Lobbying

“Longtime Business Lobbyist Laments Loss of ‘Smoke-Filled Rooms’ in Washington” by Carl Hulse for New York Times

Campaign Finance

Alaska: “New Alaska House leaders embrace loophole to raise campaign cash from lobbyists” by Nathaniel Herz for Alaska Dipatch News

Arizona: “Arizona Supreme Court to review Tom Horne’s campaign-finance case” by Bob Christie (Associated Press) for Arizona Republic

Massachusetts: “Campaign finance among bills passed” by Bob Katzen for Sentinel & Enterprise

New York: “De Blasio Is Fined $48,000 for Campaign Finance Violations” by J. David Goodman for New York Times

Ethics

“Trump’s billionaire-loaded cabinet will face a government ethics test after confirmation” by Kevin Hall for The Charlotte Observer

Illinois: “Lawmakers push package of ethics reform bills intended to mesh with Greitens’ goals” by Will Schmitt for Springfield News-Leader

South Carolina: “Companies say they weren’t trying to buy SC legislator’s influence” by Avery Wilks for SCNow

Elections

“North Carolina Governor Signs Bill Limiting His Successor’s Power” by Craig Jarvis for Governing

On Friday, December 16, Gov. Pat McCrory signed Senate Bill 4 into law. Senate Bill 4 merges the State Board of Elections with the State Ethics Commission and creates a new eight-member board split evenly between Republicans and Democrats.

The bill was introduced by Republicans in an attempt to limit the power of the executive branch before newly elected Democrats take power. Governor-elect Roy Cooper has stated that he plans to challenge the law in court as unconstitutional.

On December 16, the Commissioner of Political Practices’ proposed rule amendment increasing the threshold amount of payment triggering lobbyist and employer registration to $2,550 for 2017 and 2018 was adopted.

The payment threshold is adjusted by an inflation factor determined by the commissioner. The previous threshold amount was $2,500 for the calendar years 2015 and 2016.

See what’s happening in government relations this week in our News You Can Use Video Digest. Enjoy!

Several bills related to campaign finance were recently passed by the New York City Council.

Int. No. 1345-A will prohibit donations above $400 per year from people who are lobbyists, have city contracts, do business with the city, or non-governmental entities controlled by a local elected official or their agents. Int. No. 1352 will require a notice regarding the contribution limits for persons doing business with the city be provided to contributors. Additionally, Int. No. 1361-A will require contributions in a special election be counted towards the threshold for eligibility and matching for public funds candidates.

Some of the more technical bills will require public funds candidates to deposit contributions by a certain date (Int. No. 1351-A), mandate the Campaign Finance Board to prepare electronic disclosure reports to meet state disclosure requirements (Int. No. 1349-A), allow candidates to return campaign contributions to protect their reputational interest (Int. No. 1353-A), and require the doing business database to display the date a person is considered doing business with the city (Int. No. 1361).

The bills are awaiting the mayor’s signature and are effective as listed in the respective bills.

Yesterday, Senate Bill 4 passed in the North Carolina Senate with a 30-16 vote.

Senate Bill 4 seeks to merge the State Board of Elections with the State Ethics Commission and create a new eight-member board split evenly between Republicans and Democrats.

The bill is now headed to the House for consideration

Minutes before midnight on December 12, 2016, Citizens Union (CU) filed a complaint against the State of New York alleging a violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. CU seeks declaratory and injunctive relief from disclosure laws passed in June.

The new laws lowered the annual lobbying spending threshold from $50,000 to $15,000 for 501(c)4 organizations. Additionally, the new laws require 501(c)4 organizations to disclose donors who give more than $2,500. The complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

On Monday, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and retired State Senator and Judge Quentin L. Kopp filed a lawsuit in the Sacramento Superior Court seeking to invalidate Senate Bill 1107. SB 1107 was passed this fall and allows any municipality the option to create systems for publicly funded campaigns.

Prior to SB 1107, only six charter cities were allowed to offer limited public funds to match small campaign donations. The suit requests an injunction to stop the new provisions from taking effect on January 1, 2017. The plaintiffs are also requesting SB 1107 be ruled invalid and sent to voters on a statewide ballot.

On December 14, Portland City Council voted 3-2 to pass the Open and Accountable Elections package to create a public campaign finance matching system.

The publicly funded election system is modeled on New York City’s public campaign financing program. The city will provide matching funds to eligible candidates for mayor, city commissioner and auditor, with funding starting in 2019 for the 2020 election.

On December 15, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler announced his resignation. Wheeler will leave office on January 20, 2017, the date of the inauguration of president-elect Donald J. Trump.

Because Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel was not confirmed by the Senate for a new term and will not be with the FCC after January 3, until new commissioners are appointed, the FCC will have a 2-1 Republican majority on the day Trump is sworn in as president. The five-member FCC may only have three commissioners from a single political party. One of the responsibilities of the FCC is enforcement of broadcast political advertising.

Minutes after legislators finished work on a hurricane relief package in a two-day special session set by Gov. Pat McCrory, Republicans called a second special session Wednesday in an attempt to pass legislation to limit newly elected Democrats.

Most of the 21 bills introduced seek to limit the power of the executive branch. Senate Bill 4 would merge the State Board of Elections with the State Ethics Commission and create a new eight-member board split evenly between Republicans and Democrats. Current law gives a majority of the state elections board’s five members to the governor’s party.

Oral arguments were heard last week in a 2015 lawsuit filed in Massachusetts Suffolk County Superior Court challenging state laws allowing unions to make political contributions while barring corporations from doing the same.

The lawsuit is being brought by the Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation at the Goldwater Institute on behalf of two state business corporations against Michael Sullivan, the director of the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF), which enforces the law. In 1A AUTO, INC. v Sullivan, the plaintiffs allege, “There is no legitimate justification for allowing unions to contribute thousands of dollars to candidates, parties, and political committees, while completely banning any contributions from businesses.” The plaintiffs argue the law violates “equal protection, free speech, and free association protected by the Massachusetts and United States constitutions” and are seeking a permanent injunction preventing the OCPF from enforcing the law banning corporate contributions.

Both parties made their arguments on December 7 in front of Judge Paul Wilson, who will decide the previously filed motions for summary judgement.

Elections

“Stein Spent Nearly $1 Million of Recount Funds on Consultants, Staff, Admin Expenses” by Joe Schoffstall for The Washington Free Beacon

New Mexico: “Political Action Committees Spent Big in Closing Days of Election” by Morgan Lee (Associated Press) for Albuquerque Journal

Ethics

“Former Democratic Congressman Chaka Fattah Sentenced to Decade in Prison” by Deena Zaru for CNN

Connecticut: “Bilda, Hinchey to Face Ethics Hearings Over Derbygate” by Ryan Blessing for The Bulletin

New Hampshire: “Portsmouth Resident Tries Again With Ethics Complaint” by Jeff McMenemy for Seacoast Online

South Dakota: “Attorney General’s Office Pushes to Save Parts of Ethics Law” by The Associated Press for The Washington Times

Campaign Finance

Missouri: “KCMO Police Commissioner May Have Broken Missouri Law” by Andy Alcock for KHSB

New York: “Hearing Delayed in Staver-Sauer Case” by Andrew Setterholm for Post Bulletin

Wisconsin: “Report: PAC Spending on Wisconsin Legislative Races Soars in Wake of Campaign Finance Change” by Katelyn Ferral for The Capital Times

Legislative Issues

Missouri: “Missouri Democrats Push Anti-Corruption Agenda as Legislative Session Approaches” by Kurt Erickson for St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Lobbying

“Lobbying Muscle May Help Tech Titans Trump Trump” by Allan Holmes and Jared Bennett for Center for Public Integrity

Wisconsin state ethics commissioner Robert Kinney announced his resignation Monday. Kinney cited his disappointment in the agency as his reason for stepping down. He claims the relatively new Ethics Commission operates too secretly and does not adequately enforce ethics, campaign finance and lobbying rules.

Moreover, he contends several members of the commission demonstrate an obvious lack of commitment to the underlying purpose of the agency. In June, Gov. Scott Walker appointed Kinney from a pool of candidates provided by the Democratic Party.