Several ethics bills have been introduced in Michigan Legislature.

House Bill 4489 prohibits immediate family members of a public officer or employee from accepting gifts tending to influence the manner in which the public officer or employee or another public officer or employee performs official duties.

House Bill 4526 prohibits, for three years after leaving office, a former member of the Michigan Senate or House of Representatives who was, at any time, the chair of a standing committee, from making expenditures for or receiving compensation or reimbursement for actual expenses for lobbying equal to or exceeding the limit established to require registration as a lobbyist agent.

Similarly, House Bill 4527 prohibits any former member of the Michigan Senate or House of Representatives from being a lobbyist agent for two years after leaving office.

If passed, the bills will become effective 90 days after the end of the legislative session.

The Vermont House approved Senate Bill 8, a measure establishing a state ethics commission and providing greater transparency from those seeking public office.

If both houses can agree on a final version, a five-member ethics commission would accept complaints and assign them to other agencies for investigation. The commission would also compile a report on complaints for the legislature.

The bill would require financial disclosures from candidates and their spouses, with the Senate version requiring disclosure of income tax returns. The bill also prohibits lawmakers and other high-level employees from becoming a lobbyist for one year after leaving office and restricts holders of certain no-bid contracts from making campaign contributions.

A conference committee will now work out the differences before sending the bill to the governor. Vermont is one of five states without a state ethics commission.

Lobbying

“Trump Transition Staffers Head to K Street Despite Lobbying Ban” by Theodoric Meyer and Michael Stratford for Politico

“City Pays for Mets Moment, Guided by Firm with Troubled Ties to de Blasio” by J. David Goodman for New York Times

Campaign Finance

Colorado: “Colorado Supreme Court Hears Dispute on Whether Legal Fees Count as Political Donations” by Tom McGhee for Denver Post

Minnesota: “Minnesota Republicans Want to Eliminate ‘Welfare for Politicians’” by Rachel Stassen-Berger for St. Paul Pioneer Press

Tennessee: “Jeremy Durham Dismisses Campaign Finance Audit, Points Finger in Fiery Letter” by Dave Boucher and Joel Ebert for The Tennessean

Ethics

“A Code Pink Protester Laughs Over a Trump Nominee and Is Convicted” by Christopher Mele for New York Times

“While in White House, Trumps Remained Selling Points for ‘Very Special’ Philippines Project” by Drew Harwell and Matea Gold for Washington Post

Vermont: “House Passes Ethics Commission Bill with Some Reluctance” by Mark Johnson for VTDigger.org

Elections

“Comey Forcefully Defends ‘Painful’ Decision on Clinton Probe” by Josh Gerstein and Austin Wright for Politico

Campaign Finance

“Secret Audit Left D.C. Voters ‘In the Dark.’ Now It Stirs Talk of Election Reform” by Aaron Davis for Washington Post

Canada: “PM No Longer Under Investigation for Cash-for-Access Fundraisers, but Ethics Commissioner Won’t Say Why” by Zane Schwartz for National Post

Massachusetts: “Can a Congressman Use Campaign Funds to Give You Free T Rides?” by Nicole Dungca for Boston Globe

Utah: “Utah Attorney General Makes a Trump Shortlist, and Donations Pour In” by Matt Apuzzo for New York Times

Ethics

“Ethics Office Details Conflict of Interest Rules for Ivanka Trump” by Olivia Beavers for The Hill

“Trump Starts Dismantling His Shadow Cabinet” by Michael Grunwald, Andrew Restuccia, and Josh Dawsey for Politico

Minnesota: “BCA to Investigate Bribery Solicitation Allegations Against St. Paul Mayoral Candidate Dai Thao’s Campaign” by Jessie Van Berkel for Minneapolis Star Tribune

New York: “Chaos at Rikers, but City Jails Chief Was Gone for 90 Days” by William Rashbaum and Michael Schwirtz for New York Times

Elections

“Emboldened by Trump but Divided by Generations, Democrats Look to 2020” by Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin for New York Times

On April 30, the Nova Scotia House of Assembly was dissolved in order to call a provincial general election.

The Chief Electoral Officer, Richard Temporale, issued writs of election for all of Nova Scotia’s 51 electoral districts.

The provincial general election will be held on Tuesday, May 30.

The 91^st General Assembly adjourned sine die on May 1, 2017. A half hour after adjourning, the Legislature convened a special session.

The special session was called to address approving authorization for Arkansas Works waivers, restructuring the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace, cleaning up medical marijuana laws, and boosting long-term reserve funding for Arkansas.

The special session is likely to adjourn by the end of the week.

Carol Williams, executive director of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, announced her retirement from the commission.

She will step down from her post in September, staying on to assist with primary elections for school boards and first class cities.

Williams has worked for the Ethics Commission since 1977 and has been the executive director since 1981.

On April 28, a three-judge panel issued an order in Gov. Roy Cooper’s legal challenge against Senate Bill 68 to put the law on hold until a further hearing on May 10.

The new law to combine state elections and ethics boards became law when the House and Senate voted to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 68.

Senate Bill 68 was a renewed effort to revamp the boards after a three-judge panel ruled that the General Assembly overstepped its state constitutional authority when it adopted Senate Bill 4 in 2016 to establish a similar bipartisan board to oversee elections and ethics.

The Montana Legislature adjourned the 2017 regular session April 28, 2017.  House Bill 340, eliminating the Office of the Commissioner of Political Practices, made it through the House but was tabled in the Senate and did not pass.

Senate Bill 368, increasing contribution limits for both individuals and political action committees and placing the Office of the Commissioner of Political Practices under the jurisdiction of the state Attorney General, passed at the last minute and will be sent to the Governor.

The Montana Legislature will pick up again in January 2019.

The Tennessee House voted unanimously last week to require legislators to disclose travel expenses provided by anyone with an interest in public policy if the travel was for the purpose of educating a legislator with respect to said policy.

The bill, as originally introduced, would cover national organizations such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), or other organizations where corporations provide scholarship funds for legislators to attend a conference.

The bill would require disclosure of the corporation or entity providing the scholarship or funding, but would not require specific dollar amounts.

The Senate passed an amendment to the House bill to exclude from the definition of travel expense any expense paid for by an organization of elected or appointed state government officials, or any other established and recognized organization serving as an umbrella organization for legislative officials and staff.

It has been placed back on the House calendar for early May.

The North Dakota Legislature adjourned its legislative session on April 27.

The session lasted 77 days, ending ahead of the 80-day maximum set by the Constitution.

Lawmakers approved a $13.6 billion budget for the 2017-2019 biennium before adjourning.

On April 27, leaders of the Utah Republican and Democratic parties sent a joint letter to Gov. Gary Herbert requesting a special session to clarify state law on calling a special election for a U.S. House member midterm.

Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz announced he will not run for office in 2018, and will likely step down before his current term ends. Current law says the governor shall call a special election for a U.S. House vacancy, but does not lay out any details for the process.

Gov. Herbert does not believe a special session is necessary and believes some state lawmakers could have a vested interest in amending the law in order to increase their own chances to win the seat.

Members of the Legislature stated they want to offer their perspective to Herbert to show it is a bipartisan effort to work towards a process needing to be put in place.

On April 25, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Gary Peters introduced legislation designed to help small businesses registering to procure federal contracts.

Senate Bill 938, the Procurement Fraud Prevent Act, would require small businesses, when registering to contract with the federal government, to be notified of free federal program assistance when procuring federal contracts. These federal programs include the Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, the Small Business Administration, and the Minority Business Development Agency.

“Our legislation would ensure that more small businesses are aware of the free tools and resources already available to them so they can focus on making competitive bids, growing their companies, and creating jobs in their communities,” said Collins in a press release.