Veteran state Sen. Don Balfour lost re-election in the primary on Tuesday, May 20, 2014.

Balfour is the longest-serving Senate Republican and was acquitted last year of charges he improperly billed the state for travel expenses.

Former Gwinnett County Commissioner Mike Beaudreau and former Lawrenceville City Councilman P.K. Martin both finished ahead of Balfour, setting up a runoff between the two candidates on July 22, 2014.

The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld political committee disclosure requirements of California’s Political Reform Act of 1974.

The ProtectMarriage.Com et al. v. Bowen et al. decision denied a challenge to semiannual disclosures requiring the identification of individuals who contributed more than $100 during or after a campaign, in addition to each contributor’s address, occupation, and employer.

The court further held the government’s interest in disclosing contributions to ballot initiative committees was not merely a pre-election interest.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed three ethics bills into law on Monday, May 19. The new laws coincide with proposed Ethics Commission Rules affecting the regulation of lobbyists and campaign finance.

The Rules, promulgated by the Ethics Commission in January, were submitted to the governor and both houses of the legislature on February 4, 2014. If the legislature does not reject them in their entirety prior to adjournment sine die, the Rules will become effective at staggered intervals between December 1, 2014 and February 1, 2015.

The three bills recently signed into law will become effective January 1, 2015 to facilitate the change in ethics rules. Senate Bill 1744 modifies campaign finance definitions, removes statutory contribution limits, and instead, references the limits established by the state Ethics Commission. The measure also prohibits contributions from corporations, labor unions, LLCs, and partnerships except as allowed by law or in the Ethics Commission Rules.

Senate Bill 1745 gives the Ethics Commission jurisdiction over municipal races and establishes enforcement mechanisms to coincide with local campaign finance laws.

Lastly, Senate Bill 1746 deletes statutory lobbyist registration and reporting requirements and, instead, references Ethics Commission Rules. The newly signed legislation moves the state one step closer to much needed ethics reform.

A provision in Minnesota’s campaign finance law known as the “special sources limit” will no longer be enforced as applied to individual large donors. U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank issued a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the law with respect to individual large donors in response to a challenge by the Institute for Justice on First Amendment grounds.

Under section 10A.27(11) of the Minnesota Statutes, the special sources limit prohibits a campaign from raising more than 20 percent of its total contributions from lobbyists, political committees, and large donors contributing more than one half of the individual contribution limit.

Donovan issued the injunction in light of the precedent set by McCutcheon v. FEC.

The defendants have the opportunity to appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If they choose not to appeal, the case will proceed to a final ruling at the district court level later this year.

The Ethics Commission’s website is currently inaccessible due to repeated DDOS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks on the commission’s website hosting vendor.

The Commission’s electronic filing systems remain accessible here.

Status updates regarding the commission’s website are available here.

The Assembly is now considering a bill passed by the Senate to further restrict gifts to lawmakers. Senate Bill 1443 prohibits all gifts from lobbyists and reduces the value of gifts state officials can receive from a non-lobbyist source to $200 per calendar year. Currently, lobbyists may provide gifts of $10 per calendar month and officials can receive $440 from a non-lobbyist source per calendar year.

The bill also prohibits most recreational tickets to concerts, professional sporting events, and amusement parks.

Photo of the California Senate chamber by David Monniaux on Wikimedia Commons.

The Vermont attorney general has issued guidance regarding the state’s contribution limits effective through the end of the year. His guidance interprets the $1,000 per election limit as meaning a candidate may accept a total of $2,000 for the 2013-2014 election cycle, even if the candidate does not face a primary contest. Candidates who lose their primary election may also accept the full $2,000. This guidance is effective for contribution limits only through the end of the year, as Vermont’s new contribution limits effective January 1, 2015 are per two-year election cycle rather than per election.

The full text of the attorney general’s guidance is here.

The Minnesota Legislature adjourned sine die on Friday, May 16, 2014.

The Legislature passed a $1 billion public works construction package in addition to voting to legalize medical marijuana in a session described by some as one of the most productive sessions in years.

The State Elections Enforcement Commission has announced it will no longer enforce the state’s aggregate contribution limit after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in McCutcheon v. FEC. At its May 14 meeting, the Commission determined the McCutcheon decision called into question the enforceability of the aggregate limits and stated it will not enforce the limits absent further direction from the General Assembly or a court of competent jurisdiction. The Commission made clear, however, the base contribution limits remain in full force and effect.

The full text of the Commission’s opinion is available here.

Without a single candidate securing a majority of votes in Tuesday’s election, Trenton voters must head to the polls for a second time to elect a mayor. A runoff election is scheduled for Tuesday, June 10.

Eric Jackson, the former city public works director, is considered the favorite candidate. Coming into the race Jackson took the lead in campaign financing, while challenger Paul Perez focused his energy on running a positive campaign. There will also be a June 10 runoff for council candidates in the East Ward.

In late 2013, the New York City Council passed Local Law 129 of 2013, making many changes to current lobbying law in the city and surrounding boroughs. Many of the new law’s provisions are effective today, May 16, 2014.

The definition of lobbying is revised to include attempts to influence legislation not yet introduced, legislation at the state and federal level, and mayoral executive vetoes. It is also revised to include attempts to influence the agenda or calendaring of a meeting of a board or commission. The revised definition excludes architects and engineers as lobbyists under certain parameters, and the law now imposes a $10,000 registration threshold for such individuals should they undertake lobbying activities. The registration threshold for all other lobbyists is $5,000.

Local Law 129 of 2013 requires more detailed disclosure on the statement of registration and on periodic reports. The new law further establishes a first-of-its-kind amnesty program, allowing noncomplying lobbyists to enroll in the program and be exonerated of late filing fees and applicable civil and criminal penalties dating back to December 10, 2006.

Provisions taking effect in the future include a mandatory lobbyist training program and the practice of the city clerk reviewing sources of information such as state lobbyist filings and the Doing Business Database to identify lobbyists required to register who have not done so.

Photo of the New York City Hall courtesy of Momos on Wikimedia Commons.

The 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has declared portions of the state’s campaign finance laws restricting issue advertising unconstitutional. Wisconsin Right to Life Inc. and its state political action committee sued the Government Accountability Board (GAB) to prevent enforcement of state statutes and rules against issue advocacy groups spending money for political speech independently of candidates and parties.

The decision prevents GAB from enforcing both the state’s ban on political spending by corporations and the amount a corporation may spend on fundraising for an affiliated political action committee. The ruling will also affect a secret John Doe investigation into conservative organizations suspected of illegally coordinating with Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign during the state’s partisan recall elections.

Attorney General William Sorrell issued a formal opinion confirming the state’s current contribution limits will remain in effect through the 2014 elections. Early in the legislative session, Vermont enacted Senate Bill 82, repealing the existing campaign finance law upon passage and establishing new contribution limits to take effect January 1, 2015.

The bill contained a drafting error, however, repealing the existing limits without anything in their place before the new limits take effect in 2015. The House attempted to correct the error through an additional bill, but it was never acted upon by the Senate Finance Committee.

While the Elections Division issued a statement confirming the old limits still applied, Secretary of State Jim Condos requested a formal opinion from the state’s attorney general since his office lacked statutory authority to enforce the old limits.

Relying on legislative deliberations on Senate Bill 82, Sorrell ruled the Legislature did not intend to repeal existing limits for the 2014 election cycle, and the existing limits at the time of the bill’s passage will be enforced until the new limits take effect next year.

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill to close “dark money” loopholes used to avoid disclosure of campaign contributors.

Senate Bill 27 requires large donations from nonprofits and other multipurpose organizations to be disclosed. The top 10 contributors to state committees will now be posted online by the Fair Political Practices Commission.

The bill becomes effective immediately, but with a delayed operative date of July 1, 2014.