Campaign Finance

Rhode Island: “R.I. Political Operative Jeff Britt Cleared of Charges in Money Laundering Trial” by Edward Fitzpatrick and Dan McGowan (Boston Globe) for MSN

Washington DC: “In First D.C. Election with Public Financing, Candidates and Donors Bumped Up Against Rules” by Julie Zauzmer and Michael Brice-Saddler for Washington Post

Elections

Florida: “Mar-a-Lago Neighbors to Trump: Spend your post-presidency elsewhere” by Manuel Roig-Franzia and Carol Leonnig (Washington Post) for MSN

Ethics

National: “U.S. SEC Relaxes Rules on Company ‘Resource Extraction’ Disclosures” by Katanga Johnson for Reuters

Illinois: “Ethics Board Fines Ald. Brookins $5,000 For Violating Ethics Ordinance” by Heather Cherone for WTTW

New York: “Judge Orders Trump Organization to Give More Records to N.Y. Attorney General” by Shayna Jacobs (Washington Post) for MSN

Ohio: “Councilwoman Sundermann Proposes Charter Amendment, Says ‘We Must Rebuild Trust in Our City Government.’” by Sharon Coolidge (Cincinnati Enquirer) for MSN

Legislative Issues

Texas: “Limited Capacity at Texas Capitol During 2021 Session Raises Transparency Concerns” by Maggie Glynn for KTAB

Lobbying

National: “Judges May Reinstate Foreign Agent Case Against Flynn Partner” by Josh Gerstein for Politico

Florida: “Ethics Board Lobbying Ordinances Taking Shape Aim to Close Loopholes at Tallahassee City Hall” by Karl Etters for Tallahassee Democrat

Wisconsin: “Path from Legislature to Lobbyist Well Traveled” by Steven Walters (WisconsinEye) for Beloit Daily News

Gov. Kate Brown will call lawmakers into a one-day special session on December 21.

The legislature will consider $800 million in relief for Oregonians suffering financially from the COVID-19 pandemic and the state’s wildfires.

The funding will go towards helping tenants and landlords, funding vaccine distribution and contact tracing, wildfire prevention, and community preparedness and support for reopening schools.

The one-day session will take place in person at the Capitol.

Legislative officials are consulting with the state epidemiologist to ensure they can meet in a healthy and safe environment.

Campaign Finance

Florida: “Secret Donor Name in Florida Senate Races Wiped from Records, Replaced” by Samantha Gross and Ana Ceballos for Tampa Bay Times

Kentucky: “Executive Gets One Year in State Prison for Campaign Case Linked to Lexington Council” by Beth Musgrave for Lexington Herald-Leader

Elections

National: “Legislatures Across Country Plan Sweeping Election Reform Push” by Reid Wilson for The Hill

Kansas: “Supreme Court Won’t Revive Kansas Voter Registration ID Law” by Staff for Associated Press News

Ethics

National: “VA Watchdog Told Prosecutors His Probe of Secretary Wilkie’s Effort to Discredit House Staffer Turned Up Possible Criminal Conduct” by Lisa Rein ansd Spencer Hsu (Washington Post) for MSN

National: “Attorney General William Barr to Step Down” by Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney for Politico

Illinois: “Illinois House Panel Ends Probe of Powerful Speaker Madigan” by John O’Connor for Associated Press News

Tennessee: “Knox County Won’t Kill Ethics Committee, But Could Change Its Rules to Prevent Smears” by Tyler Whetstone for Knoxville News Sentinel

Lobbying

Washington: “Seattle City Council Votes to Require Registration, Disclosure by Public Lobbying Groups” by Daniel Beekman for Seattle Times

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) announced additional time to file registrations and reports due in January 2021.

Any filing due in January will be considered timely filed if submitted by January 29, 2021.

The extension is in response to the breadth of changes to the lobbying regulations taking effect January 1, 2021, and the corresponding changes to the online filing system.

Additional guidance relating to upcoming registrations and verification of user profiles is expected soon.

The 2021-2022 Statement of Registration is expected to launch on December 16, 2020.

City Council approved an ordinance requiring additional transparency and disclosures by paid lobbyists and indirect lobbying campaigns.

The vote was 8-1.

This new legislation adds the concept of indirect lobbying to the city’s lobbying regulations, which has been part of Washington state law since 1973.

Indirect lobbying requirements will now apply to lobbyists, those who hire them, or organizations taking out ads to influence members of the public, and encourage members of the public to lobby their elected officials on legislation.

Individuals behind a group will now be required to identify themselves, their contractors, and donors for contributions of $25 or more.

The group will also be required to describe its purpose and record spending in monthly reports.

If approved by the Mayor, the rules will become effective in 180 days.

Campaign Finance

Georgia: “Georgia Runoffs Become High-Stakes GOP Fundraising Experiment” by Elena Schneider for Politico

New Mexico: “Ethics Panel Files Lawsuit Seeking Disclosure of Group’s Donors” by Dan Boyd for Albuquerque Journal

Elections

National: “Electoral College Affirms Biden’s Victory on a Relatively Calm Day of a Chaotic Election” by Elise Viebeck, Dan Simmons, Amy Worden, and Omar Sofradzija (Washington Post) for MSN

Ethics

National: “Potential Family Conflicts Arise for Joe Biden and Aides as His Administration Drafts New Ethics Rules” by Michael Scherer (Washington Post) for MSN

Florida: “GOP Lawyer Appointed by Florida Governor Resigns State Panel in Protest Over Raid on Ousted Data Scientist’s Home” by Teo Armus and Marisa Iati (Washington Post) for MSN

New York: “‘Simply No Truth to These Claims’: Gov. Cuomo’s office denies former aide’s sexual harassment allegation” by Matthew Brown for USA Today

Lobbying

Europe: “Big Tech Turns Its Lobbyists Loose on Europe, Alarming Regulators” by Adam Satariano and Matina Stevis-Gridneff for New York Times

National: “EPA Can’t Claw Back Names of ‘Happy Hour’ Oil Lobbyists” by Nicholas Iovino for Courthouse News Service

California: “Gavin Newsom Bans His Paid Consultants from Lobbying in New ‘Ethics Memo’” by Linda Korte (Sacramento Bee) for MSN

A special election will take place on April 6, 2021 in Oklahoma Senate District 22.

The special election became necessary after Stephanie Bice was elected to represent Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District. Her resignation is effective December 31 of this year.

The primary is scheduled to take place on February 9, 2021.

Former state legislator Rob Johnson, Darrick Matthews, Jake Merrick, and Keri Shipley are running in the Republican primary. In addition, Dylan Billings and Molly Ooten are running in the Democratic primary.

The Hawaii Ethics Commission administrative rules on gifts and lobbying are now live.

Additionally, optional lobbyist training sessions will take place on the mornings of January 6, 2021 and January 12, 2021 at 10 a.m.

Title 21 of the Hawaii Administrative Rules provides greater clarity on lobbyist registration and reporting requirements of the Hawaii Revised Statutes and memorializes longstanding ethics commission advice.

Noteworthy rule provisions include the requirement that expenditures are reported on an accrual basis, and a lobbyist registration exemption for individuals who work behind the scenes to draft testimony, research, and work under the direction of a registered lobbyist without directly communicating with legislative or executive branch officials.

Lobbyists interested in attending either of the training sessions may register at: https://ethics.hawaii.gov/ethicstraining_schedule/.

The Seattle City Council is scheduled to vote Monday afternoon on a new ordinance.

The ordinance’s rules are meant to shine a light on groups spending money to build public pressure on Seattle politicians.

Recommended in January by the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, the rules would apply to groups spending at least $750 in a month or $1,500 in three months on presenting a program to the public to affect legislation.

The individuals behind a group would need to identify themselves, their contractors, and donors for contributions of $25 or more.

The group also would be required to describe its purpose and record spending on monthly reports.

After a drive-thru primary on December 13, Candi King has emerged as the Democratic candidate to fill a vacant seat in the 2nd District of Virginia’s House of Delegates.

The seat was vacated by Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy who resigned to focus on her candidacy for governor.

King will face Republican nominee Heather Mitchell in the special election scheduled for January 5, 2021.

Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced a lobbying ban for his paid political advisers.

This ban comes after weeks of criticism over his close ties to consultants who also work for corporate clients and other influential interests at the state Capitol.

In a memo shared by the governor’s office, Newsom’s chief of staff, Ann O’Leary, announced a new ethics policy.

The policy bars any of his paid campaign or political consultants from directly lobbying the governor, his staff or state agencies under his control.

Gov. Newsom also committed to not hiring any registered lobbyists as paid consultants.

The ban is effective immediately.

Furthermore, the governor has directed his legal affairs secretary to appoint a chief ethics advisor to advise him and his team on all ethics matters.

Campaign Finance

New York: “Many New York Judges Spend Their Way Toward Seats on the Bench. And It’s Perfectly Legal” by Sam Mellins (New York Focus) for The City

Elections

National: “Trump and His GOP Allies Vow to ‘Fight On’ after Supreme Court Rejects Legal Challenge to Overturn Election Results” by Colby Itkowitz (Washington Post) for MSN

Ethics

National: “Sen. David Perdue Sold His Home to a Finance Industry Official Whose Organization Was Lobbying the Senate” by Robert Faterechi for ProPublica

Florida: “DeSantis Wants ‘Normal’ Government Meetings. This Village Is Meeting at a Dog Park” by Aaron Leibowitz (Miami Herald) for Yahoo News

Ohio: “Governor Was Warned of Would-Be Regulator’s Ties to Utility” by Mark Gillespie and Julie Carr Smyth for Associated Press News

Lobbying

National: “Forced to Take Networking Virtual by Pandemic, K Street May Never Go Back” by Kate Ackley (Roll Call) for MSN

California: “With ‘a Lot to Lose,’ Dialysis Firms Spend Big, Become California Power Players” by Samantha Young (Los Angeles Times) for Yahoo News

Maine: “A Maine Legislature Changed by the Pandemic Could Challenge Lobbyists in 2021” by Caitlin Andrews for Bangor Daily News

Michigan: “Michigan AG Reviewing Whether Lawmakers Can Lobby Out of State” by Craig Mauger for Detroit News

Just one week after accepting the nomination as speaker of the New Hampshire House, Rep. Dick Hinch has died of COVID-19.

Hinch’s deputy Sherman Packard will serve as acting speaker until at least January 6, 2021, when the full House is scheduled to meet again and name a successor.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called the seventh special session of the Legislature beginning December 14.

This session will focus on extending the COVID-19 peacetime emergency by 30 days.

Additionally, Walz will urge lawmakers to pass a COVID-19 relief package for small businesses, workers, and families.

Walz is obligated by law to call a special session for the Legislature to approve the extension of his emergency rule-making powers in response to the pandemic.

The Legislature will, then, determine the length of the session.