The Oklahoma Ethics Commission voted last week to increase registration fees by $50 for all filers, including political action committees, lobbyists, and lobbyist principals.

The fee hike is expected to generate roughly $95,300, enough to cover its appropriation loss and address unmet software cost needs.

The new fee structure will take effect July 1, 2017.

The Oklahoma Legislature adjourned sine die on Friday, May 26. As a result, all rule amendments proposed and approved by the Oklahoma Ethics Commission became law.

Effective immediately the lobbyist registration renewal deadline has been extended from December 31 to January 15. Changes to lobbyist reporting include moving all executive lobbyist report due dates as well as the January and July legislative lobbyist reports due dates to the 15th of the month. All other legislative reports remain due on the 5th of the month. Campaign finance rule amendments include new requirements for committees formed for the purpose of influencing a state question. Such committees must include the number of the state question as part of the name of the committee. They must also file reports any time an expenditure of $5,000 or more is made to advocate the passage or defeat of a state question. The reports are due at the same time as those for independent expenditures and electioneering communications.

Effective January 1, 2018, the limit for lobbyist or lobbyist principal gifts given in recognition of infrequently occurring occasions of personal significance will drop from $200 to $100 in any calendar year. Such gifts will be required to be given and received contemporaneously with the occasion or at times when such gifts are traditionally given. Infrequently occurring occasions of personal significance will not include annual events such as birthdays or anniversaries; rather, they will refer only to major life events. Lastly, a lobbyist providing a meal to a state officer or employee will be required to be present for the meal. Similarly, a lobbyist providing a gift including attendance at an event will be required to attend the event with the recipient of the gift.

Oklahoma Sen. Ralph Shortey has been charged with engaging in child prostitution, transporting a minor for prostitution, and engaging in prostitution within 1,000 feet of a church. Police found him inside a motel room with a 17-year-old boy.

The Oklahoma Senate imposed sanctions on Shortey, accusing him of disorderly behavior.

The sanctions remove him from membership in and leadership of legislative committees, prohibits him from occupying his office or parking space, eliminates his expense allowance, prevents him from authoring any bills, and removes his right to an executive assistant.

The legislative body also reserved the right to take further action if, and when, additional facts are made available.

Jan Preslar is the new general counsel at the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.

She replaced former General Counsel Geoffrey Long.

Preslar previously served as deputy attorney general and chief of the General Counsel Unit at the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office.

Photo of Jan Preslar from the Oklahoma Ethics Commission Site.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin scheduled a special election to fill the upcoming vacancy in House District 75. Rep. Dan Kirby will voluntarily vacate the seat on March 1.

Kirby’s resignation allows him to avoid a potentially embarrassing floor vote to remove him from the legislative body amid sexual harassment allegations.

House Speaker Charles McCall had previously suspended Kirby from his chairmanship of the Business, Commerce, and Tourism Committee pending further investigation of the allegations. Kirby denies any wrongdoing.

A special primary election will be held May 9 with a special general election on July 11. If a special primary is not necessary, the May 9 election will be considered the special general election.

The Oklahoma Ethics Commission recently approved a proposed rule amendment regarding due dates for lobbyist registration and reporting.

The intent is to make registration and reporting more convenient by providing more time between the end of the registration or reporting period and the due date for filing. Registration renewals would be required by January 15, and lobbying reports would be due on or before the 15^th in any month a report is required.

The amendment is still pending. If lawmakers do not disapprove the rule, the changes will go into effect when the Legislature adjourns in May.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin is considering calling a special legislative session for lawmakers to address the issue of teacher pay raises.

Budget cuts during the fiscal year were deeper than necessary, resulting in $140 million of unused and unallocated funds. She claims if legislators do not agree to a special session, the money would be distributed equally among all agencies.

While most lawmakers believe teachers deserve a pay increase, they are less than enthusiastic about a special session. Many feel the money should go back into the agencies suffering the most from the original budget cuts.

The Oklahoma Ethics Commission will conduct a third public hearing on Advisory Opinion AOR-16-01 at its regularly scheduled meeting on August 12, 2016.

Questions to be considered pertain to a candidate committee’s use of funds in making expenditures to political party committees. Three draft opinions are now available for review.

The commission will accept written and oral comments about the draft opinions; written comments may be hand-delivered, mailed, or emailed to the commission.

The second regular session of the 55th Oklahoma Legislature adjourned sine die on Friday, May 27.

Prior to adjournment, lawmakers addressed the growing budget deficit and passed a budget, but failed to pass health care reform legislation or approve an increase on cigarette tax.

House Democrats say they would have supported the cigarette tax if Republicans had supported health care expansion.

Oklahoma lobbyist registration renewals are due by December 31, 2015. However, the renewal software is not yet available. Lobbyists will not be able to renew registrations until the software is ready. All registered lobbyists and liaisons will receive an email with instructions when the renewal feature is available.

At the time of renewal, each lobbyist will pay a $100 annual registration fee as well as a $100 fee for each lobbyist principal registered for 2016. If the principal is registered with the secretary of state, the Guardian System will identify when a principal has been registered multiple times to ensure only one $100 principal fee is charged regardless of the number of lobbyists who register the principal.

When a lobbyist principal is not registered with the Oklahoma Secretary of State, the system will initially charge a $100 fee for each principal regardless of whether the principal has previously been registered.

The ability to pay online at the time of registration will be provided for convenience. A lobbyist can choose to pay in person at the Ethics Commission office or by mailing in the fee.

State Sen. Rick Brinkley resigned from the Senate just before pleading guilty to federal felony charges on August 20, 2015.

The charges stem from an investigation into misappropriated funds from the Better Business Bureau of Tulsa. A lawsuit filed by the BBB alleges Brinkley used fake corporations to steal more than $1.8 million from the agency.

Brinkley had been the president and CEO of the BBB until 2011 when he became its chief operating officer; he was fired in April of 2015.

A special primary election to fill the Senate District 34 seat will be held on November 12, 2015. If a special general election is needed, it will be held on January 12, 2016.

Following a lawsuit by the Oklahoma Democratic Party, the Oklahoma Ethics Commission has voted to suspend its rules prohibiting fundraising and distribution of election materials on state-owned property. The Commission will suspend enforcement of Rules 2.6 and 2.7 until they are amended to ensure their constitutionality.

The Oklahoma Democratic Party’s lawsuit argued the new rules improperly infringed on free speech.

Ethics Commission Executive Director Lee Slater hopes the move will render the lawsuit moot.

The state Democratic Party has filed suit in federal court against the state Ethics Commission over rules the agency adopted last year.

The Democratic Party argues the new rules, which prohibit fundraising and election material distribution on state-owned property, improperly restrain free speech and, therefore, violate the Constitution.

The party is asking the court to invalidate the rules.

Gov. Mary Fallin has called a special election to fill the seat of state Sen. Rick Brinkley.

A primary election for the District 34 seat will be held on November 10, 2015 and a general election on January 12, 2016.

Sen. Brinkley announced his resignation, effective at the end of the year, amid allegations of embezzling more than $1 million.