Indiana’s government website, IN.gov, now boasts 1 million registered users – people who receive emails, text messages, and RSS feeds from the site. IN.gov links to 82 state agency websites and there are 1600 topics to which anyone can subscribe.

Govtech.com reports today about the landmark in the article “1 Million Users Register for Indiana Digital Updates” by Sarah Rich. The article says, “According to Indiana, the state is the first in the country to reach 1 million registered users through GovDelivery.”

It is easy to see why In.gov is such a success. The site is clean, nice-looking, and easily navigable. You can readily find social media links, a subscription menu, transparency information, links for offering suggestions and sending email, and even a QR code.

I couldn’t help but be impressed with the degree to which Indiana’s Office of Technology has done its homework. They have analyzed the usage of the website by monitoring whether the agencies are releasing information regularly for each subscription topic and whether anyone is subscribing to the feed. If not, the topic is removed. They have determined the program has saved them over $200,000 in costs by reducing the need to print and mail information.

State and local governments, take note!

The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board released a statement of guidance that details when groups are required to disclose donors who support or oppose a ballot initiative.

The guidelines suggest that a group that is involved in multiple activities including the support or opposition of ballot initiatives must determine how much of a contribution is directed to a ballot initiative influencing effort.  Money specifically designated for ballot question expenditure purposes and money given in response to an express or implied solicitation to support a group’s campaign to promote or defeat a ballot question is considered a contribution for the purpose of promoting or defeating a ballot question which requires donor disclosure.

The Campaign Finance Board will consider adopting the guidelines at its next meeting.

State Senator Lou Correa is planning to introduce legislation that would make members of the public who are appointed to serve on boards subject to the state’s revolving door provision.

The legislation would require that all board members wait 12 months after terminating board service before lobbying their former colleagues.

Photo of the California Senate chamber by David Monniaux on Wikipedia.

Retired Major General David W. Gay has been selected to serve as the chairman of the nine-member Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board. Gay was initially appointed to his position on the board by then-Governor M. Jodi Rell on October 1, 2009.

Prior to his appointment, Gay served as the Adjutant General of the Connecticut National Guard from 1992 to 1999, when he retired after forty-three years of distinguished military service. His military career began in 1953 when he served in the U.S. Marine Corps. He enlisted in the Guard in 1960 as a PFC and served in several different positions and disciplines at all levels.

Further, Charles F. Chiusano has been selected to serve as vice-chairman of the board. Chiusano was appointed in 2010 by Senate Minority Leader John McKinney after he had retired from his position as vice president of Avant Business Services Corporation. Each member’s one year term fulfilling the position is effective as of October 1, 2011.

Only lobbyists in Alaska who are constituents in a state candidate’s newly certified district may donate to a candidate’s campaign, an Advisory Opinion from the Alaska Public Offices Commission has declared.

Because a lobbyist residing in a candidate’s district may contribute to a candidate, Representative Bob Lynn requested an opinion regarding whether a lobbyist in his current district could donate to his campaign when he or she may not be a constituent in his proposed new voting district.

Advisory Opinion 11-14-CD concludes candidates “will only be able to accept donations from lobbyists residing in the new district.”

Presently, only candidates for the proposed new districts, and not the current districts, are being certified by the Division of Elections. In its analysis, the Advisory Opinion also articulates, “Whether or not a lobbyist resides in the candidate’s district is determined on the day the contribution is accepted.”

Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert has signed a proclamation to officially convene a special session of the Utah Legislature on Monday, October 3.

The Governor had earlier announced the date, but the proclamation formally outlines the purpose for the special session with seven legislative issues, including adding the presidential primary to the regular primary ballot, redistricting, and making changes to the workers’ compensation insurance requirements.

The Governor’s press release can be found here.

The San Bernardino County supervisors voted to endorse a plan to limit campaign contributions at their September 27, 2011 meeting. The supervisors further voted to direct the county counsel’s office to draft an ordinance to be voted on by the supervisors at a future meeting.

The current plan would allow individuals to donate up to $3,900 per election cycle. Small contributor committees would be permitted to donate $7,800 per election cycle.

The special session of the Maine Legislature adjourned on September 27, 2011.

Lawmakers reached an agreement redrawing the state’s two congressional districts.

Q. I’m registered as a legislative lobbyist in Indiana.  How should I keep track of reportable expenditures for my upcoming report due in November?

A. The Indiana Lobby Registration Commission (ILRC) is currently in the process of reviewing the reporting guidelines for lobbyist expenditures and gifts.  As fall kicks off and the November reporting deadline will soon be upon us, it is important to review key reporting changes.

Specifically, the ILRC does not consider a meal expenditure on behalf of a legislator to be a gift, but instead, an entertainment expenditure, as long as the lobbyist is present when the meal is consumed.  Per the ILRC’s reporting guidelines, please make sure you save an itemized receipt outlining the exact cost of the meals associated with reportable legislators.  Here are some important things to remember regarding entertainment expenditures, including meals:

•  When determining how much to attribute to a particular legislator, only direct costs must be associated with the legislator.   Unlike most states, determining a pro-rata cost of an official’s meal by dividing the bill by the number of people present is not permissible.  Instead, you must save an itemized receipt, and attribute only the amount of the specific items ordered for that particular legislator.  Tax and tip must be appropriately allocated as well.

• If you are not present when making an expenditure, this qualifies as a gift, and is subject to special reporting guidelines.  Starting with this reporting period (form was not developed until late April), a gift report must be submitted if a gift is given to a legislator equaling $50.00 per day, or $250.00 in the aggregate.   This report is due 15 business days after the gift is given.  A copy must be sent to the legislator who is named in the report.  Moreover, informed prior consent must be obtained from the legislator before the gift is given.

You can directly submit questions for this feature, and we will select those most appropriate and answer them here. Send your questions to: marketing@stateandfed.com.

(We are always available to answer questions from clients that are specific to your needs, and we encourage you to continue to call or e-mail us with questions about your particular company or organization. As always, we will confidentially and directly provide answers or information you need.) Our replies to your questions are not legal advice. Instead, these replies represent our analysis of laws, rules, and regulations.

New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno signed into law a bill moving the state’s presidential primary from February to June.

Assembly Bill 3777 eliminates separate presidential primary elections and provides for delegates and alternates to political party national conventions to be elected at regular June primary elections.

Lt. Governor Guadagno assumed the executive role of Governor Chris Christie while he was out of the state.

The Atlanta Board of Ethics has appointed Jabu Sengova as the interim ethics officer, effective September 29, 2011. Sengova, who has been with the Ethics Office since November 2008, currently serves as the associate ethics officer.

Sengova will serve in the interim until a replacement can be found for Ginny Looney, who is resigning effective September 28, 2011. Looney, who announced her resignation in July, has served as the ethics officer since the position was first created in August 2003.

Applications to replace Looney are still being accepted.

Two San Bernardino County supervisors will introduce a proposal at the Board of Supervisors meeting on September 27, 2011 which would create a law regulating political contributions for county elections.

The supervisors hope to impose and enforce limits on contributions from individuals, businesses, and political action committees contributing to county elections.

The image of the San Bernardino County Seal by Jetijones on Wikipedia.

The special session of the New Mexico Legislature adjourned on September 24, 2011.

The Legislature failed to reach a compromise on congressional redistricting, but passed a bill strengthening the preference given to New Mexico businesses bidding on state government contracts.

Today the Indianapolis Office of Finance and Management begins implementation of its new Enterprise Resource Planning software, which will cause a temporary halt on generating request for bids or quotes, and vendor payments.

The new system will allow informal quotes to be e-mailed as long as the Office has a vendor’s current contact information and a valid e-mail address. Invitations to bid will be formatted differently but contain the same information. The vendor notification of this change can be found here and the Purchasing Division home page can be found here.

The conversion is expected to be complete by October 3.