The Illinois General Assembly adjourned its legislative session early Friday morning, but not before both houses approved a bill aimed at curtailing super PAC influence in state elections.

Senate Bill 3722 would eliminate the campaign contribution limits in any races in which a natural person or independent expenditure committee makes independent expenditures for the benefit of the campaign of a particular public official or candidate in an aggregate amount, during an election cycle, of more than $250,000 for statewide office or $100,000 for all other elective offices.

Therefore, if a PAC spends more than $250,000 in independent expenditures during an election cycle for a candidate for governor, then there will be no contribution limits for any of the gubernatorial candidates. The bill will now go to Governor Pat Quinn’s desk to await his signature or veto.

Even though the Legislature has adjourned, Governor Quinn announced that he will continue to work on an overhaul of the state’s pension system with leaders from both sides of the aisle. Once they come to an agreement on a bipartisan bill, Governor Quinn said he would call both houses back for a special session during the summer.

Also, the typical legislative schedule will have the legislators reporting back to Springfield in November for a session to deal with any bills that Governor Quinn decides to veto.

Photo of the Illinois Capitol Building courtesy of Martin Davis on Wikipedia.

Federal: “Group wants investigation of lobby shop after Owens’s Taiwan trip” by Mike Zapler in Politico.

District of Columbia: “Second Gray aide charged in campaign probe” by Tom Howell, Jr. in The Washington Times.

Missouri: “Already charged by feds, former Gov. Wilson fined by ethics cops, too” by Jake Wagman in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Pennsylvania: “Veon’s ex-aide gets house arrest” by Brad Bumsted in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Nevada Assemblyman Pat Hickey has called for campaign finance, lobbying, and ethic reforms.

Assemblyman Hickey’s recommendations include expanding the reporting of lobbyists’ expenditures to include those made when the legislature is not in session, limiting political contributions to PACs, and creating a ‘cooling off’ period before an ex-legislator may become a lobbyist.

As reported in the Las Vegas Sun, the Assemblyman is also suggesting there be ‘real time’ reporting of political contributions.

Assemblyman Hickey made these recommendations at a news conference and has not yet requested a draft bill for these proposed changes. The Nevada Legislature currently is not in session and not scheduled to meet again until 2013.

More information from the Las Vegas Sun can be found here and here.

Photo of Assemblyman Pat Hickey courtesy of the Nevada Legislature Website.

Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill today that will push back the state’s primary by two days, to September 13, 2012. The primary is traditionally scheduled for the second Tuesday after Labor Day, but this year that day is September 11.

Out of respect for those that attend annual September 11 memorials, the state decided to change the date of the primary. The state also moved the primary back two days in 2007 for the same reason.

The delayed primary date will push back all pre and post-primary report due dates by two days as well.

House District 28 is vacant following the resignation of Michael Harden.

The Secretary of State’s office has notified local officials to inform them there will not be a special election because the House is not in session.

The seat will be an open one on the ballot for the July 31st primary and for the November 6th general election.

Republican voters will answer whether they want to limit how much lobbyists spend on state lawmakers. State Senator Josh McKoon said party officials have agreed to include the non-binding advisory question on the July 31st primary ballot.

Senator McKoon filed legislation earlier this year that would have set a $100 cap on lobbyist gifts to lawmakers and set a limit of $750 for travel, meals, and accommodations for conferences and speaking engagements for legislators. While the bill did not have much support among lawmakers, the ballot question is a chance to survey voter opinion of the issue.

Delaware is now a signature away from adding to its lobbyist reporting requirements. On Thursday, the House passed Senate Bill 185, leaving the bill only a governor’s signature away from becoming a law.

The bill requires lobbyists to report to the Public Integrity Commission the identity of each bill, resolution, or regulation they have lobbied for or against. These reports would be due within five days after the first direct communication a lobbyist makes. The Public Integrity Commission will make the reports available online so that the public will be able to see who is lobbying on each measure going through the legislature.

If the governor signs the bill, which he is expected to do, the law would become effective in 2013.

Photo of Legislative Hall in Dover courtesy of Joshua Daniel Franklin on Wikipedia.

The 18 month time-limit prohibiting political contributions under New Jersey’s pay-to-play law starts from the time when bids for a request for proposals (RFP) are submitted, a court has ruled.

The Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey affirmed a decision prohibiting Langan Engineering & Environmental Services, Inc. from contracting with the New Jersey Schools Development Authority because of a political contribution given prior to Langan’s submission of its bid. Langan had submitted its bid on the due date for the RFP.

The Court examined the language in N.J.S.A. §19:44A-20.14, which describes the prohibition period as “within the 18 months immediately preceding the commencement of negotiations for the contract or agreement.”

The Court reasoned, “[W]e deem the point at which bids are submitted to be the time when ‘negotiations’ occur. Stated differently, because the submission of the bid is the triggering event culminating in the eventual award of a contract, and because the term ‘negotiations’ suggests a point in time at the beginning of the contracting process … the term ‘negotiations’ describes the point in time when bids are submitted. Consequently, we conclude that the agency’s receipt of bids constitutes the ‘commencement of negotiations’.” It rejected the appellant’s contention that a disqualification period begins on the day a political contribution is made, and continues for the next eighteen months.

State lawmakers have reported back to Augusta to finish the work they started on the budget earlier this year.

In this short budget session, the Legislature will discuss Governor Paul LePage’s line item vetoes of the state budget, the budget of Health and Human Services, a takings bill, and a few borrowing packages.

The new lobbyist registration ordinance in Palm Beach County took effect April 2, 2012. The expenditure report due date is now November 1 of each year, and continues to cover the period from October 1 – September 30.

Electronic registration is now available in addition to paper registration. Registrations now must also include the phone number of the lobbyist and principal, their signatures where both may be made electronically, and the county or municipalities to be lobbied.

The ordinance specifically excludes from expenditure reporting the salaries of the lobbyist and principal, office overhead expenses, and personal expenses for lodging, meals, and travel.

All registrations on file and in effect with the county prior to the ordinance’s effective date remain in full force and effect.

The regular legislative session in Kansas continues this week despite a scheduled end date of May 11, 2012.

Legislators must return Monday, May 14, 2012, to address major legislation such as the state budget and reforms to the public employees retirement system.

Photo of the Kansas State Capitol Building by Aviper2k7 on Wikipedia.

The Chicago Board of Ethics rolled out a new electronic lobbyist registration system on May 1, 2012. Lobbyists can now register online on the Electronic Lobbyist Filing System page.

Electronic registration is voluntary, so lobbyists may still file paper registrations if they choose to do so. For lobbyists who are already registered, they can use the online system to add clients to their registration forms. Registered lobbyists should contact the board of ethics if they need their login information.

Assemblyman Mike Gatto is preparing legislation in response to the alleged pay-to-play scandal at the Los Angeles County Assessor’s office. The bill, AB 404, would require tax agents to register as lobbyists in counties already regulating lobbying.

Tax agents are hired by property owners to persuade appraisers and the assessor that property values are lower than listed. While the bill leaves it up to the counties to craft specific regulations, the draft regulations would require tax agents to register as lobbyists with the county, would forbid them from making campaign contributions to any county elected official, and would also bar them from giving gifts worth more than $50 to county employees.

The district attorney’s office is investigating allegations that one tax agent, Ramin Salari, used contributions to obtain favorable treatment from Assessor John Noguez. A former appraiser, Scott Schenter, claimed to have cut roll values with the expectation that affected property owners would be more likely to donate to Noguez’s campaign.

Iowa legislators have finally decided to call it quits for 2012. More than 22 days after the schedule adjournment date, the Iowa Legislature adjourned sine die on Wednesday night.

Since the Legislature stayed in session beyond the adjournment date, they have not received any stipends for the past three weeks.

On the session’s final day, the Senate and House finalized the state budget and a major mental health system reform, but failed to come to an agreement on property tax relief. Since the property tax relief package was not agreed upon, both sides conceded there could be a special session called, but only if they can get closer to an agreement.

Photo of the Iowa State Capitol building by Ashton B. Crew on Wikipedia.