Campaign Finance

Colorado: “Colorado Election Officials Take Aggressive New Approach to Policing Campaign Violations” by Sandra Fish for Colorado Sun

Elections

National: “Bernie Sanders Ends His Presidential Campaign” by Sean Sullivan and Chelsea Janes for Washington Post

Florida: “Federal Judge Expands Voting Decision to Apply to All Ex-Felons in Florida” by Lori Rozsa for Washington Post

Wisconsin: “Rulings on Wisconsin Election Raise Questions About Judicial Partisanship” by Adam Liptak (New York Times) for MSN

Ethics

National: “Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Her CEO Husband Will Sell All Individual Stock Shares After Coronavirus Trade Furor” by Dan Mangan and Thomas Franck for CNBC

National: “Trump Throws ‘Wrecking Ball’ Across Federal Inspectors General” by John Donnelly for Roll Call

Ohio: “‘Coingate’ Convict Tom Noe Among Ohio Inmates Gov. Mike DeWine Wants to Release Early Amid Coronavirus Fears” by Jeremy Pelzer for Cleveland Plain Dealer

Legislative Issues

National: “Democrats Have Found a Coronavirus Bright Spot. Her Name Is Earnestine.” by Sheryl Gay Stolberg for New York Times

Gov. Ralph Northam has announced the June 9 primary election will be postponed until June 23 due to concerns about COVID-19.

Northam has also requested the General Assembly postpone the May 5 municipal elections to coincide with the November 3 general election.

The General Assembly would need to reconvene to approve such a postponement.

The postponement may also extend current local official terms of office to facilitate the election of their successors.

Due to the current situation surrounding COVID-19, the Suffolk County Clerk of the Legislature announced under Executive Order 202.7, lobbyists preparing periodic reports for April 15 may have their report notarized remotely.

Additionally, the reports may be sent in digitally to meet the deadline.

If a lobbyist is unable to have their report notarized by April 15, the clerk’s office is requiring the report be submitted by the deadline.

Additionally, a notarized copy must be provided following their submission.

The Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform missed the March 31 deadline for submitting their draft report.

The commission cited the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The commission was established in December of 2019 to consider ethics reform in Illinois.

Since its inception, the commission has conducted six public hearings, heard testimony from 38 witnesses, and received extensive feedback from stakeholders.

It’s work was nearly complete with the only task remaining of issuing a final report.

The commission last met March 5 and had planned to meet once more before the deadline.

Members requested reasonable date extensions for completion of the report, but those requests were denied.

This leaves the completion date for the report open-ended at this time.

Gov. Tom Wolf granted the Department of State’s request to extend the deadline for filing lobbying reports and temporarily waive the notarization requirement for campaign finance reports.

The governor granted the request in response to COVID-19 and to minimize delays in required reporting.

The lobbying disclosure report deadline for the first quarter is extended until July 30.

The reports are required on the same date as the second quarterly report but must be filed separately.

The governor also granted a temporary waiver of the notarization requirement for campaign finance reports and campaign finance statements filed by political committees and candidates for public office.

The waiver allows the required documents to be filed online until the COVID-19 health emergency subsides.

Filers must sign, either physically or typed, and date their report or statement cover sheet.

For filers who file on paper, the department will accept emailed campaign finance reports for the duration of the emergency.

Filers must email the campaign finance reports to: RA-stcampaignfinance@pa.gov.

Campaign Finance

National: “SEC Rules Could Thwart Political Spending Disclosure Efforts” by Kate Ackley for Roll Call

Elections

National: “Progressives Built an Organizing Juggernaut for 2020. Then the Virus Hit.” by Astead Herndon and Ian Prasad Philbrick (New York Times) for MSN

Wisconsin: “Wisconsin Now Waits for the Spring Election Results – and Then the Lawsuits” by Riley Vetterkind and Kelly Meyerhofer (Wisconsin State Journal) for Madison.com

Ethics

National: “Sen. David Perdue Bought Stock in a Company That Produces Protective Medical Equipment the Same Day Senators Received a Classified Briefing on the Coronavirus” by Sonam Sheth for Business Insider

Idaho: “A ‘Liberty’ Rebellion in Idaho Threatens to Undermine Coronavirus Orders” by Mike Baker for New York Times

Lobbying

Minnesota: “Lobbying on Hold as Minnesota Legislature Focuses on COVID-19” by Jessie Van Berkel for Minneapolis Star Tribune

The Portland Auditor has temporarily suspended enforcement of lobbying and political consultant reporting requirements for first quarter reports due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The deadline for lobbyist reports covering activity for the period of January 1 to March 31 is extended until June 15.

The auditor’s office will not assess late fees or penalties for failure to:

• • File quarterly reports
  • Submit required updated information
  • Register as a lobbyist or political consultant

Lobbying entities, political consultants, and city officials are encouraged to file reports when they are able to do so.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Gov. Tony Evers’ executive order delaying the state’s presidential primary over coronavirus fears.

The court ruled 4-2 Evers lacked the authority to move the election on his own.

The decision means the election will occur as originally scheduled on Tuesday.

Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday to count after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the deadline in the first coronavirus-related case to reach the justices.

Campaign Finance

Tennessee: “Rep. Joe Towns Reaches Campaign Finance Violation Settlement After Board Takes Votes by Email” by Joel Ebert for The Tennessean

Elections

National: “With Campaigns in Remote Mode, Pandemic Upends Battle for Congress” by Carl Hulse for New York Times

Wisconsin: “As Nation Battles Coronavirus, Wisconsin Election Forges on with In-Person Voting” by Kendall Karson and Meg Cunningham for ABC News

Ethics

National: “Politics Through the Looking Glass: Virus scrambles the left-right lines” by Jim Rutenberg for New York Times

Florida: “‘Open Government’ Moves Online Amid COVID-19 Thanks to Push from Jacksonville Ethics Director” by Shelby Danielson for WTLV

Lobbying

Canada: “Appeal Court Nixes Fresh Lobby Probe of Aga Khan in Trudeau Vacation Case” by Jim Bronskill (Canadian Press) for National Post

The California Legislature pushed back a scheduled return to the legislative session by three weeks to give public health officials more time to deal with the coronavirus spreading through the state.

The Legislature now is scheduled to reconvene on May 4.

Lawmakers had voted unanimously on March 16 to suspend its session until April 13.

The initial decision last month to suspend activities at the state Capitol was unprecedented in California history.

The decision came after legislators grappled for several days to balance public health concerns with the need for action to address the impact of the pandemic.

Both houses quickly passed a $1 billion relief plan on March 16 before putting a halt to all legislative business.

Whether a return in early May will be possible could depend on the state’s success or failure this month in slowing the rate of infection.

Early spring is traditionally one of the busiest times of the year for the Legislature, with hundreds of bills considered by policy committees before receiving final votes in either of the two houses by May 31.

Gov. Tony Evers issued an executive order to delay the state’s presidential primary from April 7 until June 9 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

If Evers’ executive order holds, Wisconsin would become the 16th state to delay its election amid the pandemic.

Republicans are expected to immediately challenge the governor’s order in state court.

Evers had been reluctant to act due to concerns a postponement would be quickly overturned by the state Supreme Court and impact his authority to fight the pandemic.

On April 3, Gov. Cuomo and lawmakers passed legislation to enact the state budget for the 2021 fiscal year.

The enacted legislation includes provisions for campaign finance reform and nonprofit disclosures.

Effective January 1, 2021, Senate Bill 7505 requires charitable organizations to file annual financial reports and funding disclosures with the Department of State to be published on their website for public transparency.

The governor also signed Senate Bill 7508 establishing a statewide public campaign financing system.

Senate Bill 7508 lowers contribution limits a candidate may accept while participating in the public funding system.

Under Senate Bill 7508, a candidate for statewide office may accept a contribution of $18,000 dollars in the aggregate.

The bill also sets contribution limits for state senators and assembly members to $10,000 and $6,000, respectively.

Contribution limits are divided equally among the primary and general elections in an election cycle.

Senate Bill 7508 takes effect on November 9, 2022, and applies to participants in the primary and general elections to be held in 2024.

Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) staff will hold an interested persons meeting on Monday, April 20, at 10:00 a.m.

The purpose of the meeting is to solicit public input regarding legislative and regulatory proposals to enhance disclosure of political activity by limited liability companies (LLCs) in California elections.

Current law enables LLCs to make contributions or independent expenditures solely in the name of the LLC without disclosing any information, or even a way to determine, the source of the funds expended by the LLC and individuals responsible for operating the LLC.

The FPPC is interested in increasing the amount of information available to the public concerning political activity by LLCs.

Regulatory proposals will be considered for adoption or amendment on or after the May 21 meeting.

Federal Judge Michael H. Watson declined to change the election plan Ohio lawmakers unanimously approved last month.

House Bill 197 requires the state’s primary election to be conducted mostly by mail.

Additionally, the bill extends absentee balloting until April 28 for the presidential and state primary elections.

In-person voting originally scheduled for March 17 was postponed by order of the state’s Health Department in response to COVID-19 concerns.