Michelle Adolphe, a candidate who ran for a seat in the state Assembly last year, was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with three counts of failing to file campaign finance reports as required under state election law.

Adolphe, who lost in last year’s election, allegedly failed to report where her campaign contributions came from and how they were spent.

If convicted on all three counts, Adolphe could face up to three years in jail.

The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has proposed rules amending reporting requirements for “other payments to influence legislative or administrative action”, as provided in California Government Code section 86116. The proposed regulations require such payments to be itemized on periodic disclosure reports.

According to the FPPC, these payments encompass a range of expenditures and lump sum reporting does not provide the type of transparency imagined by the drafters of the statute. The amended regulations affect lobbyist employers and persons spending $5,000 or more to influence legislative or administrative action.

The FPPC will hold an interested persons meeting on December 3, 2015 at 10 a.m. to solicit public comment regarding the proposed rules. The rules will be considered for adoption at the FPPC’s January 21, 2016, meeting.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics is seeking public comment on a recent proposal aiming to prohibit pay-to-play contributions.  The proposal comes in the form of an advisory opinion, and would prohibit statewide executive and legislative candidates from accepting campaign contributions from persons or organizations subject to their enforcement powers.

Currently, there is no prohibition on pay-to-play type contributions for legislative statewide elected candidates.  The Joint Commission has not established a deadline for accepting public comments.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a ballot measure which would create an ethics commission for the county. A newly created ethics commission would oversee the enforcement of the county’s campaign finance ordinance.

Voters will have the opportunity to approve the measure on June 7, 2016, the date of the presidential primary election.

The Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission issued a notification of proposed changes to the Commission’s rules. New rules being considered deal with lobbying expenditures made to the family of a public official or employee, when campaign contributions are deemed received, and anonymous contributions.

Rule amendments are also being considered to several sections of Chapter 189, including 189-1-.07 concerning adjustments of contribution limits based on inflation.

The Commission will consider the changes on December 15, 2015.

State and Federal Communications is pleased to announce the following individuals received their Professional Lobbying Certificate at the AGRP Annual Meeting.

Michael Beckett, Esq., George Ticoras, Esq., and John Cozine, Esq. received their certificates after completing the year-long Lobbying Certificate program. Since 2008, 11 staff from the company have completed the program, which is the only certificate program for the government relations professional that covers the wide range of activities that comprise modern government relations.

Through 14 courses over a year, participants have the opportunity to get the baseline knowledge of the numerous topics that need to be known by lobbyists and grassroots practitioners. Within those courses, five are required that cover Ethics of Advocacy, LDA & Compliance, PAC & Campaign Fundraising, Congressional Rules & Procedure and Communications & Media.

The Association of Government Relations Professionals (AGRP) is the national professional society dedicated exclusively to government relations, public policy and lobbying. AGRP’s mission is to enhance the development of the profession, competence, and high ethical standards for advocates in the public policy arena; and to collectively address the challenges affecting the First Amendment right to “petition the Government for redress of grievances.” For more information, visit http://grprofessionals.org.

The Pennsylvania Ethics Commission is increasing its enforcement efforts against those who fail to report lobbying expenditures. This year, 31 groups were cited for failing to file expense reports with fines totaling $90,300. In comparison, last year, only 15 citations were issued with fines reaching $44,000.

At the same time, the General Assembly is working on legislation to increase the penalty for noncompliance. House Bill 1348’s proposed increase is from $50 per day to a tiered system where the fine increases the later the report becomes. The bill passed the House unanimously in October and is awaiting action in the Senate.

Two bills passed the Wisconsin Senate early this month, likely changing the state’s future political landscape. One bill eliminates the Government Accountability Board and creates two bipartisan commissions to oversee ethics and elections.

The other bill overhauls state campaign finance laws. It doubles campaign contribution limits and defines express advocacy. Critics argue it creates a potentially dangerous loophole for candidates to loosely coordinate with outside advocacy groups.

The Assembly passed both bills in October but must vote on the revised versions with Senate amendments. It will consider both bills on November 16 in an extraordinary session. The bills are expected to pass and be delivered to Gov. Scott Walker by the end of the month.

Photo of the interior of the Wisconsin State Capitol by Dori on Wikimedia Commons.

The Ethics Review Commission has given its support to Council Member Leslie Pool’s proposed lobbying law changes. These changes include broadening the definition of lobbyist, increasing disclosure requirements, and removing a loophole allowing part-time lobbyists to avoid registering.

Pool’s proposal has been met with opposition from those involved in the design and building industries. They claim the ordinance is too broad and would require architects, engineers, and others involved in the building industries to register as lobbyists. Also, many of these professionals currently serve on city boards and commissions. If they are required to register, they will have to resign from those seats because city law prohibits registered lobbyists from serving on city boards and commissions. The group representing the developers feels such a move would result in the city being robbed of valuable expertise.

This opposition has resulted in Pool making some changes to the ordinance, but the group representing developers is still not satisfied.

So far, registered lobbyists have not opposed the new changes even though the proposal would increase their reporting requirements. If passed, the ordinance would require lobbyists to provide greater detail about who they are representing, how much money is being spent on a lobbying efforts, and how much they receive in payments from clients.

The ordinance will now be presented to the Audit and Finance Committee. From there is will proceed through City Council, with a possible final vote coming early next year.

Photo of the Austin, Texas skyline by Erik A. Ellison on Wikimedia Commons.

Gov. Mark Dayton has requested state lawmakers to return to work in a special legislative session.

Dayton penned a letter to members of the Minnesota Legislature asking them to address the need to help out-of-work miners in the state.

In Minnesota, special sessions can be called by the governor.

Following the death of Rep. Lesley Vance, a special election will be held to fill a vacant seat for Alabama House District 80.

A special primary election will be held on January 19, with a special general election to be held on April 12, 2016.

New legislation was introduced impacting the city’s campaign finance regulations.  One bill would eliminate the possibility of matching, with public funds, any contribution to a candidate for local office that is bundled by a lobbyist or person who has, or may have, business dealings with the City.

A second bill would extend the prohibition on the acceptance of contributions from non-registered political committees to candidates who are not participating in the public money matching program.  Currently, the prohibition only applies to candidates who are participating in the public matching program.

Photo of the New York City skyline by AngMoKio on Wikimedia Commons.

A special election will be held to fill a vacant seat for Iowa House District 21.

The special election is slated for December 8, 2015, following the death of Representative Jack Drake earlier in the year.

Governor Dayton ordered a special election to be held for Senate District 35 on February 9, 2016.  The election is being held to fill State Senator Branden Petersen’s seat after he announced his resignation in September.

If necessary, a special primary election will be held on January 12, 2016.