Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is in the process of passing an ethics ordinance related to government ethics and lobbyist registration.

Under Ethics Ordinance 2019-5305, 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 full City Council is scheduled to consider the mayor’s ethics reform on July 24.

Four more states making campaign finance and lobbying changes. Check out which states are passing legislation in this week’s NYCU Video Digest!

Voters will have a chance in November to increase the restrictions on political contributions in the latest campaign finance proposal aimed at pay-to-play.

The Sunlight on Dark Money ballot initiative requires greater disclosure of who is behind campaign advertisements paid for by PACs.

The measure requires the top three largest donors of the committee paying for the advertisement to disclose the name and amount contributed to the committee.

If any of the three belong to another committee, they must disclose the top two donors of that committee as well.

The measure would also prohibit top executives in development companies from contributing to candidates or current office holders of the Board of Supervisors, mayor, and city attorney.

The prohibition will be in effect while a project they have financial interest in is pending approval, or for 12 months after the city makes a final decision on the project.

The measure will also close a loophole allowing LLCs and LLPs to contribute to candidates despite an existing ban on those donations from corporations.

The measure would take effect 10 days after the election results are certified.

The New York State Joint Commission of Public Ethics announced an extension for the submission of bimonthly reports for the May to June reporting period until July 31.

JCOPE extended the deadline due to ongoing technical difficulties with the online Lobbying Application.

This extension corresponds with the previously announced extension for client semiannual reports and source of funding disclosures.

The commission is working to fix the issues and further updates will be announced on the JCOPE website.

Gov. Matt Bevin announced he will convene the Kentucky General Assembly into special session at 8 a.m. on July 19.

Since the conclusion of the 2019 regular session, Bevin has been working with state legislators preparing for a special session to help Kentucky’s quasi-agencies from the financial burden caused by the state’s looming public pension crisis.

Agencies needing help include regional universities, health departments, domestic violence centers, and community health centers,

An official proclamation will be issued later this week in accordance with the Kentucky Constitution.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation on July 12 to clarify language related to preelection statements and income from gifts and business entities.

Assembly Bill 903 requires preelection statements to disclose contributions and independent expenditures made to a state, county, or city general purpose committee or made to support or oppose a candidate or measure appearing on the ballot at a specified election.

The specified election will be the next election for certain state or county general purpose committees and elected state officers or candidates for elective state office.

The bill also amends the definition of expenditure to include communications paid for with public moneys by a state or local government agency.

The bill will take effect on January 1, 2020.

A special election will take place on November 5 for City Council District 1.

The Long Beach City Council adopted a resolution at the July 9 meeting to conduct a special municipal election.

Lena Gonzalez relinquished the District 1 seat after winning the state Senate District 33 seat.

The council’s adoption of the resolution included a request to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to have the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk run the special election in November.

The Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s Office approved petitions to collect signatures for the recall of Gov. Jared Polis and Sen. Pete Lee of Senate District 11.

More than 600,000 signatures are needed by September 6 to force a recall election for Polis.

According to the recall statement of grounds, the petition for recall is sought against Polis for his support of legislation involving oil and gas regulation and sexual education dissemination, among others.

More than 11,000 signatures are needed by September 10 to force a recall election for Lee.

According to the recall statement of grounds, the petition for recall is sought against Lee in part for sponsoring legislation to create a paid family and medical leave program to be funded by a mandatory tax on businesses and employees.

Gov. Mike Parson signed procurement lobbying legislation on July 10, bringing changes to the state’s bid solicitation process.

House Bill 1088 provides that solicitations and subsequent purchases must be publicly advertised only if a contract is worth more than $100,000. The previous threshold was $25,000.

The bill further provides that all purchases in excess of $10,000 must be based on competitive bids. The previous threshold was $3,000.

Additionally, information technology purchases estimated not to exceed $150,000 may be completed under an informal process. The previous threshold was $75,000.

The bill becomes effective on August 28, 2019.

Gov. Matt Bevin is set to call a special legislative session to pass a bill giving relief to quasi-governmental groups from the soaring pension costs they must pay starting this month.

The special session will have to start on July 19 or regional universities, health departments, and others will have to wait until after a critical deadline to receive relief from a massive increase in pension costs.

Lawmakers passed a bill providing relief in March, but Bevin vetoed the bill because of concerns that parts of the bill were illegal and the measure would be financially harmful to the state’s cash strapped pension funds.

State utility regulators at the Arizona Corporation Commission approved a new code of ethics.

The new code prohibits commissioners from ruling on issues involving interested parties that have given them direct campaign donations.

Only commissioners that publicly finance their campaigns may make rulings on issues regarding interested parties with employees or owners that gave them personal donations.

On July 11, the New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics launched the ability to file client semi-annual reports and source of funding information through the online Lobbying Application for the 2019-2020 reporting period.

JCOPE has granted an extension to all clients to file the client reports until July 31.

The extension only applies to semiannual reports and source of funding disclosures; lobbyist bimonthly reports are still due on July 15.

JCOPE has also produced a guideline “How to Properly Disclose Lobbying Activities” on their website to assist proper disclosure.

The Oregon Republican Party has nominated Becky Mitts, Raquel Moore-Green, and Brad Nanke as the three finalists to replace Denyc Boles as state representative for District 19.

Boles resigned from the District 19 seat on June 28 after being appointed to replace the late Jackie Winters as state senator for District 10.

The Marion County commissioners plan to make a selection on July 23.

However, the commissioners have 10 days after the names are filed with the secretary of state to make a decision.

The Secretary of State will host a rulemaking hearing on July 24 concerning the Colorado Campaign and Political Finance Rules.

The revised draft of 8 C.C.R. §1505-6 is available at 20190709_CPF_RevStmBasis.pdf.

A recording of the hearing will be posted and available on the Secretary of State’s website.