San Francisco Voters Pass Sunlight on Dark Money Measure

Mario Dalessandro, J.D.
Research Associate

Voters in San Francisco passed a ballot measure to expand pay-to-play restrictions on political contributions and require greater disclosure on who is paying for campaign ads. Proposition F, the Sunlight on Dark Money Initiative, passed with 76% of the vote. Proposition F will take effect 10 days after certification of the election results.

Contribution Restrictions
The Sunlight on Dark Money Initiative amends the Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code to prohibit limited liability companies and limited liability partnerships from giving campaign contributions to local candidates. The initiative also prohibits top executives in development companies from contributing to candidates or current officeholders of the Board of Supervisors, mayor, and city attorney or controlled committees of such officers and candidates while a project they have financial interest in is pending approval and for 12 months after the city makes a final decision on the project.

Additional Disclosure
Proposition F requires greater disclosure of who is behind campaign advertisements paid for by independent expenditure and ballot measure committees. The committee paying for the advertisement must add a disclaimer disclosing the top three major contributors of $5,000 or more by name and amount contributed. If any of the top three contributors is a committee, the disclaimer must also disclose both the name and dollar amount contributed by each of the top two major contributors of $5,000 or more to that committee. For audio and video advertisements, the disclaimers must be spoken at the beginning of the advertisements, except such disclaimers do not need to disclose the dollar amounts of contributions. Committees must file an itemized disclosure statement with the Ethics Commission for the advertisement.

[The details for this article are updated on our website in the Registration and Reports Required section of
the U.S. Political Contributions Compliance Laws and the Pay-to-Play section of the U.S. Procurement
Lobbying Compliance Laws for San Francisco, California.]

Summary of Changes UPDATE
Note Recent Changes to Compliance Regulations 

Michael Beckett, Esq.,
Research Manager

COLORADO: The Office of Secretary of State hosted a proposed rulemaking hearing on November 15 concerning lobbyist regulations. The hearing includes reviewing new rules to prescribe the proper use of the electronic filing system maintained by the secretary of state and amendments concerning new client disclosure and disclosure requirements during the session. Separately, the secretary of state’s lobbyist program is developing a new policy manual for lobbyists. More details regarding the manual will become available upon conclusion of the rulemaking proceeding. The proposed changes will likely be adopted following a public written comment period.

ILLINOIS: Lawmakers concluded the fall veto session on November 14, after approving Senate Bill 1639, which to require state lobbyists to disclose more information and to create a combined online database for information on lobbyists, campaign contributions, and public officials’ annual statements of economic interest. An approved companion measure, House Joint Resolution 93, creates a 16-member commission to recommend additional changes to the ethics laws. Among other changes, House Joint Resolution 93 would require state lobbyists to disclose any unit of local government they lobby and any elected or appointed office they hold. The proposal was introduced as then-state Rep. Luis Arroyo was being charged in federal court in Chicago with bribing a state senator to support sweepstakes gambling legislation that would have benefited one of Arroyo’s City Hall lobbying clients.

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: On Election Day, voters approved Ballot Question 3, Ethics and Governance. The proposal amends the city charter by extending the post-employment appearance ban for elected officials and senior appointed officials and limiting political activity and donations by members of the Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB). City elected officials and senior appointed officials will be prohibited from appearing before the agency or branch of government the official served in after leaving service for two years, instead of the current rule of one year. The amendment will also prohibit members of the COIB from participating in campaigns for local elected office and reduce the maximum amount members can contribute in each election cycle. The post-employment ban will become effective January 1, 2022.

OHIO: Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 26 into law on November 6, repealing a state budget amendment that would have caused Ohio lobbyists and attorneys to pay higher income taxes beginning in 2020. Under the final version of Senate Bill 26, lobbyists and attorneys who derive their income from entities such as LLCs and LLPs continue to qualify to pay no tax on the first $250,000 of income and pay a flat 3 percent tax rate on income above the threshold. Senate Bill 26 also allows educators to claim an income tax deduction for out-of-pocket classroom expenses.

PENNSYLVANIA: The newly created House of Representatives Government Oversight Committee convened for the first time this October. The committee discussed proposals regarding lobbyists representing two opposing interests and lobbyist reporting thresholds. Currently, state law allows a lobbying firm to represent multiple clients on conflicting sides of an issue if one client is a political campaign. The Oversight Committee also discussed greater transparency relating to lobbyist reporting requirements. The committee proposed a rule requiring any lobbying expenditure on a public official to be reported. On October 30, the committee voted to adopt the final report, which recommends the General Assembly enact legislation and recommends the Department of State update regulations and upgrade electronic registration and reporting capabilities.

Legislation We Are Tracking

At any given time, more than 1,000 legislative bills, which can affect how you do business as a government affairs professional, are being discussed in federal, state, and local jurisdictions. These bills are summarized in State and Federal Communications' digital encyclopedias for lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying and can be found in the client portion of our website.

Summaries of major bills are also included in monthly email updates sent to all clients. The chart below shows the number of bills we are tracking in regard to lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying.
 

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