Gov. Kate Brown signed two campaign finance bills requiring more disclosures in Oregon elections.

House Bill 2716 requires advertisements supporting or opposing a candidate to disclose who funded them.

The bill also requires ads funded by non-candidate PACs to disclose the top five donors who have contributed at least $10,000 to those groups.

House Bill 2716 becomes effective December 3, 2020.

House Bill 2983 requires “dark money” groups to disclose their largest donors if they spend more than $100,000 on ads related to statewide races or races in cities or counties with at least 60,000 residents.

For legislative races and contests in smaller jurisdictions, the bill requires groups to disclose donors after spending at least $25,000 on ads.

House Bill 2983 became effective when signed by the governor.

Gov. Mike DeWine signed a campaign finance bill into law, promoting transparency for campaign finance reports.

Senate Bill 107 allows certain local political candidates to file their campaign finance reports electronically.

The bill further requires the Secretary of State to make the information in the electronic statements available online.

Senate Bill 107 will take effect January 1, 2021.

On July 24, The New York City Charter Revision Commission released a final draft report on proposed amendments to the city charter.

The commission proposed Ballot Question 3 relating to ethics and governance including extending the post-employment appearance ban for elected officials and senior appointed officials.

Additionally, the question limits political activity and donations by members of Conflicts of Interest Board.

The proposal would increase the prohibition of city elected officials and senior appointed officials from appearing before the agency or branch of government the official served in after leaving service from one year to two years.

The amendment would also prohibit members of the COIB from participating in campaigns for local elected office and reduce the maximum amount members can contribute in each election cycle.

Voters will be presented the proposals on the November 5 general election ballot.

If passed, the proposed post-employment ban would become effective January 1, 2022.

The San Diego City Council passed an ordinance amending lobbying rules based on recommendations from the city Ethics Commission.

Ordinance 2019-148 modifies the definition of “activity expense” to include any payment made by a lobbyist to a city official if during the previous 12 months the lobbyist engaged in lobbying the city official’s department, agency, or city board.

The ordinance also changes the disclosure of employment-related activity expenses from specific dollar amounts to one of seven disclosure categories.

If signed by the mayor, the ordinance takes effect in 2020 when the first quarter filing is due.

Gov. Matt Bevin signed a bill into law that allows Kentucky regional universities and “quasi” state agencies to avoid a massive spike in pension costs in exchange for exiting the state’s ailing pension systems.

Bevin called a special legislative session last week for lawmakers to address the issue after spending months working on the pension bill with Republican leaders of the legislature.

After Bevin signed the bill, the legislature ended the special session.

On July 22, the Connecticut General Assembly convened and adjourned a special session.

During the special session lawmakers passed Senate Bill 1210 authorizing state grant commitments for school building projects.

Senate Bill 1210 also made changes to the procurement processes for school building construction, architectural services, and construction management services.

The bill was signed on July 23 by Gov. Ned Lamont and most passages went into effect immediately.

However, changes to the procurement processes become effective on July 1, 2020.

This month, a group of member associations, non-profits, and businesses working within the City of Boston submitted a memorandum of legal analysis regarding the city’s Lobbyist Registration and Regulation Ordinance expressing their key concerns with the legislation.

The ordinance, passed in October of 2018, took effect on April 16, 2019 and implemented broad lobbyist registration requirements and quarterly reporting.

The submitted memorandum asserts the ordinance is overbroad and does not include lobbyist registration exceptions present in state and federal law, including the de minimis threshold for incidental lobbying activity.

The memorandum also suggests language for proposed amendments to provide clarity while continuing to promote transparency and accountability.

Because of a clerical error by the Iowa Secretary of State’s office, voters in the state will not have a chance to vote on two recently passed constitutional amendments until 2022 at the earliest.

In 2018, the Iowa legislature passed two constitutional amendments. One proposed amendment requires any review of state legislation affecting the right to own firearms be subject to a judicial review standard of strict scrutiny.

The other proposed amendment deals with the line of gubernatorial succession for any vacancies of that office.

For the amendments to be added the state’s constitution, they must be passed a second time by the next sitting legislature and then be voted on by the citizens of the state.

However, after an amendment’s first passage, notice must be given to voters three months prior to the election of the next legislature.

According to Governing.com, the secretary of state’s office missed the deadline to file the notice for the public, requiring the process to restart and resulting in the earliest opportunity for the amendments to appear for voters’ approval to be 2022.

City Council unanimously approved Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s ethics ordinance on July 24, changing the definition of lobbyist for purposes of registration.

Ethics Ordinance 2019-5305 provides that a person acting on behalf of a nonprofit will not need to register as a lobbyist if he or she is unpaid or is providing technical assistance to the nonprofit.

The ordinance will become effective 90 days after its passage and publication.

Kelsey Ketron, daughter of Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron, resigned from the Tennessee Republican Party’s Executive Committee.

Ketron, who faces a criminal investigation related to insurance fraud, released a statement that it had been an honor to serve District 12 for the past five years.

Ketron’s seat on the state executive committee will remain vacant until the party can appoint a committee to find a replacement to serve the remainder of the four-year term.

Once the committee recommends a name to replace Ketron, it must be voted on by the full executive committee.

Local lawmakers are considering an ordinance requiring lobbyists working in Aurora to register and report expenditures in excess of $75.

At-large councilwoman Angela Lawson, who is also the Lobbyist Registration Program Manager for the secretary of state, first introduced the proposal to a city policy committee in October 2018.

If passed, lobbyists would be required to begin registering at the beginning of 2020.

City Council discussed the proposal during the council’s special study session on July 22.

The ordinance has not yet been brought forward for official action.

The date to move forward to a regular council meeting has not been set.

Mayor Gavin Buckley introduced a bill at a recent city council meeting outlining how the city should purchase items and services.

A draft of the legislation proposes a procurement process that would create an efficient, cost-effective, and equitable system of public purchasing by the city.

Annapolis currently does not have a set system for procurement.

If passed, the bill would be added to the city code to create a more standardized procurement system.

The Maryland Department of General Services launched the state’s new electronic procurement system, eMaryland Marketplace Advantage (eMMA).

The eMMA system is Maryland’s new online platform used to connect the vendor community with contracting opportunities from state, county, and local government entities.

Registered vendors will receive notices of bid opportunities, submit bid responses, and obtain bid results online.

Accounts from the previous system will not be transferred to eMMA.

Vendors will have to register with the new system.

The state is currently training over 825 procurement professionals to help during the transition and provide training to users.

Gov. Kate Brown signed legislation on July 23 requiring registered lobbyists to attend annual training beginning in 2021.

House Bill 3377 directs lobbyists to certify training attendance to the Oregon Ethics Commission.

The bill also requires the commission to report lobbyist training attendance to the legislative equity officer.

House Bill 3377 becomes effective on January 1, 2021.