Santa Monica City Council passed new rules on August 9 for implementation of the city’s lobbyist regulation ordinance.

The rules set out lobbyist registration requirements and registration fees. The ordinance will go into effect September 19, 2016 with an initial lobbyist registration period from September 19 through October 31, 2016.

The City Clerk’s Office is responsible for the implementation of the lobbyist regulation ordinance and can be reached at (310) 458-8211 or clerk@smgov.net.

On August 2, the Redondo Beach City Council carried a motion to establish campaign finance reforms setting contribution limits.

Council recommended that the ordinance limit individual contributions to $750 for City Council candidates and $1,500 for citywide candidates. The future ordinance would also seek to create an ethics commission.

The recommendations are now being forwarded to the city attorney for drafting.

The San Francisco Ethics Commission voted unanimously to submit an initiative ordinance to the November 2016 ballot.

The measure would restrict lobbyist gifts, campaign contributions, and bundled contributions.

If passed by voters, the ordinance will become effective January 1, 2018.

California Treasurer John Chiang announced that municipal finance firms seeking state business will be required to certify that they do not make contributions to bond election campaigns. Firms that fail to provide the certification will be suspended from the state’s pool of acceptable underwriters.

The new requirement aims to stop pay-to-play deals where municipal finance firms offer to fund or provide campaign services in exchange for contracts.

Photo of John Chiang by State of California on Wikimedia Commons.

The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission announced it will begin a full review of the Municipal Lobbying Ordinance at the next commission meeting on August 9, 2016.

The commission plans to focus the review on possible amendments to key definitions in the ordinance.

Comments and suggestions from the public regarding the Municipal Lobbying Ordinance can be sent to the commission via email to ethics.policy@lacity.org.

On July 21, California’s Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) approved a regulation to further clarify the definition of “lobbyist.”

The regulation creates a rebuttable presumption that all compensation from a person for services that include direct communication with a qualifying official for the purpose of influencing legislative or administrative action received within a calendar month is for the purpose of direct compensation.

The regulation will become effective 30 days after the FPPC files it with the Office of the Secretary of State.

San Jose City Council approved an ordinance amending the definition of “committee” to increase the qualifying threshold for the receipt of contributions from $1,000 to $2,000 to be consistent with the Political Reform Act. The ordinance will go into effect July 28, 2016.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has announced a project with the University of California and California Forward to update the Political Reform Act (PRA).

The FPPC plans to submit revisions based on public input from this project to the Legislature in 2017. A webinar is scheduled for Thursday, July 14, at 10 a.m. with FPPC Chair Jodi Remke to discuss the project. Interested persons can register for the webinar at www.cafwd.org/PRAtalk.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a first reading of an ordinance to establish a county ethics commission.

The ordinance was introduced after the passage of Measure A, which called for the county to amend its charter and campaign finance ordinance to establish a five-member commission to provide administrative oversight of county ethics and campaign ordinances.

Discussions at the ordinance’s first reading mostly dealt with staff and budget issues relating to the commission, and there is no timeline yet for when the commission will actually be up and running. The ordinance is scheduled for a second reading and possible adoption on July 12, 2016.

Gov. Jerry Brown has announced his support of sweeping reforms to the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The overhaul comes as the PUC faces accusations of back-channel dealings and calls for change to create more transparency and independence from utility companies. The reform package will require people lobbying the PUC to register as lobbyists and ban former utility executives from serving on the PUC for two years post-employment.

Photo of the Edmund G. Brown State Office Building by Coolcaesar on Wikimedia Commons.

California’s Senate Bill 254 became law without the governor’s signature on June 9, 2016.

The measure will place a ballot question on the November 8, 2016 ballot asking voters whether California’s elected officials should use all of their constitutional authority, including proposing and ratifying one or more amendments to the United States Constitution, to overturn the Citizens United decision of the U.S. Supreme Court.

A previous version of this bill was approved by lawmakers in 2014, but was blocked by legal challenges until January 2016 when the Supreme Court of California upheld the Legislature’s power to use advisory ballot measures.

California’s Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) will consider a proposed regulation to further clarify the definition of “lobbyist” at a public hearing set for July 21, 2016.

The proposed regulation would create a rebuttable presumption that all compensation from a person for services that include direct communication with a qualifying official for the purpose of influencing legislative or administrative action received within a calendar month is for the purpose of direct compensation.

The FPPC is accepting written comments on the proposal until July 18, 2016.

On June 7, Orange County voters approved Measure A to create a county ethics commission.

The measure amends the County’s charter and campaign finance ordinance to establish a five-member commission that will provide administrative oversight of county ethics and campaign ordinances.

Voters widely supported the measure, with 70 percent voting in favor of the proposal.

On June 2, the California Assembly passed AB 2002.

The bill requires consultants lobbying the California Coastal Commission to register as lobbyists. It also bans private communications between commissioners and lobbyists within 24 hours of a commission hearing.

The bill passed 54-23 and is being sent to the Senate.