A federal judge in Pennsylvania struck down a state campaign finance law restricting the amount corporations and labor unions could donate to expenditure-only political committees. U.S. District Judge William W. Caldwell found Pennsylvania Election Code Section 3253(a) violates the First Amendment by limiting the amount a corporation or labor group can donate to political committees only making independent expenditures.

In his decision, Judge Caldwell cites to the Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission declaring limitations on independent expenditures made by corporations and labor unions restrict free speech.

The case, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, is General Majority PAC v. Aichele et al.

Counsel for the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission John Schaaf testified before the Pennsylvania Senate State Government Committee on Kentucky’s strict ethics laws. Pennsylvania has one of the most lax ethics laws in the country, permitting officials to receive gifts in any amount, while Kentucky recently made its own strict law even more stringent by prohibiting all lobbyist gifts. Pennsylvania’s ethics laws have been under scrutiny after the recent allegations of legislators accepting cash payments from a lobbyist as part of a sting operation.

Schaaf testified about prior changes to Kentucky’s law enacted in a special session in 1993, in response to several legislators charged with ethics violations by the FBI. Schaaf stressed the importance of getting a law on the books; once enacted, it is difficult to change.

However, Kentucky’s ethics law only covers legislators and legislative candidates, and Pennsylvania Senator Lloyd Smucker, sponsor of a bill banning cash gifts, said broadening such a ban to other government employees makes the legislation more complex and may make it difficult to win support. Still, Pennsylvania’s lawmakers were interested in Kentucky’s approach to ethics, particularly the idea of an independent ethics commission available to answer questions from lawmakers and lobbyists.

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.

Philadelphia passed ethics legislation providing a dollar limit on gifts during its March 20 meeting. The legislation prohibits all city officers and employees from receiving gifts worth more than $99 in a calendar year from any donor, and bans all cash gifts.

A number of exceptions are provided, including food and beverage at meetings and non-ticketed receptions.

The bill is expected to be signed by Mayor Nutter. Board of Ethics Executive Director Shane Creamer said the Board will begin working on new gift regulations once the bill is signed.

A group billing itself as “the first nationwide super PAC focused on electing Democratic state legislators and other political leaders to build middle-class economic security” is challenging Pennsylvania’s ban on corporate and labor union contributions. General Majority PAC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in late February, alleging the prohibition on PACs from receiving corporate and labor union contributions to make independent expenditures chills its free speech rights and is contrary to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling.

Given the short amount of time until Pennsylvania’s primary election, the group also requested an injunction to immediately suspend the law so it may begin operating in Pennsylvania as soon as possible. General Majority made clear it intends to register as a Pennsylvania PAC upon reaching the state’s registration threshold, and will not coordinate with any state candidates or party committees.

A proposed ordinance setting a dollar limit for gifts has advanced out of committee. On February 24, the City Council’s Committee on Law and Government voted to submit the bill for Council action.

The proposed ordinance prohibits gifts exceeding $99 per calendar year to any city officials or employees, and bans all cash gifts.

The ordinance could pass as early as next week.

Two proposals in Philadelphia could finally establish a dollar limit on gifts to city employees. The city’s Board of Ethics again revised its proposed gift limit to $50 with an outright ban on cash gifts.

The initial proposals allowed for some measure of cash gifts based on interpretation of city law allowing some cash gifts, enraging ethics watchdogs. After a reinterpretation by the city law department allowing the Board to ban cash gifts, the ban was included in the latest proposal. A final vote on the gift regulation is expected at the Board’s February 19 meeting.

The Philadelphia City Council is also considering a gift measure, allowing city officials and employees to accept gifts up to $99. The Council’s proposal also bans all cash gifts.

If the Council passes the gift law, the Board of Ethics will need to restart work on its gift regulation, as it can only pass regulations interpreting city law and may not impose a stricter limit than established by statute. Either way, the city appears to be on track in providing much needed clarification of its gift law.

The Philadelphia Board of Ethics staff has released a revised gift proposal following claims its initial proposed limits were too lax. The new suggested limits are a ban on gifts of more than $100, with a limit of $25 on cash gifts, per calendar year from any source not a family member of the recipient. The initial limits proposed were $200 per year, with a cap of $50 for cash gifts, resulting in outcry from watchdogs.

The new proposed limits were greeted with skepticism, however, because the provision allowing for cash gifts remained. Executive Director Shane Creamer insisted the Board cannot ban cash gifts altogether because the city code permits cash gifts, prompting the Board to decide on formally requesting the City Council to consider amending the code.

The suggested limits could drop yet again before the Board votes, as a number of Board members suggested a $50 annual limit was preferable. The Board could potentially vote on the rules at its January meeting.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly has launched a new and improved website. The new site makes it easier to track general assembly activities, with scheduled committee meetings listed right on the home page. The site also includes an improved legislative search feature, with a new email tracking system allowing users to sign up for email alerts when legislation of interest changes status.

Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi said the change was designed to bring greater transparency to the General Assembly’s activities and make it easier for citizens to track legislative activities.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly website can be found at www.legis.state.pa.us.

The city Board of Ethics has proposed new gift regulations designed to clarify what is and is not permitted under the city code. The proposed limits would allow city officers and employees to accept gifts of up to $200 per year from a single source, including cash gifts up to $50. Currently, only gifts of substantial economic value given with the expectation of influencing the public official or employee are prohibited.

City watchdogs have criticized the proposed limits as being too lenient, but ethics board member Sanjuanita Gonzales suggested those limits could be subject to change after public input.

A hearing on the proposed regulations is scheduled for November 20.

January 28, 2014 has been set as the date of a special election for the vacant 78th House District seat.

Local committee members from each party will select the nominees in conjunction with the state party.

As a result, there will be no primary election.

The contributions limits in the upcoming Pittsburgh mayoral election have been removed by the courts. Judge Joseph James voided the city’s contribution limits because of one candidate’s decision to contribute his own money to his campaign.

Under city law, candidates may only accept $2,000 from individuals and $4,000 from PACs per covered election. However, if a candidate decides to use personal resources in excess of $50,000 for his or her campaign, then the contribution limitations are thrown out for all candidates in that specific race.

In this situation, Councilman Bill Peduto requested an injunction barring former state Auditor General Jack Wagner from using nearly $300,000 in contributions collected during previous campaigns. The judge ruled the use of the previous campaign funds to be a contribution, which would have exceeded the city’s contribution limits.

Wagner’s lawyers then turned their attention to Michael Lamb, the city controller who withdrew from the race earlier in the week. Lamb had given his campaign $53,000 of his own money, which voided the contribution limits and allowed Wagner to use the $300,000 in question. Lamb attempted to give $3,000 from the campaign back to himself in order to undo the contribution, but the judge ruled that the refund did not repair the breach.

The primary election for the mayoral office takes place on May 21, 2013 and the general election on November 5, 2013.

Photo of downtown Pittsburgh by Theeditor93 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.

Philadelphia Councilman James Kenney has proposed an amendment to the city’s contribution limits to close a loophole in the law. Currently, individuals may not contribute more than $2,900 per year to a candidate and PACs are limited to $11,500 per year to a candidate.

It was recently uncovered by NewsWorks, through campaign finance reports for 2012, that Councilman Bill Green received $35,000 in contributions from one person. This would appear to violate the city’s contribution limits. However, it is perfectly legal under the current law.

According to the city’s Board of Ethics director, Shane Creamer, a person could accept as much money as they wanted until they became an official candidate. The funds would have to be kept separate and it would be difficult to legally do, but it is not illegal.

Kenny’s proposed amendment would help to shut this loophole down. Under the proposed ordinance, the contribution limits would include incumbents, which the proposed ordinance defines as any individual who currently holds elective city office. With this new law in effect, Green’s actions in accepting the large contributions would have been illegal.