New York City mayoral candidate George McDonald has momentarily thrown up the white flag in his attempt to circumvent the contribution limits. McDonald, who is running for the Republican nomination, filed suit against the New York City Campaign Finance Board in hope of removing the city’s very strict contribution limits.

McDonald’s argument relied on the theory that the state’s contribution limits, which are higher than the city’s limits, superseded the city’s restrictions. McDonald had hoped for a quick resolution, but the court has taken nearly a month to decide the case and McDonald fears he is running low on time.

McDonald now plans on raising enough funds to qualify for the public financing system, meaning he will have to raise at least $250,000 from donations of up to $175. If he is able to do that, the city will give his campaign $1.5 million.

McDonald is considered a long shot to win the Republican nod as he is going up against a political veteran, Joseph Lhota, and a billionaire businessman, John A. Catsimatidis. McDonald has argued that the city’s laws give these two types of candidates an unfair advantage over first-time candidates.

McDonald’s lawsuit still must be decided by the court, but most experts believe he has little chance of winning.

Image of the flag of New York courtesy of Wikipedia.

On March 21, 2013, the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) issued an advisory opinion deciding it does not have the jurisdiction to declare contribution limits unenforceable or unconstitutional for political committees making only independent expenditures.

Advisory Opinion 01-2013 holds current state registration and reporting requirements and contribution limits apply to political committees making independent expenditures.

Fund for Jobs and Growth, a political organization not registered in the state and intending to make independent expenditures in the state’s 2013 elections, requested the opinion in order to determine whether it needed to register and report with the state and whether the state contributions limits for political committees applied to its fundraising activity. The organization was held to be a political committee requiring registration and reporting.

While holding state contribution limits apply, the opinion notes several other jurisdictions have held contribution limits applied to political committees making independent expenditures are unconstitutional. ELEC did not find “that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has addressed these issues, nor has the United States Supreme Court issued a specific determination concerning the constitutionality of contribution limits for political committees making only independent expenditures.”

The Senate approved its version of a House ethics bill on Friday, March 25, 2013. Now the House and Senate are seeking common ground between the different versions of House Bill 142.

The House version of the bill bans most gifts from lobbyists to individual legislators, but allows unlimited gifts to legislative groups. The Senate version imposes a $100 gift cap and erases the exception for legislative groups, but does not limit the number of gifts allowed. The Senate version also erases the House version’s expanded lobbyist registration for unpaid advocates.

Both chambers are expected to appoint a joint committee to negotiate in an effort to reach compromise before the session reaches its scheduled end on Thursday, March 28, 2013.

Photo of the Georgia State Capitol dome by Connor Carey on Wikipedia.

The Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics selected attorney Steven Cullen to be their new executive director.

Mr. Cullen was previously a judge and mediator. He replaces former executive director Alan Johnson, who left the Commission on Ethics to join the state attorney’s office.

Mr. Cullen plans to boost the commission’s public outreach and ethics education efforts.

The City Ethics Commission is upgrading the Lobbyist Electronic Filing System (LEFS) at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 27, through 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 1, 2013.

Filers will not have access to LEFS and will not be able to file or amend registrations and quarterly reports during this time.

Lobbyists and authorized signers for firms must submit a paper CEC Form 59 by April 1 in order to use the new paperless system.

Photo of the Los Angeles City Hall by Brion Vibber on Wikipedia.

Yesterday a bill was introduced into the Nevada Assembly establishing for lobbyists both a mandatory code of ethics and voluntary rules of conduct. The code of ethics addresses inaccurate information given to members of the Legislature and conflicts of interests with clients.

In addition, the code of ethics in Assembly Bill 0314 specifically addresses lobbyist contracts, including requiring compensated lobbyists to enter into a written contract with clients spelling out the amount of compensation, and requiring the contract to include provisions concerning whether and how, if applicable, expenses of the lobbyist will be reimbursed.

The bill creates a “Rules of Conduct” statement to be given to a lobbyist upon registration. The lobbyist may voluntarily sign the statement if he or she wishes. Additionally, the legislation requires the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau to provide training on the Nevada Ethics in Lobbying Act before each regular and special session of the Nevada Legislature.

AB 0314 would also require the suspension of a lobbyist’s registration for certain violations and sets forth the periods for which a lobbyist’s registration must be suspended.

The Utah Legislature adjourned its 2013 session sine die on March 14, 2013.

Governor Gary Herbert has until April 3 to veto or sign legislation. The Governor does not possess a pocket veto.

The normal effective date for bills passed this year is May 14.

Photo of Utah’s Capitol by Scott Catron on Wikipedia.

The New York City Council has overridden Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s veto of a campaign finance bill loosening the disclosure requirements. The law, which will go into effect immediately, was fiercely opposed by both Bloomberg and New York City Campaign Finance Board Director Amy Loprest, but the City Council has nearly unanimously supported it from the outset.

The law will allow labor or other membership organizations, as well as corporations, to send campaign communications to its members, executive and administrative personnel, and stockholders without having to disclose that information to the Campaign Finance Board. According to Loprest, $35,000 in outside spending on mass mailers was spent in the two special elections since the city adopted its stringent rules.

In a statement Loprest said, “Disclosure helps voters understand who is speaking and trying to influence the outcome of their election. Just as important, disclosure helps voters hold candidates accountable for their supporters during an election and for the policies they pursue. New Yorkers want and deserve access to complete information about the interests supporting candidates for city office. The legislation approved by the Council today will hide some of that information from public view.”

Councilwoman Gale Brewer disagreed with this notion, saying “Member-to-member communications are not intended to influence the public. So, the public’s interest in source disclosure is significantly reduced.”

With city elections upcoming in November, both sides will see how these new rules actually affect the elections and spending.

Photo of the New York City Hall by Howrealisreal on Wikipedia.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has introduced a bill with ramifications on the way lobbyists do business in the commonwealth. Currently, lobbyists may give gifts to anyone, provided there is no understanding the recipient will take an official action as a result of the gift. House Bill 855, however, would do away with this practice and limit the ability of lobbyists to give gifts.

The bill, introduced by representatives from both sides of the aisle, would prohibit public officers and candidates from receiving gifts from lobbyists and principals exceeding $50 in a calendar year. The bill would also limit the hospitality received by public officers and candidates from lobbyists and principals to $500 in a calendar year.

Gifts to public officials has become a hot topic in the commonwealth after reports surfaced saying Governor Tom Corbett has accepted gifts in the past.

When asked whether the governor would support a gift ban, spokeswoman Kelli Roberts said, “Governor Corbett has a tremendous record of transparency and enacting state government reforms, therefore, of course, he would be open to discussing any measures that help to further those goals.”

Bills of this nature usually have a tough time gaining legislative approval, but with the current climate in the commonwealth, House Bill 855 may have a better chance to survive than most.

Seal of the State of Pennsylvania art by Henrik on Wikipedia.

A bill to allow lobbyist expenditures on legislators is pending before the Florida Senate. Currently, almost all expenditures by lobbyists and principals on members and employees of the legislature are prohibited.

Senate Bill 1634 provides exceptions to the ban on lobbyist expenditures, permitting:

• Individual servings of nonalcoholic beverages provided by a lobbyist or a principal as a courtesy to the attendees of a meeting;

• A single meal not solicited by the member or employee of the legislature, served as part of a scheduled meeting of an established membership organization that is also a principal, and attended by the member or employee as a featured speaker, moderator, or participant of a panel discussion; and

• Food and beverages provided as part of a widely attended event hosted by a membership organization or governmental body that is also a principal if the cost per attendee does not exceed $25.

Widely attended event is defined as one reasonably expected to be attended by at least 25 persons other than members or employees of the legislature, open to persons from throughout a given industry or profession, or to a wide range of persons interested in a given issue presented at the event.

The bill requires the houses of the legislature to establish a rule regarding registration and approval of events at which such expenditures may be made.

The new exceptions would take effect on July 1, 2013, and would expire June 30, 2015.

Governor Jerry Brown has called a special election for Senate District 16 to fill a vacancy following the resignation of Senator Michael Rubio.

The primary will be held May 21, 2013.

If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, a special general election will be held on July 23, 2013.

In a Texas bill introduced predominantly dealing with the ethics of public servants, the requirement for registering as a lobbyist in the state would be expanded.

House Bill 2737 amends the state’s lobbying law to include goodwill lobbying.

Specifically, the following definition is added: “Communicates directly with a member of the legislative or executive branch to influence legislation or administrative action” or any variation of the phrase includes establishing goodwill with the member for the purpose of later communicating with the member to influence legislation or administrative action.

A person would not be required to register if he or she spends 26 hours or less during the calendar quarter engaging in the communication. Additionally, the other current thresholds for determining whether registering as a lobbyist is required would remain.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Dennis Bonnen, also make changes concerning the regulations of political contributions and expenditures, political advertising, the conduct of public servants, and the reporting of personal financial information by public servants.

Photo of the Texas State Capitol courtesy of Kumar Appaiah on Wikipedia.

State Representative Scott Drury has recently introduced two bills that would change the way lobbyists operate within the state. House Bill 2957 would change the definition of lobbying, thus causing more people to register as a lobbyist.

The bill would add communicating with a local government to influence action to the definition of lobbying. Therefore, all people who lobby a local government without a lobbying ordinance, the cities of Rockford and Springfield for example, would have to register as a lobbyist with the state. Also, those who lobby in a city with a lobbying ordinance, such as Chicago, would have to register with the state, in addition to their current city registration.

House Bill 2964 is a bill aimed at the state’s current prohibition on gifts. It would prohibit the relatives of a state officer, legislator, or employee from receiving prohibited gifts from a prohibited source (under state law, a lobbyist is considered a prohibited source). The bill also adds a new exception to the ban, adjusts one of the current exceptions, and abolishes another of the exceptions.

If the bill passes, a state officer, legislator, or employee would be allowed to accept admission to and the cost of food and beverages consumed at a reception, meal, or meeting by an organization before whom the recipient appears to speak or answer questions as part of a scheduled program where all members of the General Assembly were invited. This would replace the current exception for food and beverage, which allows for those to be provided if catered or consumed on the premises.

The bill would also limit the amount of travel expenses provided to $111 per day and the travel must be on a carrier available to the general public.

It remains to be seen whether either one of the bills will pass, but should they pass in their current form, it will change how lobbyists do business in the state.

Photo of the Illinois State Capitol by Daniel Schwen on Wikipedia.

On the first day of the 2013 legislative session the Florida Senate unanimously passed ethics reform bills.

The bills add revolving door provisions, increase the responsibilities of the ethics commission, and require financial disclosure reports to be posted online.

The reform package now moves to the House, where somewhat different versions of the legislation are already under consideration.