The Charlotte City Council has appointed a new mayor after the abrupt resignation of former mayor Patrick Cannon following his arrest on federal corruption charges.

North Carolina State Senator Dan Clodfelter was named mayor of Charlotte and will be sworn-in on Wednesday. Clodfelter will become Charlotte’s fourth mayor since the spring of 2013. His term expires in December 2015.

Photo of the Charlotte, North Carolina Skyline by Riction on Wikimedia Commons.

The General Assembly adjourned late Monday, April 7, 2014, after approving bills to decriminalize marijuana and raise the state minimum wage.

Legislators also approved two lobbying bills addressing ethics training requirements and lobbyist certifications of authorization to lobby.

The new lobbying requirements in Senate Bill 92 and Senate Bill 90 will be effective October 1, 2014, unless Gov. Martin O’Malley vetoes the measures by May 27, 2014.

Corporations in Iowa are still prohibited from making campaign contributions, despite an attempt by non-profit corporation Iowa Right to Life Committee, Inc. to remove the ban. The Supreme Court of the United States denied review of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals case with no comment.

In Iowa Right to Life v. Tooker, plaintiff Iowa Right to Life alleged the ban on corporate contributions is an unconstitutional bar to free speech and equal protection. The Eighth Circuit did not agree, thus upholding the ban.

A jury verdict has ordered the state to pay Stacey Kalberman $700,000 for unfairly forcing her from office. The jury found the former director of the ethics commission was unfairly forced from office as retribution for investigating Gov. Nathan Deal’s 2010 campaign.

Kalberman sued her former employer, claiming the commission’s decisions to cut her salary by $35,000 and eliminate her top deputy’s position were in response to her desire to issue subpoenas for records in the investigation.

Attorneys for the commission argued the motivation for the cuts was concern for a budget crisis. Holly Laberge, who replaced Kalberman, testified she did not find a budget crisis when she took office.

Beginning August 1, 2014, a lobbyist may not lobby a public official while at the Utah Capitol Hill complex unless the lobbyist is wearing a newly required name tag in plain view.

House Bill 246, which Governor Gary Herbert signed this week, will require all lobbyists be issued name tags bearing the word lobbyist and the lobbyist’s full name in at least 18-point type. The procedure to apply for name tags is being developed by the Lieutenant Governor’s Office and will be available before August 1, 2014. The Capitol Hill complex includes the grounds, monuments, parking areas, buildings, and other man-made and natural objects within the area bounded by 300 North Street, Columbus Street, 500 North Street, and East Capitol Boulevard, in Salt Lake City.

Additionally, the new law has raised the lobbyist registration fee from $100 to $110 and now requires lobbyists to inform public officials of the identity of whom the lobbyist is representing at the beginning of a lobbying communication.

The Alabama State Legislature adjourned sine die on Thursday, April 3, 2014. The legislature adjourned early in an attempt to avoid a threatened veto of an educational budget bill.

Gov. Robert Bentley has not decided whether he will sign the bill or call a special session to push through the raise for K-12 employees he was seeking.

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill designed to strengthen campaign finance laws and bolster enforcement. Assembly Bill 800 gives the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) the authority to audit campaign funds and seek court injunctions to force compliance before elections.

Previously, the FPPC was unable to commence audits of committees until after the conclusion of the general election. The bill also gives preference to civil actions filed by the FPPC in court to ensure disclosures happen before the election.

The bill took effect upon signature.

Nearing the end of its 2014 session, the Kentucky General Assembly passed significant ethics legislation containing recommendations the Legislative Ethics Commission has requested for years. House Bill 28 prohibits employers of legislative lobbyists and permanent committees from making campaign contributions to legislators and candidates for the General Assembly during a regular legislative session. Employers of legislative lobbyists must disclose on their expenditure reports the cost of advertising supporting or opposing legislation during a session of the General Assembly.

The bill also includes the “no cup of coffee rule,” eliminating the exception previously allowing legislative lobbyists to spend up to $100 on food and beverage for a legislator, extends the gift prohibition to legislative candidates, and prohibits legislative lobbyists and their employers from providing out-of-state transportation or lodging for legislators.

The bill awaits signature by Gov. Beshear.

The aggregate contribution limits for individuals and PACs contributing to state candidates are expected to be unenforceable following the Supreme Court’s McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission repeal of federal aggregate limits. The federal case challenging Wisconsin’s aggregate limits has been on hold pending McCutcheon. Young v. GAB seeks to remove aggregate limits set to prohibit even a $1 contribution if the individual donor has given the maximum $10,000 contribution to a single candidate.

The Government Accountability Board (GAB) has moved to dismiss the case, arguing the complaint does not sufficiently allege Mr. Young is harmed by the limit.

Today, the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) announced it will no longer enforce the state’s aggregate political contribution limit for the amount an individual may contribute to candidates.

The law, G.L. §55-7A(a)(5), limits the aggregate amount an individual can contribute to all candidates to $12,500. The OCPF made its decision based on today’s U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, McCutcheon vs. Federal Election Commission, which found aggregate limits on federal campaign contributions are an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment’s guarantee of political expression and association.

However, the OCPF is going to review the decision more closely before deciding whether the $5,000 aggregate limit on contributions by individuals to party committees can remain standing. On its webpage, the OCPF stated, “The statutory provisions at the federal level that were analyzed by the Court in McCutcheon differ substantially from the law in Massachusetts, and a determination on the applicability of the ruling in this area will be made after careful review.”

The Pennsylvania House Bipartisan Management Committee has adopted an ethics rule banning cash gifts.

The rule was imposed in response to the highly publicized sting operation involving four House members who allegedly took cash from a lobbyist.

The rule permits house members to receive cash from family members and non-lobbyist friends.

Photo of the Pennsylvania State Capitol courtesy of Michael180 on Wikimedia Commons.

The state Senate adjourned the last general-business floorperiod of the 2014 regular session on April 1, 2014, after passing more than 50 bills. The Assembly previously adjourned early on March 21, 2014.

Gov. Scott Walker has six business days to sign or veto legislation he receives. While the Legislature has no plans to return this year, Walker may call a special session to pass a bill requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls.

Photo of the Wisconsin State Capitol courtesy of Dori on Wikimedia Commons.

Democratic legislative leaders are reassessing campaign finance practices and have canceled a lucrative golf fundraiser scheduled for the weekend. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Sen. Kevin de León announced plans to conduct a “vigorous review” of fundraising practices and campaign finance laws following the suspension of Sen.

Leland Yee and two other senators involved in separate criminal investigations.

The senate leaders announced the cancellation of the Pro Tem Cup, an annual golf fundraiser at Torrey Pines in San Diego. Tickets were to benefit the state Democratic Party with a price range from $15,000 to $65,000 per person.

Photo of the California Senate Chamber courtesy of David Monniaux on Wikimedia Commons.

A bill introduced yesterday in the Louisiana House would require political committees, candidates, and other persons who file campaign disclosure reports to include a detailed explanation of the purpose of each expenditure. The explanation would be required to contain sufficient information to relate the expenditure to an acceptable use.

According to the Times-Picayune, Reps. Tim Burn and Greg Miller, the sponsors of House Bill 1079, want “better, increased disclosure and less ambiguity about the political or campaign purpose of an expenditure.” If passed, the new reporting requirements would take effect on January 1, 2015.