The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit issued a ruling allowing trade associations representing banks to make campaign contributions.

The New Jersey state law prohibits banks from providing financial support to candidates, but the court found there is less risk of corruption when industry trade associations make the contribution because the member banks have varying interests.

The plaintiff in the case lacked standing to sue on behalf of individual banks, and the plaintiff’s First Amendment challenge to the law was rejected.

As a result, while banks cannot make political contributions to candidates in New Jersey, trade associations are now permitted to make such contributions.

Public members of the state’s Drug Utilization Review Board are now required to file initial and quarterly disclosures reporting the financial benefits or interests they receive from members of the pharmaceutical industry.

Upon appointment, public members will need to report all meals, payments, gifts, salaries, stocks, or other investments they receive from pharmaceutical managers, pharmaceutical distributors, or pharmacy benefit managers in the preceding three years.

Members of the board will be required to update their financial disclosures quarterly, and reports will be publicly available.

Incumbent New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy defeated Republican Jack Ciatarelli in a tighter-than-expected race.

Murphy is the first Democratic governor to win re-election in New Jersey in four decades.

The Newark, New Jersey City Council announced a special election for the District 2 seat to be held on November 23.

The seat is vacant after Councilwoman Sharon Hughes died last week.

The winner of the special election will serve out the remainder of the term set to expire April 30, 2023.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy issued Executive Order 211 postponing elections to be held in the first quarter of 2021 until April 20.

The executive order affects any special school elections and fire district elections previously scheduled for February and March.

The governor issued the executive order due to the continued COVID-19 pandemic and to allow officials to prepare safe elections.

The governor will decide whether to hold the elections by in-person or mail-in voting at a later date.

New Jersey voters approved Question 3, a resolution proposing to delay the legislative redistricting schedule due to the collection of census data.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the United States Census Bureau to delay its procedures for collecting census data.

The approved constitutional amendment requires the Apportionment Commission to delay its adoption of new legislative districts until after the November 2021 election, if the United States Census Bureau does not provide the governor the redistricting census data by February 15, 2021.

On August 19, Superior Court Judge Ernest Caposela voided the results of the May elections for the Paterson, New Jersey City Council’s Third Ward.

Judge Caposela ordered a special election to fill the vacant seat with the five previously filed candidates.

After losing the May elections, incumbent William McKoy initiated a lawsuit.

The lawsuit cites fraud by the Councilman-elect Alex Mendez and disputes the election results.

Additionally, Mr. Mendez is currently facing voter fraud charges from the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General.

Finally, the special election will be held on November 3 along with a special election for the City Council’s Second Ward.

The Second Ward seat remains vacant after the May municipal elections ended in a tie after three recounts.

On May 20, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka signed Ordinance No. 20-0515 amending the city’s contractor pay-to-play laws to reflect state law.

The ordinance removes Essex County political party committees, political committees and continuing political committees regularly engaging in the support of candidates for Newark municipal offices or County of Essex offices from the definition of campaign committee.

Additionally, ordinance 20-0515 removed the monetary thresholds of $300 per calendar year and annual aggregate limit of $2,500 for all business entity contributions to covered Newark political recipients.

Under the ordinance, all contributions to covered recipients by a business entity submitting a proposal, in negotiations for, or in agreement with the city for services is prohibited during the term of the contract.

On April 8, Gov. Phil Murphy signed Executive Order 120 to postpone the federal and state primary elections from June 2 to July 7.

The executive order also reschedules any other election scheduled between May 13 through July 7 to be held on Tuesday, July 7.

The governor postponed the election due to the COVID-19 health emergency.

Additionally, postponement will allow state officials time to determine whether in-person voting can be held or if the election should be held by vote-by-mail.

The Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) advises required companies to file Business Entity Disclosures (FORM BE) as soon as possible if they are currently operational or otherwise able to file by the deadline, March 30.

ELEC will provide a grace period for any business entities during their period of closure if a business is affected by the current public health emergency.

To receive the grace period business entities may send a request by email to efiling@elec.nj.gov is required.

The request must indicate the business entity and the duration of the closure if known.

On March 19, Gov. Phil Murphy issued Executive Order 105 to implement changes to state elections in response to COVID-19.

The executive order postpones local elections to be held on March 21, March 31, and April 21 until May 12 the same day as scheduled municipal elections.

The executive order also requires all elections held on May 12 to be done exclusively by vote-by-mail ballots.

On March 19, the Senate will convene a voting session regarding emergency bills to address COVID-19.

All other Senate and Assembly committee meetings and sessions that scheduled for the month of March have been cancelled.

These actions do not affect lobbyist reporting.

On March 11, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey permanently enjoined the state from enforcing Senate Bill 150.

The bill was signed by the governor last June and was scheduled to take effect on October 15, 2019.

The dark money bill required independent expenditure committees to report contributions in excess of $10,000.

Additionally, the bill required reporting of expenditures in excess of $3,000 to the Election Law Enforcement Commission.

The order does not prevent the Legislature to revisit the issue with new legislation.

On February 19, Gov. Murphy released a legislative package of Ethics and Transparency Reforms.

The legislative package contains five bills with the aim to strengthen restrictions on lobbying, enhance financial disclosures, and increase public access.

The lobbying bill requires lobbying firms and companies to disclose when a person or firm is hired to provide professional services other than lobbying.

Additionally, the bill reduces the registration threshold from 20 hours of lobbying to one hour per calendar year.

The bill will prohibit legislators and their staff from accepting any gift related to their public duties.

Furthermore, the bill aligns the gift rules to the same standard currently governing executive branch employees.

The legislative package also extends the one-year cooling off period for the governor, cabinet, and legislators to two years before being able to register as lobbyists.

Gov. Murphy also introduced a bill to increase transparency and requires bills or resolutions not to be voted on unless their final form has been publicly available for 72 hours on the Legislature’s website.

The governor is also expected to issue other executive actions regarding requirements for those that do business with the state.

The bill proposals were sent to Senate President Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Coughlin for review.