The New York Campaign Finance Reform Commission released their report containing recommendations regarding the creation of a public campaign finance system and reforms to the state election laws.

The commission proposes to create a voluntary public campaign finance system for statewide and legislative candidates.

The public campaign finance system establishes reporting requirements for participating candidates and sets initial eligibility requirements for the program.

The commission also proposed lowering campaign contribution limits for candidates seeking statewide office to $18,000.

Contribution limits for candidates seeking the office of state senator and assembly member would also be lowered to $10,000 and $6,000, respectively.

Contribution limits would be divided equally between primary and general elections and applied to both participating and nonparticipating candidates in the proposed public campaign finance system.

The commission’s recommendations become effective December 22, unless the Legislature supersedes the report’s proposals by statute.

Campaign Finance

National: “Staking a Presidential Bid on Battling Big Money in Politics Fails for Bullock” by Sarah Swann for The Fulcrum

National: “Mueller Witness and Donor to Clinton and Trump Are Charged with Funneling $3.5 Million in Illegal Contributions in 2016 Election” by Spencer Hsu and Matt Zapotosky (Washington Post) for Philadelphia Inquirer

California: “L.A. Is Planning to Limit Campaign Money from Developers. But First, More Fundraising” by David Zahniser for Los Angeles Times

Ethics

National: “A Mysterious ‘-1’ and Other Call Records Show How Giuliani Pressured Ukraine” by Sharon LaFraniere and Julian Barnes (New York Times) for MSN

California: “DA Files Criminal Charges Against Former Oakland Coliseum Authority Chief in Naming Rights Conflict” by Sarah Ravani for San Francisco Chronicle

Pennsylvania: “Pa. Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell Charged with Stealing More Than $500,000 from Her Own Charity and Will Resign, AG Says” by Justine McDaniel and Angela Couloumbis for Philadelphia Inquirer

Lobbying

New York: “Ethics Agency Drops Case Against Kat Sullivan” by Chris Bragg for Albany Times Union

Washington: “Seattle Lobbyists Should Disclose Their Work for Political Campaigns, Ethics Commission Says” by Daniel Beekman for Seattle Times

Redistricting

North Carolina: “Judges: New North Carolina Congress map will be used in 2020” by Gary Robertson for AP News

Gov. Ned Lamont announced a special election on January 14, 2020, to fill two vacancies in the House of Representatives.

House District 48 was most recently held by Rep. Linda Orange who passed away due to pancreatic cancer.

Rep. Brenda Kupchick resigned from the House District 132 seat on November 22 to assume office as chief elected official of Fairfield.

Campaign Finance

National: “Rep. Hunter Enters Plea in Federal Campaign Finance Case, Telling Judge, ‘Guilty’” by Morgan Cook, Kristina Davis, and Jeff McDonald for San Diego Union-Tribune

New York: “Advocates Concerned as State Board of Elections Gains New Oversight Powers” by Chris Bragg for Albany Times Union

Elections

National: “Trump Campaign Denies Press Credentials to Bloomberg News, Claiming ‘Bias’ Against the President” by Kayla Epstein (Washington Post) for San Francisco Chronicle

National: “‘One of the Hardest Decisions of My Life’: Kamala Harris ends once-promising campaign” by Christopher Cadelago and Caitlin Oprysko for Politico

Ethics

National: “Appeals Court Refuses to Block House Subpoena for Trump’s Financial Records” by Ann Marimow and Renae Merle (Washington Post) for MSN

National: “Judge Denies DOJ Request for Stay on Don McGahn Testimony” by Darren Samuelsohn and Josh Gerstein for Politico

National: “Impeachment Report Alleges Trump Solicited Foreign Election Interference” by Michael Shear and Nicholas Fandos (New York Times) for MSN

Washington DC: “D.C. Council Votes to Recommend Expelling Jack Evans Over Ethics Violations” by Fenit Nirappil for Washington Post

Campaign Finance

Georgia: “Abrams Campaign Seeks Dismissal of Request for Additional Documents in Ethics Probe” by Stephen Fowler for Georgia Public Broadcasting

New Mexico: “Regulators Late on Campaign Finance Checks” by Morgan Lee (Associated Press) for Albuquerque Journal

Elections

Pennsylvania: “A Pennsylvania County’s Election Day Nightmare Underscores Voting Machine Concerns” by Nick Corasaniti (New York Times) for MSN

Ethics

National: “Ilhan Omar’s Opponent Barred by Twitter After Suggesting Congresswoman Should Be Hanged” by Marissa lati (Washington Post) for Seattle Times

National: “Justice’s Election-Year Conundrum: How to probe team Trump” by Darren Samuelsohn for Politico

California: “New LADWP Commissioner Works for a Company That Markets Water and Power” by Sammy Roth and Dakota Smith for Los Angeles Times

Illinois: “Dorothy Brown Eluded Criminal Charges Because of Top Aide’s Perjury, Court Filing Reveals” by Jason Meisner for Chicago Tribune

Lobbying

National: “State Lawmakers Acknowledge Lobbyists Helped Craft Their Op-Eds Attacking Medicare-for-All” by Jeff Stein for Washington Post

On November 26, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed a new campaign finance bill into law. The bill amends the state’s law by now requiring House, Senate and all mayoral candidates to use the depository system of campaign finance reporting.

According to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OPCF), “Nearly 500 House and Senate candidates will transition into the depository campaign finance reporting system, as well as about 100 mayoral candidates in cities of 65,000 or less.” House Bill 4087 also requires banks to file monthly disclosure reports on behalf of candidates and certain committees.

Previously, the disclosures were required twice a month. The bill also mandates the OCPF establish regulations concerning social media and its use by appointed public employees.

Additionally, the bill establishes a commission to study the use of campaign funds for family and child care.

Sen. Shirley Nathan-Pulliam announced she is retiring from the Maryland State Senate District 44 seat, effective December 1.

Nathan-Pulliam cited health issues as the reason for stepping down from the seat.

Both the Baltimore City and Baltimore County state central committees are now accepting resumes and will make a recommendation to Gov. Larry Hogan.

Gov. Hogan officially makes the appointment to fill the vacant seat.

Sen. Cliff Bentz announced his intention to resign from the Oregon State Senate District 30 seat, effective January 2, 2020.

Bentz intends to run for the 2nd Congressional District seat currently held by Rep. Greg Walden, who announced that he will not run for reelection in 2020.

The 2nd Congressional District is one of the largest in the nation and covers about two-thirds of state.

The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board named Mike Marshall to serve as its new Executive Director.

Marshall will replace Megan Tooker, who announced her resignation in November as the current Executive Director and Legal Counsel for the Board. Tooker is pursuing other career opportunities.

Marshall is currently the Chief of the Bureau of Professional Licensure at the Department of Public Health. He had previously been the Secretary of the Iowa Senate for eighteen years.

Tooker, who has served with the Board since 2010, will be leaving by the end of 2019.

Campaign Finance

Massachusetts: “State, House, Mayoral Candidates Will Switch to New Campaign Finance System” by Shira Schoenberg for MassLive.com

Michigan: “Quid Pro Quo? Larry Inman Trial to Test Limits of Campaign Cash Solicitations” by Jonathan Oosting for Bridge Michigan

Ethics

Florida: “Former Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper Cleared of Corruption Charges” by Aaron Leibowitz for Miami Herald

Iowa: “Former Iowa Senate Secretary Named Ethics Board Executive” by Staff for AP News

Louisiana: “Ex-Louisiana Racing Commissioner Fined $50,000 for Ethical Conflict from Bobby Jindal Era” by John Simerman for New Orleans Advocate

New York: “Inspector General Releases Letter on Ethics Leak Probe” by Brendan Lyons for Albany Times Union

Lobbying

National: “Democrats Take in Lobbying Industry Cash Despite Pledges” by Alex Gangitano for The Hill

Connecticut: “Jon Lender: It’s audit time after $33M in influence efforts so far in 2019 by lobbyists who cram Capitol, form ‘gauntlet’ by restrooms” by Jon Lester for Hartford Courant

Campaign Finance

National: “Investigators Scrutinize Rudy Giuliani’s Firm and Donations to Trump Super PAC” by Devlin Barrett, Tom Hamburger, Rosalind Helderman, and Josh Dawsey (Washington Post) for Boston Globe

Missouri: “PAC Donations to Independence Mayor, Days Before Vote on Project, Draw FBI Interest” by Jason Hancock, Steve Vockrodt, and Kevin Hardy for Kansas City Star

Elections

National: “That Uplifting Tweet You Just Shared? A Russian Troll Sent It” by Darren Linvill and Patrick Warren for Rolling Stone

Ethics

National: “Supreme Court Blocks House Committee from Immediately Reviewing Trump’s Financial Records” by Robert Barnes (Washington Post) for MSN

National: “Donald McGahn Must Testify to Congress, Judge Rules; Administration Will Appeal” by Charlie Savage (New York Times) for MSN

Arkansas: “Cranford Gets 7-Year Sentence for Corruption” by Doug Thompson for Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Nevada: “Former Lawmaker Still Owes Nevada More Than $120K in Restitution” by Jeff German for Las Vegas Review-Journal

Lobbying

Massachusetts: “DiMasi Says He Deserves ‘Second Chance’ to Lobby after Federal Conviction” by Matt Stout for Boston Globe

Michigan: “Michigan Lawmakers’ New Gig: Consulting, not lobbying” by Craig Mauger for Detroit News

The U.S. Supreme Court is raising doubts about Alaska’s $500-a-year limit on contributions to political candidates.

The justices are ordering a lower court to take a new look at the issue.

The court says in an unsigned opinion on Monday that federal judges who rejected a challenge to the contribution cap did not take into account a 2006 high court ruling.

The 2006 ruling invalidated low-dollar limits on political contributions in Vermont.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote a separate opinion expressing that Alaska’s reliance on the energy industry may make the state unusually vulnerable to political corruption and justify the low limits.

Gov. Larry Hogan has announced the appointment of Nicole Williams to represent District 22 in Prince George’s County.

Williams is replacing Del. Tawanna Gaines, who resigned last month after pleading guilty in federal court to illegally using campaign funds for personal benefit.

Gov. Hogan appointed Williams following the unanimous recommendations by the Prince George’s County Democratic Central Committee.

The Montgomery County Office of Procurement has launched a new online tool to find the status of a solicitation from issuance to contract execution.

The new system increases transparency by giving the public the ability to view the solicitation process from beginning to end.

The tracker system is located on the procurement website.