Legislators have passed an ethics overhaul capping lobbyist gifts at $75 and eliminating a prior proposal to require lobbying registration for volunteer advocates. The House and Senate voted unanimously for House Bill 142 shortly before adjournment on Thursday, March 28, 2013.

This is the state’s first limitation on gifts to public officials. Exceptions to the $75 limit include committee dinners, dinners for caucuses, and certain lobbyist-funded travel. The $75 cap is per occurrence and per lobbyist.

There is no explicit limit on the number of gifts permitted. As part of the deal, volunteers will not have to register as lobbyists unless they are reimbursed $250 or more in expenses from an organization.

UPDATE: The bill will also remove the $300 lobbyist registration and renewal fee when it becomes effective on January 1, 2014, following approval by the Governor

The Senate approved its version of a House ethics bill on Friday, March 25, 2013. Now the House and Senate are seeking common ground between the different versions of House Bill 142.

The House version of the bill bans most gifts from lobbyists to individual legislators, but allows unlimited gifts to legislative groups. The Senate version imposes a $100 gift cap and erases the exception for legislative groups, but does not limit the number of gifts allowed. The Senate version also erases the House version’s expanded lobbyist registration for unpaid advocates.

Both chambers are expected to appoint a joint committee to negotiate in an effort to reach compromise before the session reaches its scheduled end on Thursday, March 28, 2013.

Photo of the Georgia State Capitol dome by Connor Carey on Wikipedia.

This year’s push for ethics reform in several state legislatures could not happen fast enough for some elected officials. Georgia’s Senate and Missouri’s Secretary of State, Jason Kander, decided on day one to take matters into their own hands by adopting new gift rules for their respective offices.

The Georgia Senate imposed a $100 limit on gifts from lobbyists. Senators approved the gift cap on the opening day of the 2013 General Assembly session as part of new rules governing the chamber’s operations for the current two-year term. The new rule does not apply to travel costs or to gifts provided to groups of senators, including committees. The rule does allow lobbyists to give $100 gifts on multiple occasions. Meanwhile, House Speaker David Ralston has unveiled an ethics reform bill aimed at expanding the definition of a lobbyist and restricting lobbyist gifts. House Bill 142 would ban even the smallest expenditure of a lobbyist if for the benefit of a single member of the General Assembly. Lobbyists would still be permitted to spend on committees, caucuses, and expenses to public officers for trips to conferences and meetings.

Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, sworn in on January 14, 2013, announced a new ethics policy as part of his “Day 1 Achievements.” The new policy prohibits the staff in his office from accepting gifts from lobbyists. State administrative policy already curtails what state employees may accept from lobbyists, but agencies are free to adopt stricter guidelines. Additionally, Missouri’s House and Senate are both considering bills to curb lobbyist spending. House Bill 139 would prohibit General Assembly members, family, and staff from accepting more than $1,000 per calendar year from lobbyists. Senate Bill 181 would prohibit statewide elected officials, legislators, staff, employees, and family from accepting gifts over $50 from a lobbyist.

The House of Representatives has passed ethics legislation to bar lobbyist gifts to individual lawmakers and enact new rules on lobbyist registration.

House Bill 142 passed 164-4 on Monday, February 26, 2013 and now goes to the Senate.

Critics hope the Senate provides a limit for the gift ban exceptions, which allow for unlimited gifts to groups of legislators such as committees and caucuses.

Two ethics reform bills will likely be voted on by the full House on Monday, February 25, 2013. House Bill 142, sponsored by Speaker David Ralston, would ban lobbyist spending on individual lawmakers, return regulatory powers to the state ethics commission, and require activists representing an organization to register as lobbyists.

House Bill 143, also sponsored by Ralston, would require lawmakers to file a report early in the legislative session detailing campaign contributions and expenditures during the five-day period before the Legislature convenes.

Photo of the Georgia State Capitol by Autiger on Wikipedia.

House Speaker David Ralston has unveiled an ethics reform bill aimed at expanding the definition of a lobbyist and restricting gifts from a lobbyist. House Bill 142 would define a lobbyist to include an individual who advocates for the purpose of influencing a public officer whether the individual is compensated or working pro bono.

The new definition does away with both the $1,000 expenditure and 10 percent time spent thresholds for lobbyist registration. The bill, as originally filed, would ban even the smallest expenditure of a lobbyist if for the benefit of a single member of the General Assembly.

Lobbyists would still be permitted to spend on committees, caucuses, and expenses to public officers for trips to conferences and meetings.

The Senate has imposed a $100 limit on gifts from lobbyists. Senators approved the gift cap 42-12 on the opening day of the 2013 General Assembly session as part of new rules governing the chamber’s operations for the current two-year term.

The new rule does not apply to travel costs or to gifts provided to groups of senators, including members of committees. The rule also allows lobbyists to give $100 gifts on multiple occasions.

Although not bound by senate rules, house leaders plan to introduce legislation later this week calling for a complete ban on lobbyist gifts.

Photo of the Georgia State Capitol courtesy of connor.carey on Wikipedia.

Governor Nathan Deal has announced January 8, 2013 as the date for a special election in Senate District 21.

Chip Rogers announced his resignation from the senate on Wednesday, December 5, two weeks after his decision not to seek re-election as the majority leader.

Rogers will be joining Georgia Public Broadcasting focusing on new programming efforts concerning economic news and development.

The Board of Commissioners of the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission has issued an order for lobbyists with unpaid fines, fees, and unfiled reports.

The commission will deny lobbyist renewal for 2013 to individuals registered with outstanding fees for previous registrations, supplemental registrations, or identification cards.

The commission will also deny lobbyist renewal to individuals with unpaid fines or unfiled reports previously due.

The order goes into effect on December 16, 2012.

The Georgia Alliance for Ethics Reform is holding town hall meetings throughout the state to encourage citizen feedback on comprehensive ethics reform to be introduced in the 2013 legislative session. Senator Josh McKoon plans to pre-file ethics legislation in four separate bills by mid-December.

The legislation will include a comprehensive bill, a $100 gift limit bill, and two constitutional amendments to regulate funding for the ethics commission and to authorize a statewide grand jury to investigate corruption.

The next stop on the town hall tour will be in Columbus on November 27th.

The Georgia Alliance for Ethics Reform includes Common Cause Georgia, Georgia Conservatives in Action, Georgia Tea Party Patriots, League of Women Voters in Georgia, and Georgia Watch.

House Speaker David Ralston will propose a full ban on lobbyist gifts to lawmakers when the legislature convenes next year. Last month, voters overwhelmingly supported the idea of capping lobbyist gifts in nonbinding referendums held during the July 31st primaries.

However, Ralston believes capping the value of lobbyist gifts would do little to stem the influence of special interests.

The speaker intends to form a group of House members to study how other states have implemented gift bans with hopes of passing a bill early in the legislative session beginning in January.

Republicans and Democrats voted overwhelming to limit gifts from lobbyists to lawmakers. The issue was among several nonbinding questions appearing on Republican and Democratic primary ballots.

The vote will not change state law, but it may put political pressure on lawmakers to enact gift limits. Unofficial results show 87 percent of Republicans voted to cap gifts at $100, while 71 percent of Democrats voted in support of setting some kind of limit on what lobbyists can spend.

Campaign Finance

“FEC: Campaigns can raise money via text message” by Dave Levinthal in Politico.

“FEC sues ex-Sen. Craig over use of campaign cash” by The Associated Press on CBSNews.com.

“NJ considers changes to election finance rules” by The Associated Press in the Bergen Record.

Government Ethics

Georgia: “Squirrely Ethics in Georgia, Former Exec Says” by Iulia Filip in the Courthouse News Service.

New Mexico: “New Mexico agency compiled email list for governor’s PAC” by Steve Terrell in the Santa Fe New Mexican.

House District 28 is vacant following the resignation of Michael Harden.

The Secretary of State’s office has notified local officials to inform them there will not be a special election because the House is not in session.

The seat will be an open one on the ballot for the July 31st primary and for the November 6th general election.