Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued an executive order calling for the city to create an Office of Inspector General.

The office would create the new position of Inspector General and an independent board with the authority to conduct administrative appeals and ethics investigations.

The board would appoint the Inspector General, who would serve a fixed term and could only be removed with cause.

The office would also gain the ability to appoint and remove the city auditor and city ethics officer, two existing positions.

Current City Auditor Amanda Noble criticized the new proposal, saying it would not serve the public interest.

Bottoms is facing two separate ethics investigations, one from the State Ethics Commission and another from the City Council.

After nearly 10 years in the state House, Rep. Chris Lee will not run for re-election for his House District 51 seat.

Lee’s focus is now on the state Senate seat representing District 25.

The Senate District 25 seat is open because incumbent Laura Thielen is not seeking another term.

The Florida Senate has introduced a bill creating a statewide registration system for lobbying government entities.

The bill expands the definition of lobbying to include seeking to influence any governmental entity with respect to a decision or an attempt to obtain the goodwill of an official or employee of any governmental entity.

Further, the bill defines governmental entity as including:

• • Water management districts
  • Hospital districts
  • Children’s services districts
  • Expressway authorities
  • Port authorities
  • Counties
  • Municipalities
  • School districts
  • Special districts

With these new expanded definitions, the Commission on Ethics will establish the Local Government Lobbyist Registration System.

All lobbyists wishing to lobby any governmental entity within the state would have to register with this new system.

All previously established rules and local ordinances currently governing lobbyist registration would be preempted and replaced by this new system.

Former House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi is suing Secretary of State Bill Galvin in state court for the right to register as a state lobbyist.

The State Lobbyist Division, which is overseen by the secretary of state, denied DiMasi’s application in March of 2019, citing his federal convictions for fraud and extortion.

DiMasi is currently registered as a lobbyist with the city of Boston.

The Maine Ethics Commission has drafted a proposal to mandate lobbying reports from any group spending over $2,000 in a month on grassroots activism, including television or digital advertising, aimed at pending legislation.

The current threshold to trigger a report is $15,000, and even then only if the group first employs a traditional lobbyist.

The commission’s proposal is partly a response to the environmental organization Stop the Corridor, which ran advertisements last year opposing a proposed transmission line while lawmakers were considering bills pertaining to the project.

Ethics Commission proposals go to the state Legislature, which decides if it will craft them into legislation.

The Oklahoma Ethics Commission adjusted the contribution limit that individuals may give to 2020 candidate committees and that state candidate committees may give to other state candidate committees.

This contribution limit has increased from $2,700 to $2,800 per election.

However, candidate committees created for elections prior to 2020 keep the same contribution limit of $2,700.

Campaign Finance

National: “Ocasio-Cortez Creates PAC to Push Back on the Democratic Party’s ‘Blacklisting’ Rule” by Kayla Epstein (Washington Post) for MSN

Oregon: “Pay to Play? Out-Of-State Law Firms Reap Rewards of Oregon Campaign Contributions” by Dirk VanderHart for Oregon Public Broadcasting

Elections

New York: “SAM Party Sues State Over Changes to Third Party Ballot Access” by Amanda Fries for Albany Times Union

Wisconsin: “Appeals Court Blocks Purge of Wisconsin Voter Rolls for the Time Being” by Patrick Marley for Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Ethics

National: “Ukraine Prosecutor Offered Information Related to Biden in Exchange for Ambassador’s Ouster, Newly Released Materials Show” by Paul Sonne, Rosalind Helderman, and Tom Hamburger (Washington Post) for Seattle Times

National: “House Votes to Send Trump Impeachment to Senate for Trial” by Linda Mascaro for AP News

Illinois: “Ethics Board Imposes Max $2,000 Fine Against Chicago Ald. Edward Burke Over Letter He Wrote in Matter Involving a Client” by Gregory Pratt for Chicago Tribune

Lobbying

National: “These Emails Show a Trump Official Helping Her Former Chemical Industry Colleagues” by Derek Kravitz for ProPublica

The Seattle City Council unanimously passed two bills banning most political spending by foreign-influenced corporations and clamping down on political advertising.

These bills are part of the Clean Campaigns Act, a three-bill package introduced in August of last year.

The first bill prevents corporations with a single foreign national investor holding at least 1% ownership, or two or more holding at least 5% ownership from contributing directly to Seattle candidates, political races, or through PACs.

Companies that have a non-U.S. investor making decisions on its U.S. political activities will also be prevented from political spending.

The measure closes a loophole because foreign individuals and foreign-based entities already are barred from making contributions in U.S. elections.

The second bill adds transparency to the political advertising realm.

It requires any paid advertisement regarding a political matter of local importance to follow stricter reporting guidelines and to retain and provide records about these advertisements.

The third bill, which would place a cap on Super PAC contributions, remains in the Select Committee on Campaign Finance Reform for further discussions.

New Mexico’s new Ethics Commission opened its doors January 2 to complaints regarding campaign finance, government contracting, gifts from lobbyists, and more.

Voters approved the creation of the Ethics Commission in a November 2018 referendum.

The new Ethics Commission has the power to enforce the civil provisions of several governmental conduct and disclosure laws by imposing civil penalties and recommending disciplinary action, including impeachment.

Jeremy D. Farris is the first state Ethics Commission executive director.

Farris previously served as general counsel to New Mexico’s Department of Finance and Administration.

Campaign Finance

National: “Supreme Court Won’t Hear Fight Over SEC’s Pay-To-Play Rule” by Reenat Sinay for law360.com

National: “More Money, Less Transparency: A decade under Citizens United” by Karl Evers-Hillstrom for Center for Responsive Politics

Washington: “Seattle City Council Bans ‘Foreign-Influenced’ Companies from Most Political Spending” by Daniel Beekman for Seattle Times

Elections

National: “Doctored Images Have Become a Fact of Life for Political Campaigns. When They’re Disproved, Believers ‘Just Don’t Care.’” by Drew Harwell for Washington Post

National: “Russians Hacked Ukrainian Gas Company at Center of Impeachment” by Nicole Perlroth and Matthew Rosenberg (New York Times) for MSN

South Dakota: “Federal Judge Blocks South Dakota Petition Law” by Maria Dinzeo for Courthouse News Service

Ethics

Illinois: “Illinois Ag Director Resigns Over Response to Rape Email” by John O’Connor for AP News

Maryland: “After Corruption Scandal, Baltimore City Council Committee Will Consider Government Reform Measures” by Talia Richman for Baltimore Sun

New Jersey: “Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Bridgegate Scandal. The Case Could Impact Future Public Corruption Prosecutions.” by Matt Zapotosky for Washington Post

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Eric Aarseth reversed the Division of Election’s rejection of the Recall Dunleavy campaign application.

The Division of Elections rejected a bid to advance the recall effort based on an opinion from Attorney General Kevin Clarkson.

Clarkson found the reasons listed for the recall were factually and legally deficient.

The Recall Dunleavy group argued that Clarkson’s analysis was overreaching and the recall effort should be allowed to move to a second signature-gathering phase.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration stated it will appeal the decision to the Alaska Supreme Court.

Democrat Cynthia Neeley and Republican Adam Ford won the House District 34 special primaries held on January 7.

Less than 7% of Flint’s 62,242 registered voters participated in the special election.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called the election after Cynthia Neeley’s husband, Sheldon was elected Flint’s mayor.

A general election is set for March 10.

The candidate chosen March 10 will finish the remainder of Sheldon Neeley’s term, set to expire on December 31, 2020.

Mayor Dan Barrone took his official oath of office on January 4 for the District 42 seat in the New Mexico Legislature.

After applying first for the District 6 Senate position, Barrone decided to put his name in the hat for representative after Roberto “Bobby” Gonzales vacated his seat to serve in the state Senate.

He will serve his term in the Legislature while still acting as the mayor for the town of Taos.

John White, Louisiana’s Superintendent of Education, is officially vacating his position on March 11 after eight years.

The announcement came just two days after Department of Health Secretary Dr. Rebekah Gee announced her resignation effective January 31, after four years of service.

The news of White and Gee comes ahead of the inauguration of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ second term.

Edwards and several other state officials were sworn in on January 13.