Mayor Muriel Bowser signed the Fair Elections Emergency Amendment Act of 2019 on May 22.

The act amends the definition of a qualified small-dollar contribution to set a minimum value of cash or in-kind contributions at $5.

The act became effective following the approval by Mayor Bowser and will remain in effect until August 20.

On May 21, 2019, Gov. Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5861.

The bill extends respectful workplace code of conduct provisions to all members of the legislative community.

Effective July 28, 2019, Senate Bill 5861 requires The Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate to develop a training course based on the legislative code of conduct and any policies adopted by either chamber.

Lobbyists will be required to attest to reading and completing the training course when filing a lobbyist registration statement with the Public Disclosure Commission.

Lobbyists currently registered are required to update registration materials to include the attestation by December 31, 2019.

The Minnesota Legislature adjourned sine die on May 20, the latest possible day the state constitution allowed it to be in regular session.

Lawmakers reached a bipartisan budget deal after extensive negotiations.

However, Gov. Tim Walz will need to call a special session for lawmakers to work out and vote on the details.

Campaign Finance

National: “DC Circuit OKs Payment-Plan Rules for Campaign Donors” by Brad Katner for Courthouse News Service

New York: “Sugarman Reaches $100k Settlement with NYSUT” by Chris Bragg for Albany Times Union

Oregon: “Oregon Lawmakers Propose Campaign Donation Limits, But with ‘Huge Loophole’” by Rob Davis for Portland Oregonian

Ethics

National: “A Conservative Activist’s Behind-the-Scenes Campaign to Remake the Nation’s Courts” by Robert O’Harrow Jr. and Shawn Boburg (Washington Post) for Alaska Dispatch News

National: “Confidential Draft IRS Memo Says Tax Returns Must Be Given to Congress Unless President Invokes Executive Privilege” by Jeff Stein and Josh Dawsey (Washington Post) for MSN

Florida: “Legislative ‘Sprinkle’ Adds Extra Half-Million Dollars to State Senator’s Nonprofit, Quietly Doubling State Payout to Lauren’s Kids” by Francisco Alvarado for Florida Bulldog

Michigan: “Michigan Lawmakers Say They Want Financial Transparency, But Few Are Releasing Records” by Lauren Gibbons and Taylor DesOrmeau for MLive

New York: “New York Passes Bill Giving Congress a Way to Get Trump’s State Tax Returns” by Jesse McKinley (New York Times) for MSN

Virginia: “Investigators Could Not Determine If Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam Is in Racist Yearbook Photo” by Laura Vozzella and Jim Morrison for Washington Post

On May 28, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced the appointment of Tony Baptiste as Acting Inspector General of the agency.

Mr. Baptiste, who has worked with the Office of the Inspector General for 19 years, will leave his position at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

“We look forward to working with him and drawing upon his deep expertise,” said Chair Ellen L. Weintraub in the FEC’s press release.

His appointment with the FEC becomes effective on May 28.

On May 22, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) will hold a virtual public hearing to gather comments for a proposed rule regarding executive branch officials and employees setting up legal expense funds.

The virtual public hearing will be recorded and a transcript of the hearing will be posted on OGE’s website.

The agency is seeking public comments even after the virtual hearing, with the comment period ending on June 14.

The OGE has also listed questions on its website for the public to consider in order to help the agency determine issues specifically related to legal expense funds.

Those questions include whether there should be contribution limits to legal expense funds; whether donations of pro bono legal services to legal expense funds should be permitted; and whether contributions should be subject to reporting requirements?

Campaign Finance

National: “9th Circuit Rejects Challenge to Foreign-Donation Ban” by Josh Gerstein for Politico

Oklahoma: “Walkingstick Disqualified as Principal Chief Candidate” by Grant Crawford (Tahlequah Daily Press) for Muskogee Phoenix

Ethics

National: “Judge Rules Against Trump in Fight Over President’s Financial Records” by Devlin Barrett, Spencer Hsu, Rachael Bade, and Josh Dawsey for Washington Post

National: “Cohen Told Lawmakers Trump Attorney Jay Sekulow Encouraged Him to Falsely Claim Moscow Project Ended in January” by Tom Hamburger, Ellen Nakashima, and Karoun Demirjian (Washington Post) for MSN

New Jersey: “Governor’s Feud with Party Boss Rocks New Jersey Politics” by Ryan Hutchins for Politico

Tennessee: “Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada to Resign Position After Sexually Charged Texts” by Joel Ebert and Natalie Allison (The Tennessean) for USA Today

Lobbying

National: “NRA Helps Sheriffs Fight Gun Laws in Second Amendment ‘Sanctuaries’” by Nick Penzenstadler for USA Today

National: “Women Strive to Close Gender Gap at Biz Groups” by Alex Gangitano for The Hill

Gov. Jared Polis signed the Lobbyist Transparency Act into law on May 20, shining new light on the disclosure requirements of lobbyists and their clients.

House Bill 1248 increases transparency by stopping attorneys registered as professional lobbyists from asserting confidentiality in order to conceal client information and lobbying activity.

The bill provides that when the general assembly is in regular or special session, a professional lobbyist must notify the secretary of state within 72 hours of agreeing to lobby in connection with new legislation or taking a new position on a new or existing bill for a new or existing client.

Additionally, the bill instructs the secretary of state to form a working group to upgrade the electronic filing system in order to ease the use of data reported and to increase overall transparency.

The secretary of state must convene the working group no later than July 1, and the group must meet at least once before December 31.

Campaign Finance

Massachusetts: “US Supreme Court Will Not Hear Massachusetts Campaign Finance Case” by Shira Schoenberg for MassLive

New York: “A Cuomo Donor’s Nonstop Connections” by Chris Bragg for Albany Times Union

Ethics

National: “‘It’s Entirely Inappropriate’: Trump shot a political video on Air Force One” by Colby Itkowitz (Washington Post) for MSN

National: “Justin Amash, Tea Party Star, Earns Primary Challenge for Backing Impeachment” by Isaac Stanley-Baker for Washington Post

California: “Brawl Erupts at Convention of Local Politicians, Roils Upscale Resort” by Adam Elmahrek, Ruben Vives, and Anh Do for Los Angeles Times

Oregon: “Kate Brown’s Top Aides Went Into Overdrive Doing Campaign-Like Work During Heated Governor’s Race, Records Show” by Hillary Borrud for Portland Oregonian

Legislative Issues

Nevada: “Where Women Call the Shots” by Emily Wax-Thibodeaux for Washington Post

Lobbying

Mississippi: “How Mississippi Lawmakers Gave $1.5 Million of Education Money to Weight Watchers” by Giacomo Bologna for Jackson Clarion-Ledger

On Monday, the Supreme Court of the United States announced it would decline to hear a challenge to a Massachusetts law.

The law in question bans corporate contributions to campaigns, parties and candidate-focused political action committees.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court unanimously rejected the challenge, brought by 1A Auto Inc. and 126 Self Storage Inc., in September.

The suit claimed disparate treatment by banning for-profit corporate contributions while allowing significant contributions by unions and nonprofits.

After the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United, state law was updated to allow corporate spending for independent expenditures but not political contributions.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey applauded Monday’s decision not to hear the case for the integrity of state elections.

Opponents of the law are hopeful the Supreme Court will take up the issue in another case.

As more legislatures work through their legislative sessions, more new lobbying, ethics and campaign finance laws are being passed. Find out which states made changes in this edition of NYCU Video Digest

Top North Dakota officials are working towards forming a new panel to oversee ethical standards in state government as a result of last year’s passage of Measure 1.

Gov. Doug Burgum’s office is accepting applications for the new ethics commission through May 24 and hopes to have members selected by July 1.

The five commissioners will be chosen by consensus agreement of the governor and the Senate’s majority and minority leaders.

The state constitution bars certain people from serving on the commission including lobbyists, political party officials, and those who hold statewide elected or appointed office.

The first regular session of the 100th General Assembly adjourned May 17 at 6 p.m. after four months in session.

Several lobbying bills were introduced, including House Joint Resolution 48 which made its way to the Senate Fiscal Oversight Committee.

The committee voted do not pass on May 13. The bill would have banned all lobbyist gifts to lawmakers instead of the current $5 maximum limit.

Similarly, House Bill 1199 was introduced to amend the definition of a lobbyist principal to add an entity with authority to direct the lobbyists’ activities. The bill made its way through the Legislative Oversight Committee but did not pass either chamber.

The General Assembly is scheduled to reconvene on January 15, 2020.

The San Francisco Ethics Commission will hold its next regular meeting on May 29.

The commission will consider and possibly act on a set of proposed regulation changes to the Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code.

These changes include electronic filing, filing of contribution disclosures no later than 14 days following the contribution, and updating filing forms.

The proposed changes are intended to provide clarity regarding code sections created by the Anti-Corruption and Accountability Ordinance and update the regulations to match other recent changes to the code.

Changes additionally provide clarity about various provisions of the Campaign Finance Reform Ordinance.

Opportunity for public comment will be provided at the meeting.