Looking for something cool to do this month? How about participating in Global Forgiveness Day on July 7th? I can’t believe that I am just finding out now about this observance!
Global Forgiveness Day (formerly National Forgiveness Day) has an interesting timeline that led up to its founding. Noting that the concept of forgiveness had been (and still is) prevalent in many religions around the globe, its idea and principles began to peak the interest of scientists around 1962, who began to study forgiveness and its impact on human well-being. “What they found was that forgiveness was a process. Multiple researchers developed models of forgiveness … that would allow people to improve their ability to forgive. Later studies even attempted to understand the relationship between forgiveness and justice …” GLOBAL FORGIVENESS DAY – July 7, 2025 – National Today
An example of forgiveness came in 1962 when a Japanese fighter pilot asked for and was granted forgiveness by the townspeople of Brookings, Oregon, for bombing the west coast of the United States over Oregon during World War II. Fast forward to the 20th century, and the late Pope John Paul II publicly forgave the man who tried to assassinate him. “The Christian Embassy of Christ’s Ambassadors (CECA) founded National Forgiveness Day in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada … As this day gained prominence throughout the world, it was renamed Global Forgiveness Day.” GLOBAL FORGIVENESS DAY – July 7, 2025 – National Today
On July 7th, take some time to think about someone who may have wronged you in the past and make a conscious effort to forgive them! Don’t forget to also include yourself and offer yourself some forgiveness as well! For more information on Global Forgiveness Day, visit the website featured in this blog.

Gamble

What started in 1993 has grown into a thriving business thanks to our incredible clients, resolute team, and supportive community.

In 1993, we opened our doors with a clear vision and a strong sense of purpose: to provide outstanding service, build trusted relationships, and make a lasting impact in our industry and community. Now, 32 years later, we are proud to celebrate more than just our longevity—we are celebrating the journey, the people, and the partnerships which brought us here.

Over the past three decades, we have weathered industry shifts, embraced innovation, and adapted to change—all while staying true to the core values that define us: integrity, excellence, and commitment. From our earliest days to our latest milestones, our success has been fueled by the trust of our clients and the dedication of our incredible team.

We know staying in business for 32 years is not just about doing good work, it is about building lasting relationships. Many of our clients have been with us for years, and some since the very beginning. That loyalty and support mean everything to us, and we do not take it for granted.

As we reflect on our journey, we are proud of what we have accomplished: the projects we have delivered, the problems we have helped solve, and the lives we have touched along the way. But we also see this anniversary as a time to look forward—with fresh goals, renewed energy, and an even stronger commitment to those we serve.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been part of our story—our clients, partners, staff, and friends. Here is to 32 years of resilience and growth—and to many more chapters still to be written.

Thank you for being part of our story and for making this possible.

Carter Hoskins is among the best of our home-grown talents here at State and Federal Communications. Carter started as an intern right after graduating from Akron University and found a home with us as an indispensable member of our sales team. He has learned the ropes of multiple roles within the sales team, and while his primary role is as a customer relations assistant, he also does a considerable amount of work with the marketing team, as well.

Passion is something Carter does not lack in his job – he finds it when he helps someone on his team or elsewhere in the office. He also exhibits his passion by being efficient and effective in his tasks and doing the best he can.

As the customer relations assistant, Carter wears many hats for the sales team, filling in where needed for roles such as subscription renewal services, potential client outreach, and many others. He helps balance the intricate system of the sales team, keeping the team working together at all times.

Carter is eagerly learning more about government affairs every day, which is fueled by a keen interest in people within our industry. His experiences at conferences and conversations with local professionals has not only helped him to become well-versed in the industry, but ever more skillful within sales and marketing.

He is also active in educational groups through State and Federal Communications to push him toward his career goals. Membership in organizations like National Sales and Marketing Executives provides him with critical tips for growth. Through pursuing so many diverse, yet related career interests, Carter is rapidly becoming more well-rounded and knowledgeable within his area of expertise.

When he is not doing it all for the sales and marketing teams, sports and staying active are a big part of Carter’s life. A long-time baseball player, Carter still keeps close contact with the sport, playing it, watching it, and even coaching it. He’s currently coaching an 11U baseball team while also competing on his own softball team.

We’re excited Carter decided to stick around for the ride with the State and Federal Communications team – a group full of experts you can trust. Learn more about what we can do for you at https://stateandfed.com/services/.

We are now more than halfway through June, and the official start of summer is just a couple of days away! June is a special month in which we celebrate the men in our lives, not only with Father’s Day, but also as Men’s Health Month — what better time than this month to provide a little extra love and support to the men (and those who identify as men) in our lives!

Summer is a time of greater activity for many of us, whether it is mowing the lawn or getting more physically active with sports and enjoying the great outdoors. This is wonderful for the spirit and can be great for the body, but it can also produce additional strain, which means we need to be more mindful of our health needs. Now is a great time to start thinking about prioritizing our health and the health of those we love in our lives.

In observance of Men’s Health Month and Father’s Day, let’s remind our dads (and all of the men in our circles) to make both their physical and mental health a priority! Remind them to get those important health screenings done, and to not be afraid to ask for, and to seek out, supportive mental health services.

Here’s to a very happy, safe, and fulfilling June!

Gamble

Are you able to track all legislative sessions in the states you do business? Our online guidebooks make it easy, request a demo today!

Question: Our company would like to engage in goodwill lobbying. Do we have to register for this activity?

Answer: Goodwill lobbying is a type of lobbying that focuses on communications with legislators and public officials to build positive relationships but not directly advocating for specific legislation or policy changes. Many states require registration for these types of lobbying communications.
In New York, registration is required for goodwill lobbying upon meeting the compensation and expense threshold of expending, incurring, or receiving combined compensation and expenses for the purposes of lobbying in excess of $5,000 in the aggregate during any calendar year. Direct lobbying includes when a person has direct or preliminary contact with a public official to enable or facilitate an attempt to influence. Preliminary contact includes when the lobbyist knows or has reason to know the client will attempt to influence a public official in scheduling a meeting or telephone call with a public official and a client, introducing a client to a public official, or any other contact with a public official on behalf of a client. A person who schedules a meeting or places a call in a purely administrative capacity is not required to be identified as an individual lobbyist; such activity is attributable to the person who directed the call to be made or the meeting to be set up. Anyone, including consultants, who contacts a public official, including preliminary communications to facilitate or enable the eventual substantive advocacy, is engaging in lobbying.
In Pennsylvania, registration is required for goodwill lobbying. Lobbying includes providing any gift, hospitality, transportation, or lodging to a state official or employee for the purpose of advancing the interest of the lobbyist or principal.
In Ohio, registration is not required for engaging in goodwill lobbying provided the individual is not promoting, opposing, advocating, or otherwise influencing legislative, executive agency, or retirement system action. Lobbying registration requirements cannot, however, be avoided simply by never referring by name to a specific legislative bill or executive agency or retirement system decision. If the goodwill activity also includes discussion regarding the generalities within any official action, lobbying registration would be required.
These are just a few examples of goodwill lobbying registrations. We advise you to follow best practices to verify the rules in your jurisdiction.

The information from this response can easily be found on our website in the Lobbying Compliance section of the United States Compliance Laws publication. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions.

Matt Kraig is one of the newest all-stars to have found a home at State and Federal Communications, having worked here for just over a year. Before landing this role, Matt completed two internships—first as an in-house attorney with a car dealership, and then as a federal criminal defense intern. Luckily for both Matt and State and Federal Communications, he landed here, where he describes his job as “a perfect fit!”

As a Research Services Manager, perfect is indeed the right word to describe Matt’s passion for research. The attention to detail required for each of his listings satisfies his drive for perfectionism. Matt thrives on finding that one change (or sometimes many changes) in a code revision and ensuring the most accurate and up-to-date information is available to our clients.

Matt hails from Brecksville, Ohio. He stayed in-state for his education, earning his undergraduate degree in political science from The Ohio State University and his law degree from Cleveland State University. After learning more about the legal world, Matt realized he was interested in something a little different. He wanted to combine his interests in business, politics, and the law—making the opportunity at State and Federal Communications a perfect match.

Matt has become a key member of the team, fulfilling a pivotal research role. He keeps our guidebooks updated in the Northeast states (NY, NJ, PA, DE) and answers client questions related to lobbying and campaign contribution rules in a timely and informative manner. In addition to honing his research skills, Matt says he enjoys having “more opportunities for training, professional development, and community events” at State and Federal Communications.

Outside of the office, Matt loves spending time with his dogs, Tucker and Cannoli. He’s always up for a good hike and, when he can, enjoys visiting national parks. At home, you can often find him tinkering with tech—whether it’s his home theater system, the computer he’s building, or, of course, enjoying the results of his efforts with a good movie.

We’re excited that Matt found his perfect fit as part of the State and Federal Communications team—a group full of experts you can trust. Learn more about what we can do for you at https://stateandfed.com/services/.

Question: I heard the North Dakota Ethics Commission recently posted an advisory opinion regarding permitted gifts. How does the advisory opinion affect individuals with lobbying activities in the state?

Answer:  On March 7, 2025, the ethics commission published an advisory opinion dealing with the permissibility of covering a legislator’s meal when attending an educational conference where attendees pay for their meals and the host provides an acrylic plaque for attending the conference to the legislator.
Generally, the North Dakota Constitution prohibits lobbyists from giving gifts to public officials. Public officials include any elected or appointed official of the state’s executive and legislative branch, including members of the ethics commission, members of the governor’s cabinet, or employees of the legislative branch. While North Dakota only requires individuals to register as a lobbyist for legislative lobbying, for purposes of the gift law, the commission reiterated the definition includes attempts to influence public official action or decisions that occur outside the legislative process. Attempts to secure passage, amendment, or defeat of any administrative rule or regulation by any department, agency, or body of the state’s executive branch and attempts to influence public official action or decisions would be considered lobbying.

To be permissible, an annual conference must be a private or public social and educational event designed to inform the attendees about a topic, issue, or problem and provide helpful and thorough review based upon unique knowledge, skills, or research. The difference between these two types of events is whether the event is open to the public or by invitation only. The event must occur in the State of North Dakota and include participants who are non-lobbyists and non-public officials. Finally, the event sponsors must also file an event notice form with the commission prior to the event taking place, preferably no less than a week in advance. The notice form is submitted electronically on the following website: www.ethicscommission.nd.gov/meeting-notice. For a gift or thing of value to be awarded at a private or public social and educational event the gift must not derive independent resale value and be mostly sentimental rather than intrinsic in value.

If you or your organization plan to provide anything of value in North Dakota a permissibility analysis should be done prior to providing the gift. The state gift law may affect individuals even if they are not required to register with the state and must provide notice to the commission in advance of the event.

The information from this response can easily be found on our website in the Lobbying Compliance section of the United States Compliance Laws publication. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions.

While predicting specific events in 2025 is difficult, we can anticipate some exciting developments across various fields based on current trends and progress. Here are some good things we are working on at State and Federal Communications.

Technological Advancements

• Website: For the better part of 2024 and going into 2025, State and Federal Communications has been working on updating its website. We know it is important to stay on top of technology to help our clients navigate the website more efficiently. We will provide a lot of opportunities for you to see the changes being made.
• Search Engine Optimization: SEO is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to www.stateandfed.com from search engines. SEO targets unpaid traffic — or organic results — rather than paid traffic. This originates from various searches such as images, video, news, and industry searches. Basically, when you input key words, your search will take you to www.stateandfed.com.
• FedALERTS^TM: After our work on the website is done, we will upgrade our FedALERTS program to help you with your federal compliance work. While there are challenges ahead, 2025 has the potential to be a year of positive change, driven by great technological advancements.

Stay tuned to other developments we have planned, especially for Corporate Social Responsibility.

In the meantime, on behalf of this great team at State and Federal Communications, we wish you a happy holiday season and a great New Year.

Thank you.
Elizabeth Z. Bartz
@elizabethbartz

Community Open House — More like Community Welcoming Us

The housewarming is always hard to plan. Do we have everything in place? Are we ready to welcome the neighborhood?

March 25th was our community open house — five months after we officially moved into our new space. It took time to spread our 17,000 square feet of office materials into 29,000 square feet. We are probably the only company not downsizing in Akron, Ohio. We were busy until the last minute, putting artwork up on the walls, rearranging chairs around the place, and bringing out our red/white/blue tablecloths!!!

And, you know what… the community showed up! Between 2 pm and 7 pm, we had 200 people in our offices enjoying our delicious food from Waterloo Restaurant, taking tours of the office, looking at our great artwork, and just conversing with the staff.

It was a great time. After it was over, I received a text from Bill Considine, former president of Akron Children’s Hospital, and the most respected man in Akron.

“Congratulations on your open house and 30-year celebration!! Becky and I thoroughly enjoyed touring your new space, talking with members of your team, and joining people and friends from the community that joined in the celebration. You can take great pride in the organization you’ve developed.

~Onward. Bill C”

Now that is a big deal. Along with the fabulous proclamation received from Dr. Todd Diacon, president of Kent State University. FLASHES FOREVER.

The important part about the open house is everyone enjoyed themselves, ate plenty of food, and left with a swing in their step.

Thank you to everyone who has helped move us over the mountain and have faith in the work we do for your company.

I might not be so quick to decline office parties in the future. It is a great way to meet your neighbors.

Thank you.

Elizabeth Z. Bartz

Recently I promoted Amber Fish Linke from a Director position to Vice President. She earned the promotion.

Amber joined State and Federal Communications in March 2005 as one of our research associates. She took some time off that summer to take the Ohio Bar Exam, which she passed. Amber was part of our initial compliance associate team, where she joined two other staff members to spend all their time working with our compliance program.

She had worked in both departments, and it made sense to have her oversee both as Director and we were able to promote both John Cozine and Michael Beckett to oversee compliance and research, respectively.

Amber and I meet frequently to talk about business, especially our consulting program ALERTS. In 2023, while I was knee high in our move from 17,000 to 29,000 sq feet, I knew I had to promote Amber to Vice President to really help me with promoting our consulting program to our current subscribers who still need additional assistance, work with compliance and research departments to insure we have the staff on hand for the work, and to get involved in our community to develop leaders at the company.

I am not fast when making decisions, because I want to make sure I have everything in place. I was able to take the time in December and worked with Amber to develop a great job description for the position.

Voila! I have a new Vice President whom I know will be able to help speak with potential clients about consulting services and help develop our future leaders.

Stay tuned … We have a lot to do and will continue to be your #1 compliance company.

Thank you

EB

@elizabethbartz

When I decided to write about upcoming elections in 2024, the song from Band-Aid (1984) came to my mind, with my own words.

It’s Election time, there’s no need to be afraid

At Election time, we let in light, and we banish shade

According to my friend, ChatGPT, 32% of registered voters cast a ballot for US President in 2020, which was more than 2016. Okay, I checked it with a more solid source, the US Census Bureau and the numbers were about the same. There is more to know, and I personally resemble some of these points.

• Those 45 to 64.
• Those 65 and older.
• The non-Hispanic White population.
• Those with some college or an associate degree.
• Those with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

The highlight from a report from the US Census Bureau is the main reason registered nonvoters did not vote is they were not interested in the election. Those who are not even registered to vote cite the reason is they are not involved in politics.

And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy

Throw your arms around the world at Election time

But say a prayer, Pray for the other ones

At Election time it’s hard, but when you’re having fun

Why does this concern me? We spend our whole year updating our website with election dates from the federal government, every state government, and municipalities. My blogs about Who Is Voting in America is a top post.

My New Year’s Resolution—other than losing weight and taking better care of myself—is to meet with all the college students I run into and give them one of our Keep US Strong buttons. It is important they realize the future depends on them to VOTE and to be involved.

In the two state representative districts in Akron and Kent, we have two young men running in 2024. It is their first run for office, and I hope they can speak to their contemporaries about registering and voting.

Let them know it’s Election time again.

On behalf of my staff at State and Federal Communications, we wish you a Happy New Year.

Our 2024 calendar is packed. We look forward to seeing you next year.

Do you want to stay up to date with the latest news at State and Federal Communications, inc.? Sign up for the newsletter here or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, or X.

Moving is not for the weak. After 21 years, State and Federal Communications moved to our new offices at 222 S. Main Street in downtown Akron. Yours truly was the only person on staff who never moved to a different office … so I had 21 years of stuff everywhere.

Most of it was moved over to our new office and I am slowly going through it. Slowly being the operative word here. For the first month of being in the office, I had only been in for six days because of travel. I am now completing my first full week in the office this very week … and I still have a lot to unpack. At least I know where all my pens are — the first three weeks I had two on my desk.

I do have to say the office is fabulous. We are all on the same floor and not in four different quadrants on two floors as we were before. We are all taking our steps in to greet and catch up with our colleagues.

It still is not all done … and I am not talking about just my office. There is artwork all over the place. We need to decide where it all goes. Some unidentified boxes are still lying around, which need to be opened and moved or pitched. And I really have no idea why a television is leaning up against a wall.

It really is all okay because we are all on one floor, the lights automatically turn on when we walk in the room, and the coffee machine is working and turning out some good joe.

This is the first of five major items off my to do list. Stay tuned for what is next.

Wishing you and yours a happy holiday season.

@elizabethbartz

What are your areas of expertise?

Accounting, financial reporting, compliance, internal controls, budgeting and forecasting, and financial analysis.

How long have you been with State and Federal Communications?

I have been with the company for ten years.

How do you help our clients?

My role is primarily in support of our professional staff and senior leadership, providing the information and analysis needed to deliver world-class products and services to our clients.

What are your areas of expertise?

I manage a portfolio of state and local jurisdictions on our website to ensure our clients adhere to the latest rules and regulations concerning communications and gifts to public officials, political contributions, and contract procurement. I perform client-specific research for our subscription clients and our consulting clients. Additionally, I support sales and marketing efforts by providing legal perspective to potential subscription clients and training current clients.

How long have you been with State and Federal Communications?

I have been with the company for five years.

How do you help our clients?

In addition to providing compliance solutions through our subscription services, I register and file lobbying activity reports on behalf of our clients and familiarize new subscription clients with our website through live training sessions.