Campaign Finance

National: “Trump Campaign Knew Consultant Was Behind Joe Biden Parody Site. Does That Make It a Campaign Finance Violation” by Asher Stockler for Newsweek

National: “GOP at War Over Fundraising” by Alex Isenstadt for Politico

California: “Insurance Commissioner Will Return Funds from Companies with Ties to Industry He Regulates” by Jeff McDonald for San Diego Union-Tribune

Maine: “New Group Uses Exploited Advocacy Rules to ‘Educate’ Mainers About Sen. Collins” by Steve Mistler for Maine Public Radio

Ethics

National: “Study: Firm governance key as shareholders assess risk of political activity” by   for Phys.org; Staff

National: “Appeals Court Tosses Emoluments Suit Against Trump” by Jpsh Gerstein for Politico

National: “Federal Judge Rejects Trump Administration’s Bid to Swap Out Lawyers for Census Case on Citizenship Question” by Matt Zapotosky, Seung Min Kim, and Tara Bahrampour (Washington Post) for Duluth News Tribune

Missouri: “Former Sen. Hutchinson Pleads Guilty to Bribery in Missouri Federal Court” by Wesley Brown for talkbusiness.net

Lobbying

National: “In the Aftermath of Khashoggi’s Murder, Saudi Influence Machine Whirs on in Washington” by Beth Reinhard, Jonathan O’Connell, and Tom Hamburger (Washington Post) for Stamford Advocate

California: “California Bill Limits Spending by Local Government Groups” by Kathleen Ronayne for AP News

The Oregon Republican Party has nominated Becky Mitts, Raquel Moore-Green, and Brad Nanke as the three finalists to replace Denyc Boles as state representative for District 19.

Boles resigned from the District 19 seat on June 28 after being appointed to replace the late Jackie Winters as state senator for District 10.

The Marion County commissioners plan to make a selection on July 23.

However, the commissioners have 10 days after the names are filed with the secretary of state to make a decision.

The Secretary of State will host a rulemaking hearing on July 24 concerning the Colorado Campaign and Political Finance Rules.

The revised draft of 8 C.C.R. §1505-6 is available at 20190709_CPF_RevStmBasis.pdf.

A recording of the hearing will be posted and available on the Secretary of State’s website.

Gov. Brian Kemp announced a special election to fill the vacancy in House District 71 on September 3.

The seat was vacated by the resignation of Rep. David Stover on June 25.

Rep. Stover was facing an ethics complaint regarding his residency and resigned to spend more time with his wife in the United Kingdom.

The winner of the special election will complete Stover’s term until 2020.

Campaign Finance

National: “Rep. Duncan Hunter’s ‘Deep State’ Defense Falls Apart” by Emily Kopp for Roll Call

New York: “Cautious Optimism Among Reformers After State Public Campaign Financing Commission Named” by Ethan Geringer-Sameth for Gotham Gazette

Elections

National: “‘It Can’t Be Worse’: How Republican women are trying to rebuild” by Maggie Astor for New York Times

National: “Elizabeth Warren Shuns Conventional Wisdom for a New Kind of Campaign” by Alex Thompson for Politico

Ethics

National: “President Trump Cannot Block His Critics on Twitter, Federal Appeals Court Rules” by Ann Marimow for Washington Post

Missouri: “Former Missouri Gov. Greitens’ Use of Confide Didn’t Violate Sunshine Law, Judge Says” by Jason Hancock for Kansas City Star

North Dakota: “North Dakota House Energy Committee Chairman Says Business Relationship with Lobbyist Unrelated to Legislative Work” by John Hageman for Grand Forks Herald

Lobbying

National: “Female Tech Lobbyists Shake Up Industry” by Alex Gangitano for The Hill

The Virginia General Assembly convened and adjourned a special session.

The session was called to consider stricter gun legislation in response to the Virginia Beach shootings on May 31.

For the special session, Gov. Northam proposed eight bills.

The Governors bills included background checks on all firearm sales, a ban on dangerous weapons, and allowing only one handgun purchase a month.

Assembly leaders referred all of the governor’s bills to the state Crime Commission for a full review.

The General Assembly will reconvene November 18 to vote on the proposed bills.

The state Senate kicked off the second special session in Juneau and promptly removed Sen. Mia Costello as the majority leader.

Costello was in Wasilla with nearly a third of her fellow lawmakers.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy called for the second special session to be held in Wasilla on July 8.

The session ended quickly because there was no majority to conduct business.

House minority leader Lance Pruitt stated the members would remain in Wasilla and wait for the legislators in Juneau to attend.

Gov. Janet Mills announced her plan to hold, until next legislative session, a lobbying bill that would limit the influence of lobbyists by expanding the prohibition on accepting political contributions.

Current law prohibits a lobbyist, lobbyist associate or employer from contributing to the governor, members of the Legislature, constitutional officers, or their staff or agents while the Legislature is convened in session.

Legislative Document 54 would extend the application of that prohibition year-round, regardless of whether the Legislature is in session.

Gov. Mills will review the bill at the start of the 2020 legislative session. 

On July 8, Gov. Gavin Newsom was presented with a bill clarifying language related to preelection statements and income from gifts and business entities.

Assembly Bill 903 requires preelection statements to disclose contributions and independent expenditures made to a state, county, or city general purpose committee or made to support or oppose a candidate or measure appearing on the ballot at a specified election.

The specified election will be the next election for certain state or county general purpose committees and elected state officers or candidates for elective state office.

The bill also amends the definition of expenditure to include communications paid for with public moneys by a state or local government agency.

If signed by the governor, the bill takes effect on January 1, 2020.

Campaign Finance

National: “Political Fundraising App Wants to Make Donations a Social Experience” by Sara Swann for Fulcrom

Colorado: “Campaign Finance Laws Have More Bite for Enforcement” by Charles Ashby for Grand Junction Sentinel

Ethics

National: “AP: Federal grand jury probing GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy” by Jim Mustian and Desmond Butler for AP News

National: “Why the Trump White House Is Caught Up in the Jeffrey Epstein Scandal” by Vivian Wang (New York Times) for MSN

Georgia: “‘Drag This Out as Long as Possible’: Former official faces rare criminal charges under open-records law” by Richard Fausset for New York Times

New York: “Cuomo Signs a Bill to Allow Release of Trump’s State Tax Returns” by Jesse McKinley for New York Times

Lobbying

National: “2020 Democrats Vow to Get Tough on Lobbyists” by Alex Gangitano for The Hill

Florida: “Florida, the Sunshine State, Is Slow to Adopt Rooftop Solar Power” by Ivan Penn for New York Times

Leaders in the state Senate and House of Representatives announced on July 5 that lawmakers will not attempt to override any vetoes issued by Gov. David Ige.

House Speaker Scott Sakiki said the Legislature would not convene an override session due to a lack of consensus between the Senate and the House.

Gov. Ige has identified 20 bills that he intends to veto of the 303 passed by lawmakers this year.

Ige has until Tuesday, July 9 to make his final decision on issuing vetoes.

A bill to stop the revolving door in Congress, new dark money laws in New Jersey, and Oregon passes a slew of new campaign finance and ethics legislation in this edition of News You Can Use Video Digest!

Gov. Kevin Stitt issued an executive order on July 5 instructing state agencies to end the practice of hiring outside firms to lobby the Legislature.

Executive Order 2019-29 prohibits all state agencies from entering or extending any contracts with lobbyists without securing written approval from one of Stitt’s cabinet secretaries.

Stitt stated in the executive order that the practice of expending taxpayers’ money on the hiring of outside lobbyists to lobby on behalf of a state agency was not a proper use of state funds.

Campaign Finance

National: “Steve Bullock Hates ‘Dark Money.’ But a Lobbyist for ‘Dark Money’ Donors Is Helping His Campaign.” by Laura Zornosa for Center for Public Integrity

California: “State’s Top Insurance Regulator Accepted Tens of Thousands of Dollars from Industry Executives, Records Show” by Jeff McDonald for San Diego Union Tribune

Elections

National: “Democrats Grapple with a Sprawling Primary Field, and No One to Shape It” by Reid Epstein (New York Times) for MSN

Ethics

National: “Justice Dept. to Replace Lawyers in Census Citizenship Question Case” by Michael Wines, Katie Benner, and Adam Liptak for New York Times

Virginia: “Former Del. Ron Villanueva Sentenced to 2½ Years in Prison for Defrauding Federal Government” by Scott Daugherty for The Virginian-Pilot

Washington DC: “D.C. Council Member Jack Evans Increasingly Isolated as FBI Probe Advances” by Peter Jamison and Paul Schwartzman for Washington Post

Legislative Issues

Oregon: “Political Theater Overshadows Policy; Some Fear Oregon’s Drift Toward D.C. Politics” by Connor Radnovich for Salem Statesman-Journal

Lobbying

Oklahoma: “Stitt Outlaws State Agency Lobbyist Hiring with Executive Order” by Keaton Ross (The Oklahoman) for Tulsa World