The county has passed a proposal to employ the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) for monitoring and enforcement of county ethics laws. However, even though Measure E passed with 56.5 percent of the vote, the FPPC does not currently have the authority to contract with the county.

Recent grand jury reports recommended the establishment of an ethics commission for Orange County and the last grand jury specifically recommended against hiring the FPPC. If a contract is authorized by the Legislature, Orange will become the second county behind San Bernardino to employ the FPPC.

Voters have approved an amendment to the Oakland City Charter to strengthen the authority, resources, and independence of the Public Ethics Commission. The commission now will have the authority to enforce the Oakland Lobbyist Registration Act and provisions of the state’s Political Reform Act.

Measure CC sets aside $500,000 in additional funding for the commission in order to hire more staff members and investigate violations. The seven-member commission now has the authority to impose penalties and fines when four members agree by vote.

The Ethics Commission has announced two interested persons meetings on November 10 and November 13 to discuss possible changes to the city’s Campaign Finance Reform Ordinance (CFRO). Discussion at the meetings will be limited to potential changes to CFRO’s disclaimer and third-party reporting provisions.

Staff plans to distribute draft CFRO amendments to interested parties prior to the meetings.

Written comments regarding CFRO’s disclaimer and third-party reporting provisions can be sent to Jesse Mainardi at jesse.mainardi@sfgov.org or (415) 252-3100. R.S.V.P. by email at ethics.commission@sfgov.org.

City Council unanimously adopted new campaign contribution rules to monitor independent and primarily formed committees.

Ordinance 2015-37 requires earlier disclosure of large contributors and restricts the ability of a committee to reproduce and distribute campaign advertisements used by a candidate.

The ordinance becomes effective January 1, 2015, and is not applicable to the November 2014 election.

The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has given notice of proposed amendments to regulations in Title 2, Division 6 of the California Code of Regulations. The FPPC will make adjustments to the gift and campaign contribution limits to reflect changes in the consumer price index.

In order to provide the adjustment in time for the new calendar year, the November index is used to make the final calculation. The proposed amendments make adjustments for the period from January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2016.

The FPPC will consider the proposed regulations at a public hearing on or after November 20, 2014. The proposed amendments are available here.

Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed three ethics bills, including one to reduce the value of gifts lawmakers and officials may accept. SB 1443 would have prohibited all gifts from lobbyists and reduced the annual value of gifts from non-lobbyists to $200 per single source. The bill would have also prohibited officials from accepting tickets to concerts, golf passes, and gift cards.

Brown also vetoed SB 1442 and SB 831. The bills would have required more frequent campaign disclosures and forced interest groups to offer more information on sponsored trips for lawmakers.

Brown did sign SB 1441 to ban fundraisers at lobbyists’ homes. Effective January 1, 2015, the definition of “contribution” will include the value of lobbyists’ homes if used for a fundraising event.

Governor Jerry Brown has issued a proclamation declaring a special election for Senate District 35 on February 10, 2015.

The primary will be held on December 9, 2014.

The special election became necessary following the resignation of Sen. Roderick D. Wright (D), who was sentenced last week to three months in jail for lying about where he lived when he ran for office.

New regulations to compliment the Lobbyist Ordinance take effect today, September 26, 2014.

Preparation and research are included in the definition of “lobbyist services” and a single conversation (or email) with multiple officials counts as multiple “contacts” for purposes of the new registration threshold.

The new regulations are designed to interpret and otherwise provide guidance concerning recent amendments to the ordinance effective July 26, 2014.

A committee of City Council has endorsed new campaign contribution rules to monitor independent political action committees. The rules would classify a committee’s otherwise independent payment as a “contribution” if the payment is for an advertisement duplicating materials found in a candidate’s advertisement or on the candidate’s website. Such payments would be subject to both contribution limits and source prohibitions.

The full City Council will now consider the amendments to the Election Campaign Control Ordinance (ECCO).

Photo of the San Diego skyline courtesy of Tomcio77 on Wikimedia Commons.

The Board of Supervisors remains in disagreement with 2013-2014 grand jury reports calling for a county ethics commission. The board remains committed to a proposal to employ the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) for monitoring and enforcement of county ethics laws. Although the FPPC proposal will appear on county ballots in November, the FPPC will lack the authority to contract with the county even if the proposal passes.

Senate Bill 1226 was introduced in the California Legislature to allow the FPPC to contract with counties, but was eventually amended and passed as a veterans licensing bill. The June grand jury report and the board’s proposed response is available here.

A new web tool is available to follow the money in November’s mayoral election race. The Open Disclosure project is the product of a partnership between the Public Ethics Commission and OpenOakland, a civic innovation organization.

The project displays campaign finance data for the 15 mayoral candidates in a user friendly way, allowing the public to quickly see who is contributing, where they are contributing from, and in what amounts.  Developers hope to expand the contribution information to all elected races in Oakland.

The information is available here.

Lobbying

North Carolina: “Brubaker ranked leading lobbyist at NC legislature” by The Associated Press in the Washington Times.

Rhode Island: “Corso 38 Studios lobbying hearing ends, with decision to come Sept. 10” by Jennifer Bogdan in the Providence Journal.

Virginia: “A year after McDonnells’ gifts scandal was revealed, lobbyists’ assembly spending dips” by Jenna Portnoy in The Washington Post.

Campaign Finance

“People hate the state of politics today. So why is nobody talking about campaign finance reform?” by Jaime Fuller in The Washington Post.

Rhode Island: “R.I. court upholds restriction on McKee’s funds” by Jennifer Bogdan in the Providence Journal.

Ethics

New Jersey: “‘Chris Christie slept here’ is state secret in New Jersey” by Mark Lagerkvist in New Jersey Watchdog.

South Carolina: “Columbia Mayor Benjamin’s 2010 ethics situation to be heard Wednesday by State Ethics Commission” by John Monk in The State.

Texas: “Area lawmakers appointed to joint ethics panel” by Enrique Rangel in the Amarillo Globe-News.

Virginia: “Prosecutor spars with McDonnell during questioning” by Rosalind S. Helderman, Matt Zapotosky and Justin Jouvenal in The Washington Post.

Elections

“Senate Update: Republicans Cross a Threshold” by Josh Katz in The New York Times.

“The 10 things we know 10 weeks before Election Day” by Chris Cillizza in The Washington Post.

“Watch: Pols recall their best and worst election nights” by Susan Page in USA Today.

Arizona: “This year’s election will reshape Arizona politics” by Laurie Roberts in The Arizona Republic.

Arizona: “Arizona elections: Ducey wins, Huppenthal loses, Gallego beats Wilcox” by Mike Sunnucks in the Phoenix Business Journal.

Florida: “Rick Scott, Charlie Crist advance to general election showdown in Florida” by Sean Sullivan in The Washington Post.

Florida: “Central Florida 2014 primary election results” by Amanda Ober on WESH News.

Tech and Social Media

“How Social Media Silences Debate” by Clair Cain Miller in The New York Times.

The Senate is considering minor amendments to a bill passed by both chambers to further restrict gifts to lawmakers. Senate Bill 1443 prohibits all gifts from lobbyists and reduces the value of gifts state officials can receive from a non-lobbyist source to $200 per calendar year.

Currently, lobbyists may provide gifts of $10 per calendar month and officials can receive $440 from a non-lobbyist source per calendar year. The bill also prohibits giving tickets to most entertainment events, golfing green fees, and spa treatments.

Legislators have approved an expansion of pay-to-play rules in response to a controversy involving suspended Sen. Ronald S. Calderon and his brother, former Assemblyman Tom Calderon. The two Democrats from Montebello made large campaign donations to most members of the Central Basin Municipal Water District Board before it approved a consulting contract for Tom Calderon.

Assembly Bill 1728 will add elected water board members throughout California to the list of officers who may not accept campaign contributions of more than $250 from donors with business pending before their boards. Officers must abstain from voting on pending business matters if such a donation has been received during the previous year.

The legislation now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown.