Electronic Video Notarization (EVN) will continue to be a valid form of notarization in North Carolina.

EVN was a policy put in place during Covid-19 to allow for safer notarization of documents by allowing notaries to witness signatures over video calls.

This order expired on June 30 but extended to July 1, 2025, by House Bill 556.

The bill was vetoed by the governor before being overridden by legislative vote.

Q: I heard the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG) was found unconstitutional. What does this mean for lobbyist and lobbyist employer reporting?

A: That is correct. On May 9, a New York appellate court unanimously upheld a lower court decision finding COELIG unconstitutional. The court found COELIG violates the governor’s ability to enforce ethics laws as many members of the commission are not appointed by the governor. COELIG will continue to promote compliance with ethics and lobbying laws and may continue to process ethics disclosures and lobbyist filings.

In New York, registered lobbyists must file bimonthly reports by the 15th day of the month following the end of the reporting period in which the lobbyist was first required to register. Reports are due for each subsequent reporting period thereafter.

Lobbyist employers must file semiannual reports for every calendar year during which the employer retained, employed, or designated a lobbyist and reasonably anticipates that during the year such client will expend or incur more than $5,000.

A lobbyist or lobbyist employer may be suspended for up to a year if they knowingly and willfully fail to file a report on time or fail to file a report at all. Any bimonthly or semiannual report not timely filed will be subject to late fees.

While the court case is going through the appeals process, COELIG was granted a stay to continue administering and enforcing ethics and lobbying laws, overseeing the filing and review of lobbying registrations and reports, providing guidance and advice, and investigating and enforcing violations of the laws and regulations under its jurisdiction. It is always good practice to make sure you are submitting reports on time.

Information to assist with your commitment to compliance, can be found in the Important Features of the Law section of State & Federal Communication’s U.S. Lobbying Compliance Laws.

The Legislature called itself into a special session in response to a unanimous ruling by the Utah Supreme Court that ruled the Legislature cannot undermine ballot initiatives passed by voters.

Lawmakers will consider placing a constitutional amendment on the ballot to prohibit foreign entities from contributing to ballot initiatives or referenda; restore and strengthen the ability of voters, the Legislature, and local bodies to amend or repeal legislation; and extend the period to collect signatures for the referendum process from 40 to 60 days.

The special session is set to begin August 21.

Gov. Jared Polis has issued an executive order which calls for a special session to address the need for an expanded property tax-relief package.

Legislators will work to bring more relief for Colorado residents and businesses and are limited to issues concerning only property taxes.

The session will begin on August 26.

It is projected to last for around three days.

The Office of Secretary of State issued two interpretive statements clarifying the state’s lobbyist gift ban.

The LaBrant Interpretive Statement prohibits a lobbyist or lobbyist agent from providing a public official any gift, including tickets, if the value of the ticket is over the gift limit of $76, even if the public official reimburses the lobbyist or lobbyist agent for the value of the gift over the limit.

The Michigan Association of Health Plans Interpretive Statement indicates complimentary admission to an educational conference paid by a lobbyist or lobbyist agent for a lawmaker’s attendance is only permissible if the value of the conference admission is equal to or less than the value of the services provided by the attending public official.

Gov. Greg Abbott has set a special election to fill the seat left open by U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

Rep. Jackson Lee passed away on July 19 due to pancreatic cancer.

She was one of the longest serving members of the Texas congressional delegation and served the 18^th congressional district.

The election has been set to coincide with the November 5, general election.

The winner will fill the seat for the remainder of the term.

The Massachusetts Legislature adjourned its formal session August 1.

Before adjourning, lawmakers passed a bill relating to housing bonds but left many bills without final action, including various political contribution bills.

The Legislature will continue to meet in informal sessions where non-controversial issues may be considered and approved.

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Missouri’s 2-year revolving door restriction violates the First Amendment.

On appeal from the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Missouri, former state Rep Rocky Miller and General Assembly employee John La Vanchy prevailed in Miller v. Ziegler, invalidating the ban.

The ban was enacted in 2018 and prohibited any person serving as a member of or employed by the General Assembly from acting or serving as a paid lobbyist, registering as a paid lobbyist, or soliciting prospective employers or clients to represent as a paid lobbyist during the time of their service until the expiration of two calendar years after the conclusion of the session of the General Assembly in which the member or employee last served.

State Democrats filed suit against Gov. Kemp in federal court over a 2021 state law allowing candidates to accept unlimited contributions through leadership committees.

Legislative candidate committees are limited to accepting $3,300 per election and may not fundraise during the legislative session.

However, leadership committees are allowed to receive unlimited funds on behalf of candidates and may do so while the Legislature is in session.

Democrats argue the fact that losing party nominees must shut down their leadership committee while the winner’s committee may continue collecting funds unconstitutionally favors incumbents.

Democrats seek a preliminary injunction against leadership committee fundraising and spending until the case is concluded.

Q: Since Minnesota updated their lobbying law and the changes went into effect at the start of 2024, how will the changes practically affect how lobbyists register and file reports?

A: Minnesota passed legislation affecting lobbying registration and reporting that went into effect on January 1, 2024. To correspond with the changes the Campaign Finance Board (CFB) has updated their lobbyist registration, termination statement, and reporting forms.

Lobbyists should be aware the registration threshold has increased from $250 to more than $3,000 for individuals who spend personal funds to influence government action. Calculating the threshold does not include an individual’s own traveling expenses and membership dues. While the increased threshold allows individuals to track their activities until they reach the higher amount the law expanded the scope of local government lobbying which could lead to more activities being included in determining your registration requirements.

The scope of local government lobbying was expanded by amending the definition of lobbyist to replace all references to metropolitan governmental unit with political subdivision. A political subdivision includes the metropolitan council, a metropolitan agency, including the Metropolitan Parks and Open Space Commission, Metropolitan Airports Commission, and Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, and a municipality, including a county, town, city, school district or other municipal corporation or political subdivision of the state authorized by law to enter into contracts. Communication with local officials of a political subdivision will need to be tracked and included in calculating your threshold. The new form released by CFB reflects these changes. Lobbyists will also be required to list the general lobbying categories of interest on registrations.

On the reporting and termination forms, lobbyists will no longer be required to report disbursements. Instead, individuals must affirm whether legislative, administrative, or local governmental action occurred during the reporting period. For each type of governmental action, the lobbyist must include at least one general lobbying category and up to four specific subjects of interest lobbied during the reporting period. For administrative actions, individuals must also include the agency lobbied and revisor number if applicable. Lobbyists must continue to report the amount and nature of each gift, item, or benefit $5 or more, given or paid to any public official, an employee of the Legislature, or a local official, by the lobbyist, an employer, or employee of the lobbyist, and each original source of money in excess of $500 in any year used for the purpose of lobbying.

While the CFB has not released an updated form for the annual report, the new lobbying law requires the total amount spent on each lobbying type during a calendar year to be rounded to the nearest $9,000 instead of the current $20,000. We expect the CFB to release a new form closer to the annual reporting due date.

The information from this response can easily be found on our website in the Lobbying Compliance section of the United States Compliance Laws publication.  Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions.

Electronic Video Notarization (EVN) will no longer be a valid form of notarization in North Carolina.

EVN was a policy put in place during Covid-19 to allow for safer notarization of documents by allowing notaries to witness signatures over video calls. This order has expired on June 30.

The order could have been extended to July 1, 2025, by House Bill 556, but the bill was vetoed by the governor.

Unless the veto is overridden, EVN is not a legal way to notarize documents and documents will need to be notarized in person going forward, but the use of e-notaries and document signing programs will still be valid.

The civil penalty for violating revolving door restrictions has increased.

Senate Bill 7014 doubled the maximum fine to $20,000 for former officials who violate the state’s six-year ban on lobbying on matters of policy and procurement.

The bill also makes changes to ethics investigation procedures and to public disclosures allowing public officials who are lawyers to claim clients as a source of income without divulging their names.

A special election has been called for August 6 to replace At-Large Councilmember Mel Franklin, who resigned in June.

Thirteen candidates have announced their registration to run.

This primary will include both Democrat and Republican candidates and the winners of the primary will be added to the general election ballot on November 5.

The winner will serve the remaining two years in Franklin’s term.

House Bill 237 passed by a legislative override after being vetoed by Gov. Cooper.

The bill changes registration and reporting requirements for federal PACs contributing in state elections.

Federal PACs may now file a copy of the FEC Statement of Organization within 10 days of making a permissible contribution.

Federal PACs now report by filing with the State Board a copy of the FEC report for any federal filing period during which the federal PAC makes a contribution within 10 calendar days of the federal filing.

Submitting these reports can be done either through mail or email.

Previously, federal PACs were required to register and report using state forms and on state reporting schedules.