, July 28, 2011, and January 5, 2012.

Photo of the The White House by UpstateNYer on Wikipedia.