The House unanimously passed a bill requiring lobbyists to disclose more information, but in a different form than the introduced version. House Bill 155 requires lobbyists to disclose the issues they are advocating and doubles registration fees to $50.

Originally, the bill included provisions requiring estimated expense reports and reports on the recipients of certain types of payments. When the legislation stalled in committee, the two provisions were removed to enable the bill to move forward.

An attempt to reintroduce the provisions failed by a vote of 33-30.

Photo of the New Mexico State Capitol by Urban on Wikimedia Commons.

The Legislature adjourned sine die on Friday, March 6, 2015, after passing two campaign finance bills.

House Bill 38 was originally filed to remove all contribution limits for political action committees (PACs), but amendments to the bill keep a $5,000 limit from a PAC to any candidate who is not a statewide candidate.

House Bill 39 repeals the state’s aggregate contribution limits, which conflict with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission.

Photo of the Wyoming State Capitol by Matthew Trump on Wikimedia Commons.

On March 4, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a special election will be held on March 31 for Texas House District 124.

The winner will serve the remainder of the term for the seat left vacant by Jose Antonio Menendez. Menendez won a special election to the state senate earlier this year.

The Election Law Enforcement Commission has published a proposed lobbyist registration fee increase in the New Jersey Register.

The proposed increase, which would change the registration fee from $425 to $575, is now subject to a 60-day comment period, followed by a public hearing scheduled for May 19, 2015.

The registration fee has not changed since 2004.

City Council incumbents and Charter amendments fared well in this year’s March city elections.

Five incumbent City Council members retained their seats by receiving over 50 percent of the vote, but a May runoff will be necessary in the 4^th District to replace termed-out Councilman Tom LaBonge.

Voters passed Charter amendments intended to increase voter turnout by moving city and school board elections to even-numbered years when presidential and gubernatorial races are held, beginning in 2020.

Photo of the Los Angeles skyline by Nserrano on Wikimedia Commons.

Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez (D) is sponsoring a bill to eliminate the state’s campaign contribution limits. Senate Bill 689 repeals the 2009 law enacting the first-ever limits on how much candidates and committees can raise per election.

Sanchez believes the limits encourage big donors to funnel money to independent expenditure committees, resulting in less transparency.

The bill is currently pending in the Senate Rules Committee.

Welcome back to the statehouse where we will be exploring the Minnesota Capitol.

When its white dome first swims into view there is a shock of surprise, then a rapidly growing delight in its pure beauty, and as one studies the building, inside and out, the surprise and delight increase. One leaves it with regret and with the hope of return.
-Kenyon Cox, Architectural Record, August 1905

The Minnesota statehouse, completed in 1905, is located in the capital of St. Paul. The building looks very similar to St. Peter’s basilica in Rome. In fact, St. Peter’s has the largest unsupported marble dome in the world, and the marble dome of the Minnesota statehouse is the second largest. A golden sculpture called The Progress of the State sits at the base of the dome. It depicts a chariot pulled by four horses with two women and a man in the chariot. The statue symbolizes civilization and prosperity being driven by the classical elements of earth, air, fire, and water. When the weather permits, visitors can go on the roof to get a close-up view of the statue. Take a look at the Minnesota Historical Society to find out more about the artwork and history of the building.

There are also monuments for Women’s Suffrage and Christopher Columbus on the grounds of the statehouse. Many of the original fixtures are still in use. When the building was being constructed, electric lighting and telephones were state-of-the-art. The Ohio architect, Cass Gilbert, insisted on the best technology for the statehouse. Since then, the building has always had the latest in technology. Gilbert’s conscientious style resulted in many ornate carvings and statues around the building and hundreds of specially designed pieces of furniture.

Thank you for staying with us on our journey through the statehouses!

Photo of the Minnesota State Capitol by Jonathunder on Wikimedia Commons.

Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie M. Gorbea’s transition committee has issued recommendations “to improve the public’s perception of their government.”

In the committee’s report, they endorse the creation of a lobbying task force to “guide efforts to strengthen, simplify and clarify Rhode Island’s lobbying law.” Calling the current lobbying laws antiquated, the committee recommends increasing both the fines for violations and the fees for registration. The report argues the increases “will help incentivize lobbyists to be compliant” with the state’s laws. Other recommendations include overhauling the Lobby Tracker reporting system, more “robust” education about the lobbying laws, and increased oversight of lobbyists.

The report makes other policy suggestions unrelated to lobbying, such as reviewing the photo ID requirement at polling places for its possible impact on suppressing voter turnout.

Gov. Nikki Haley and state House Speaker Jay Lucas are attempting to revive ethics reform after the Senate voted down a bill to overhaul ethics laws. Lucas expects the House to pass and send to the Senate an omnibus ethics bill combining several House bills previously passed separately.

House Bill 3722 would give the State Ethics Commission authority to investigate legislators, amend certain unconstitutional campaign finance definitions, and require additional transparency reporting by public officials.

The Pierce County Superior Court invalidated a Washington campaign finance law requiring free legal advice given to a recall campaign to be treated as a reportable campaign contribution. Judge Katherine Stolz reasoned pro bono representation in civil rights cases would be threatened if such representation must be reported as a campaign contribution and therefore subject to applicable state political contribution limits.

As a result of the ruling, the Public Disclosure Commission cannot cap legal services to political committees in a federal civil rights case, nor can it compel political committees to report free legal services as campaign contributions.

The Virginia General Assembly adjourned sine die on Friday, February 27, 2015. Before adjourning, the legislature sent an ethics bill to the governor.

House Bill 2070 changes the $250 annual, aggregate gift limit to a $100 per-gift limit. However, the bill also contains a lengthy list of exceptions to the gift limit. Additionally, the bill creates an ethics council, but provides it with little power.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe spoke positively about the bill, but promised to look at it carefully due to the last-minute nature of its passage.

Photo of the Virginia State Capitol by Anderskev in Wikimedia Commons.

On February 24, a lawsuit was filed in Suffolk County Superior Court challenging Massachusetts laws allowing unions to make political contributions while barring corporations from doing the same.

The lawsuit is being brought by the Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation at the Goldwater Institute on behalf of two state business corporations against Michael Sullivan, the director of the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF), which enforces the law.

In 1A AUTO, INC. v Sullivan, the plaintiffs alleges, “There is no legitimate justification for allowing unions to contribute thousands of dollars to candidates, parties, and political committees, while completely banning any contributions from businesses.” The plaintiffs argue the law violates “equal protection, free speech, and free association protected by the Massachusetts and United States constitutions” and are seeking a permanent injunction preventing the OCPF from enforcing the law banning corporate contributions.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel failed to garner enough votes in Tuesday’s consolidated primary to avoid heading to a runoff election. Emanuel required more than 50 percent of the vote to win the election outright.

Although he finished first in the five candidate field with just over 45 percent of the vote, the city will now hold a runoff mayoral election for the first time in history.

The runoff is scheduled for April 7, and the mayor will face Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.

Jay Jordan has won the Republican primary for the vacant seat in House District 63. Unofficial results have Jordan with 1,927 votes, Robby Hill with 1,076, and Elijah Jones with 517.

No Democrats filed to run in the special election on April 14, 2015.

The vacancy was created when Republican Kris Crawford resigned his seat a month after being elected unopposed to a fifth term.

Photo of the South Carolina Capitol Building by Nikopoley on Wikimedia Commons.