Ethics

Federal: “In Shocking Move, Feds Drop All Charges Against Bob Menendez” by Ted Sherman (NJ Advance Media) for Newark Star Ledger

Federal: “CDC Director Resigns Because of Conflicts Over Financial Interests” by Lena Sun for Washington Post

National: “Clinton Says She Regrets Not Firing Aide Accused of Sexual Harassment During 2008 Campaign” by John Wagner for Washington Post

Arizona: “Investigation Concludes Rep. Shooter Violated Sexual Harassment Rules Multiple Times” by Howard Fischer (Capitol Media Services) for Arizona Daily Sun

North Dakota: “Proposed Ballot Measure Filed by North Dakotans for Public Integrity” by Staff for Bismarck Tribune

South Carolina: “Former Environmental Director Joins S.C. Water Utility Just Months After Leaving State Payroll” by Andrew Brown for Charleston Post and Courier

Virginia: “Facing New Scrutiny, Powerful Utility Turns to Old Friends” by Alan Suderman (Associated Press) for Fredericksburg.com

Lobbying

National: “Lobbying’s Top 50 Pour $540M Into Influence Campaigns” by Megan Wilson for The Hill

Illinois: “IG Office: Sex harassment legislation needs teeth for lobbyists” by Maximilian Kwiatkowski for State Journal-Register

Redistricting

National: “Just How Bad is Partisan Gerrymandering? Ask the Mapmakers.” by Michael Wines for New York Times

The New Mexico Senate introduced Senate Bill 107, which states any lobbyist or lobbyist’s employer required to file an expenditure report must also file a report with the secretary of state within one week following the conclusion of a legislative session.

The post-session report must list the legislation the lobbyist or lobbyist’s employer lobbied, and whether the lobbyist or lobbyist’s employer supported or opposed each piece of legislation.

The bill is currently in the Senate Rules Committee.

Campaign Finance

National: “Republican Governors Association to Cut All Ties with Steve Wynn Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegation” by Amber Phillips for Washington Post

Ohio: “Tool Will Allow the Public to Follow the Money in Ohio Politics” by Laura Bischoff and Kyle Nagle (Dayton Daily News) for WHIO

Ethics

New York: “2 Donors Plead Guilty, but the Mayor Is Not Charged. Why?” by William Rashbaum and William Neuman for New York Times

South Dakota: “Government Ethics Measure Approved to Appear on 2018 Ballot” by Associated Press for Rapid City Journal

Lobbying

Alabama: “Patricia Todd Says Campaign Subpoena Was ‘Last Straw’ in Decision to Not Seek Re-election” by Roy Johnson for AL.com

Florida: “Proposed Change to Sexual Harassment Bill Adds Sex to Lobbying Gift Ban” by Ana Ceballos for Florida Politics

Hawaii: “Hawaii Lieutenant Governor to Resign, Join Lobbying Firm” by Audrey McAvoy (Associated Press) for Hawaii Tribune

Kansas: “Kansas Officials’ Path to Lobbying Would Be Slowed Under Transparency Bill” by Hunter Woodall for Kansas City Star

South Dakota: “Ex-SD Lawmaker Returns Lobbyist Credentials Amid Concerns” by Bob Mercer for Rapid City Journal

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin announced the dates for the 1^st Suffolk Senatorial District special elections.

The primary will be held April 3, with the general on May 1.

The vacancy was created after Linda Dorcena Forry resigned to become a vice president at Suffolk Construction.

Pictured: Outgoing Senator Linda Dorcena Forry

Hawaii Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui announced he will be resigning on Wednesday to join a lobbying and public affairs firm as senior vice president.

In his announcement, Tsutsui cited the difficulty of working on Oahu with his family being on Maui, and the new job will allow him to be on the same island as his family.

Hawaii’s revolving door restrictions only apply to legislators and employees of the Legislature.

Campaign Finance

National: “How the Koch Network Learned to Thrive in the Trump Era” by James Hohmann and Michelle Ye Hee Lee for Washington Post

Illinois: “Cook County Cook County Assessor Berrios Sues Over Ordinance Limiting Campaign Contributions” by Ray Long for Chicago Tribune

Maine: “Maine GOP Director’s Links to Anonymous Website Add Fuel to Ethics Complaint” by Michael Shepherd for Bangor Daily News

Texas: “Does Business Group’s Use of ‘Dark Money’ for Its Political Action Committee Follow State Ethics Rules?” by Jay Root and Ryan Murphy for Texas Tribune

Ethics

National: “Andrew McCabe, FBI Deputy Director, Steps Down Amid Trump and Republican Criticism” by Kevin Johnson and David Jackson for USA Today

Kansas: “Kansas Intern Confidentiality Rule: What happens in a lawmaker’s office stays there” by Lindsay Wise (McClatchy) and Hunter Woodall for Kansas City Star

Legislative Issues

Maryland: “Ethics Panel Finds Baltimore Del. McCray Breached Legislature’s Conduct Standards” by Staff for Baltimore Sun

North Carolina: “In Power Struggle with GOP Lawmakers, Cooper Wins Election Board Revamp Lawsuit” by Annew Blythe for Raleigh News and Observer

Lobbying

United Kingdom: “New Lobbying Rules for Business to Come into Force” by Staff for Insider.co.uk

Changes to registration and training requirements are now effective for Miami lobbyists.

Following the passage of Ordinance 13718, lobbyists must now register within five business days of being retained as a lobbyist by a principal and prior to engaging in any type of lobbying activities.

Lobbyists must also complete an ethics training course within 60 days of registering, and if registration is renewed continuously thereafter, a refresher course is required once every two years.

Additional changes include the requirement to report travel and lodging provided to public officials and a fine of $50 per day for failure to file an annual report. The previous fine was a one-time $25 penalty.

The Virginia House Committee on Rules unanimously reported House Bill 263 without recommendation to the House floor on Friday.

The bill establishes the Virginia Democracy Voucher Program, which sends every registered voter in Virginia $100 in Democracy Vouchers that may be accepted by candidates for state offices in lieu of campaign contributions every year.

Virginia has more than 5.5 million registered voters, meaning the program as designed would cost more than half a billion dollars per year.

The North Carolina Supreme Court struck down a 2017 law overhauling the state’s Elections Board and Ethics Commission. Session Law 2017-6 merged the existing state Board of Elections and state Ethics Commission and created the new Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement.

The court held provisions in the law concerning the membership of and appointments to new bipartisan state board constituted a separation of powers violation.

Although the office functions of the ethics commission and elections boards merged last year, Gov. Roy Cooper did not make any appointments to the new board while this lawsuit made its way through the courts.

Ethics

Federal: “Arguments Begin in Emoluments Suit against Trump” by David Fahenthold and Jonathan O’Connell for Washington Post

Federal: “Patrick Meehan Won’t Seek Re-election in Pennsylvania” by Kenneth Vogel and Katie Rogers for New York Times

Federal: “Trump Groups Raised Millions, Then Paid It Out to Loyalists and a Trump Hotel” by Kenneth Vogel and Rachel Shorey (New York Times) for Las Vegas Sun

Federal: “Trump Ordered Mueller Fired, but Backed Off When White House Counsel Threatened to Quit” by Michael Schmidt and Maggie Haberman (New York Times) for MSN

Florida: “Hallandale Mayor Freed From Jail After Arrest in FBI Sting” by Susanna Bryan and Paula McMahon for South Florida Sun Sentinel

New York: “Campaign Donor Pleaded Guilty to Trying to Bribe Mayor de Blasio” by William Rashbaum and William Neuman for New York Times

Wisconsin: “Wisconsin Ethics Commission Hits Pause Button after Senate Rejects Director” by Patrick Marley for Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Lobbying

Iowa: “Iowa GOP Activist Fined for Not Disclosing Saudi Arabia Work” by David Pitt (Associated Press) for WRAL

Oregon: “Oregon Ethics Watchdog Rejects Conservative Group’s Complaint about Kate Brown” by Hillary Borrud for Portland Oregonian

The Carroll County Board of County Commissioners voted 4-1 to move forward with a new ethics ordinance.

The ordinance was originally developed in 2014 after the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill in 2010 requiring all counties, municipalities, and boards of election to pass ethics ordinances.

Carroll is the only county in the state not yet in compliance.

The ethics ordinance would apply to candidates beginning with the 2018 elections. The ordinance will be discussed next at a public hearing on February 27.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed Executive Order 2A, which places limits on gifts and defines personal relationships for the governor of the Garden State.

This order requires the governor to disclose gifts received from anyone he has met in the past three years before being inaugurated.

“Anyone we’ve met since then is going to be subject to complete disclosure above the threshold of whatever the gift levels are,” said Murphy.

Any relationship established before then is considered pre-existing and is exempt from the order.

The executive order puts New Jersey in line with federal standards.

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Lobbyists in Austin have agreed to cooperate with the city and disclose how much clients pay them. Taking a lead from state and federal filing requirements, Austin began requiring lobbyists to report what they are paid last year.

Seventeen lobbyists registered with the city, all lawyers, asserted attorney-client privilege prohibited them from the disclosure. The city’s Ethics Review Commission was scheduled to hear ethics complaints filed against the group, but all 17 amended their reports to add the missing information.

A lobbyist who originally refused to disclose his compensation said the City Clerk accepted the form without the information and there is even space provided for an explanation as to why the compensation information was not disclosed.

Austin’s actions this week have set an example for enforcing the reporting requirements moving forward.