Governor Bob McDonnell has set September 4, 2012 as the date of a special election to fill the seats for Senate District 5 and House District 45. The District 5 seat was previously held by the late Senator Yvonne Miller, who passed away July 3, 2012. The District 45 seat is currently held by Delegate David Englin, who announced his resignation effective August 31, 2012.

Governor McDonnell stated in his press release that the timing of the special election will allow the new senator and delegate adequate time to prepare for the 2013 legislative session, as well as allow time to hold a subsequent special election if needed.

Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill allowing the state Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) to enforce new campaign finance rules in the county. This is the first time the FPPC has been authorized by statute to contract with a county to enforce its campaign contribution limits.

County Supervisor Janice Rutherford originally proposed contracting with the FPPC to enforce a proposed county campaign law in lieu of creating a county ethics commission. Now with statutory permission in place, the county may proceed to craft a campaign finance law and negotiate contractual terms with the FPPC. Rutherford plans to bring her previous proposal to limit campaign contributions to $3,900 back before the board on August 21, 2012 for consideration.

Seal of San Bernardino County by Jetijones on Wikipedia.

The New Orleans City Council has voted to call a special election on November 6 in order to fill the recently vacated District E council member’s position. District E council member Jon Johnson had resigned after pleading guilty in federal court to embezzling FEMA funds to finance his 2007 campaign for state senate. In the interim, the vacant seat will be filled by the city council in an upcoming meeting.

The council’s statement on the special election can be read here.

Governor Jerry Brown has approved Assembly Bill 2452, which changes the criteria local government agencies must meet in order to require campaign and lobbying reports to be filed electronically. The bill was chaptered in the Political Reform Act as section 84615.

A local government agency requiring campaign committees and lobbyists to file electronically must provide a secure, standardized, and free filing system. In addition, if a local ordinance requires a statement or report to be filed electronically, local officials can no longer require an additional copy to be filed in paper format.

The law becomes effective January 1, 2013.

A citizens’ oversight committee to take on ethics-related issues will be studied by a committee of city council. City coalitions, including a group of organizations that are pushing a sunshine ordinance, are pushing for a city ethics commission in order to review issues having to do with campaign finance, regulation of lobbyists, and transparency.

Proponents say the ethics commission could be created by voters or the council. David Tristan, deputy executive director of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, will talk about what his commission does, and the forum will take up the possibility of creating an ethics commission in Santa Ana.

For information about the July 26, 2012 forum, email info@santaanacoalition.org.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s new proposed ethics ordinance has advanced out of committee and will now head to a full city council vote. The proposal, which stems from the first set of recommendations handed out by Emanuel’s appointed Ethics Board, will, among other things, lower the value of gifts that city’s employees and officials may receive. Currently, the limit is $100, but the proposed ordinance lowers that limit to $50.

The proposal is expected to pass the city council. The ethics board is expected to release its second set of ethics recommendations in late summer.

The Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board announced its plans to audit 10 randomly selected client lobbyists. All communicator lobbyists associated with the selected client lobbyists will also be audited. Client lobbyists are those who pay for lobbying services on their behalf, and communicator lobbyists are those who receive payment from a client lobbyist for lobbying services.

As part of its press release, the board noted that between January 1 and July 1, 2012, lobbying expenditures exceeded $31 million.

The selection will be made at the board’s meeting on July 19, 2012, and all audits are expected to be completed by the end of the fiscal year. The list of lobbyists to be audited will be available on the Office of State Ethics website after the random drawing.

Governor Phil Bryant has set November 6, 2012 as the date of a special election to fill the District 19 senate seat.

The seat was previously held by retired Senator Merle Flowers, who resigned effective July 11, citing a need to spend more time with his family.

Photo of Governor Bryant courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture hosted on Wikipedia.

A ballot initiative in Montana advocating a state policy that corporations are not entitled to constitutional rights because they are not human beings has been qualified by the Secretary of State for the November ballot.

Initiative No. 166, the “Prohibition on Corporate Contributions and Expenditures in Montana Elections Act,” asks voters to choose whether to charge elected and appointed officials to prohibit corporate campaign contributions and expenditures, limit political spending in elections, and, in the case of Montana’s congressional delegation, propose a joint resolution offering an amendment to the United States Constitution establishing that corporations are not human beings entitled to constitutional rights.

Included in the text of the initiative are directives for elected and appointed officials when carrying out public policy. These directives include “that the people of Montana regard money as property, not speech, … there should be a level playing field in campaign spending that allows all individuals, regardless of wealth, to express their views to one another and their government,” and the rights under the United States Constitution are the rights of human beings, “not rights of corporations.”

The Fair Political Practices Commission has approved a change to simplify lobbyist reporting requirements for “drop-in” events.

The amendment to regulation 18640 allows appetizers and beverages to be excluded from the gift valuation for an official who does not stay for any meal or entertainment. The value of the gift is now any specific item, other than food, presented to the official and guest accompanying the official, if the official notifies the lobbyist in writing that the official did not stay for any meal or entertainment.

The amendment provides consistency with regulation 18946.2(e), which was previously amended to exclude the value of appetizers and drinks from the value of a gift received by an official who briefly appears or drops by an invitation-only event. Prior to the amendment, the value of the gift received was limited to the actual value of the food and beverages consumed by the official and guest, along with the value of any specific item received at the event.

Image of the Seal of California courtesy of Zscout370 on Wikipedia.

Following the work of New Jersey’s Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) has become easier through social media. According to a press release by Executive Director Jeff Brindle, the agency now has a presence on Facebook and Twitter. You’ll find updates about campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics news. This is probably the quickest way to keep up with meeting agendas and reporting dates.

ELEC has been maintaining a channel on YouTube since 2008 and now has  21 videos giving brief overviews of issues like lobbying, pay-to-play, and reporting.

A hat tip goes to John Schoonejongen, whose article, “You can now follow ELEC on Facebook, Twitter” in the Asbury Park Press, brought this news to our attention.

The Alaska Legislative Ethics Committee has issued an advisory opinion allowing incumbent legislators to sign pre-election pledges during re-election campaigns.

So long as the pledge is in exchange only for an endorsement or a promise of an endorsement it does not violate the Legislative Ethics Act. However, the committee also determined the signing of pre-election pledges in a quid pro quo exchange for a campaign contribution or a promise of a campaign contribution would violate the act.

Special interest groups often request candidates to take positions on certain topics by signing a pledge.

It will be two more years before Vermont’s campaign finance reports are available in a searchable database, according to the secretary of state’s office.

Currently, Vermont offers scanned copies of campaign finance reports online, but there is no easy way to search for donor names or contribution totals, and handwriting on the forms may be difficult to read. The secretary of state hoped that such a database would be available for the 2014 elections, but is unable to give a precise timetable or detailed costs.

Common Cause Vermont recently compiled its own searchable database for the 2010 state elections.

The Louisiana Legislature has decided not to convene a session to consider overturning Governor Bobby Jindal’s vetoes.

The veto session, which is automatically set upon a governor vetoing a bill, was scheduled for July 14. A majority of Senate members voted in writing against holding the session. A majority is required from either the House or Senate to cancel a session.

The Legislature had adjourned sine die on June 4.