The California Senate voted to reverse the ban on members raising money from lobbyist employers during budget negotiations.

The ban would have gone into effect upon the Governor’s release of the revised budget, which is set for May 13.

The reversal of this rule comes amid an election year where many members of the Senate are running for reelection.

California Gov. Jerry Brown will release his revised 2016-17 budget proposal on Friday, May 13, 2016.

The release of the revised budget triggers a ban on contributions to members of the Senate from the date the proposed revised budget is released until the date of enactment of a budget bill for the 2016-17 fiscal year.

The constitutional deadline for the Legislature to pass a budget bill is June 15th.

The San Francisco Ethics Commission has announced two interested persons meetings on May 11 and May 16 to discuss a proposed November 2016 ballot measure that would ask San Francisco voters to place new restrictions on lobbyist contributions, bundling of contributions by lobbyists, and gifts from lobbyists.

The feedback from these meetings will be used in the analysis and recommendations on the proposed ballot measure presented at the May 23, 2016 commission meeting.

Written comments and RSVPs can be sent via email to ethics.commission@sfgov.org.

Assembly Bill 1200 has been sent to California Gov. Jerry Brown. The bill revises the definition of lobbyist to include individuals attempting to influence state governmental procurement of $250,000 or more.

Legislators passed the bill despite criticism of the measure from the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

If Brown signs the bill, the new rules will go into effect January 1, 2017.

Redondo Beach City Council will consider adopting an ordinance to reform local campaign finance rules. The proposed ordinance will include new campaign contribution limits and a prohibition on nonelection cycle contributions.

The details of the ordinance, including contribution limit amounts, have yet to be narrowed down and will be a topic of consideration at the July 19, 2016 city council meeting. The city currently does not have any campaign contribution limits.

San Luis Obispo City Council voted yesterday not to proceed with a proposed ordinance to create a system of democracy voucher funding for municipal elections. The voucher system would have provided each registered voter with a $20 voucher that could be donated to the municipal candidate of choice.

Additionally, this ordinance would have created an ethics commission and required reporting on independent expenditures over $500.

A bill prohibiting communications between members of California’s Coastal Commission and lobbyists during the 24 hour period before commission hearings has passed in committee. The Committee on Elections and Redistricting approved Assembly Bill 2002, getting lawmakers one step closer to making state commissions more transparent.

AB 2002 is one of six bills currently in the legislature aimed at shedding light on state boards and commissions. All of the proposed bills must still pass floor votes in both houses.

At its March 28, 2016, meeting, the San Francisco Ethics Commission will discuss and possibly select campaign committees and lobbyists for the commission’s 2015 random audits.

The commission recommends randomly selecting 20% of campaign committees that reported activity greater than $10,000 in 2015.

It is also proposed that four lobbying entities should be randomly selected for audit. The commission estimates the audits will take 18 months to complete.

A bill revising the definition of lobbyist to include individuals attempting to influence state governmental procurement of $250,000 or more is awaiting a final vote in the California Assembly. The bill would not apply to in-house lobbyists; only consultants paid more than $2,000 a month to influence procurement would be required to register.

If passed, the new rule becomes effective January 1, 2017.

At its March 17, 2016, meeting, the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) passed an amendment to lobbying regulations narrowing the “ride along” exception to the definition of direct communication for registration.

The new amendment limits the ride along exception to employees of the lobbyist employer who participate in the meeting or communication only as a subject matter expert.

Proponents of the Voters Right to Know Act suspended their campaign for a California ballot measure to trace dark money and tighten lobbying and campaign finance regulations. Jim Heerwagen, who led the campaign, said he is ending the work on the initiative because there are now several bills in the Legislature that cover the same issues.

Heerwagen cited Senate Bill 1349, introduced to create a new campaign finance database, as one of the pending bills that would carry out the goal of his campaign.

San Luis Obispo City Council will review a proposed ordinance to create a system of democracy voucher funding for municipal elections. The voucher system provides each registered voter with a $20 voucher that can be donated to the municipal candidate of choice. Candidates opting in to receive the voucher funds would be restricted to using only those funds; the program is optional because it is unconstitutional to completely ban privately funded elections.

This ordinance would also create an ethics commission and require reporting on independent expenditures over $500. The council will review the ordinance on March 15, 2016.

The State Assembly has passed a campaign finance bill requiring many political advertisements to prominently display or announce the names of the ad sponsor’s top donors of $50,000 or more. Assembly Bill 700 requires the true source of funds to be disclosed, making efforts to hide contributions using middleman organizations or earmarked funds impermissible.

The bill is currently under consideration in the Senate.

Photo of the California State Assembly chamber by David Monniaux on Wikimedia Commons.

The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has proposed an amendment to lobbying regulations with the goal of clarifying the “ride along” exception to the definition of direct communication for registration.

The proposed amendment limits the ride along exception to employees of the lobbyist employer who participate in the meeting or communication only as a subject matter expert.

The proposed amendment will be considered at a public hearing on March 17, 2016.