St. Louis aldermen advanced Board Bill 53 out of committee on Tuesday, September 20.

The bill would limit contributions to municipal candidates to $10,000 per city election cycle. Such a limit is nearly four times the proposed state candidate contribution limit currently slated for the November ballot.

A final vote on the municipal measure is expected as early as October. The board bill, if passed, would take effect April 6, 2017.

Photo of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis by Daniel Schwen in Wikimedia Commons.

With the court battle over for the time being, a ballot issue affecting campaign finance and ethics laws in Miami-Dade County will not appear on the ballot this November.

Earlier this month, the county appealed a circuit court’s order requiring the measure be placed on the ballot. The 3rd District Court of Appeal reversed the lower court this week, stating the County Commission acted within its authority to block the measure after determining it was not sufficient.

The appeals court left open the possibility of a challenge of the commission’s conclusion. An Accountable Miami-Dade, however, issued a statement following the ruling vowing to continue the fight in a future election.

West Virginia’s special session adjourned sine die on September 20, 2016.

Lawmakers approved a bill allocating $85 million for flood relief and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed the bill yesterday.

Flood recovery is estimated to cost $339 million, with Federal Emergency Management Agency covering the majority of those costs.

Lobbying

“Boehner Joins Influential K Street Firm” by Kate Ackley for Roll Call

Massachusetts: “Business Lobby Holds New Sway on Beacon Hill” by Frank Phillips for Boston Globe

Campaign Finance

“Court Rules against FEC in Ad Case” by Jonathan Swan for The Hill

District of Columbia: “No Jail Time for Key Figure in ‘Shadow Campaign’ for Former D.C. Mayor” by Ann Marimow for Washington Post

Missouri: “Campaign Contributions Limit Amendment to Appear on Missouri Ballot” by Jason Hancock for Kansas City Star

Tennessee: “Speaker Harwell: Need to change campaign investment loophole” by Dave Boucher and Joel Ebert for The Tennessean

Wisconsin: “An Inside Look at How Politicians Beg for Big Checks” by Matea Gold for Washington Post

Ethics

“Trump Used $258,000 from His Charity to Settle Legal Problems” by David Fahrenthold for Washington Post

West Virginia: “City Councilman’s Meeting with Construction Company Raises Ethics Questions” by Abigail Darlington for Charleston Post and Courier

Elections

“Gaming the Six-Week Election Day” by Sasha Issenberg and Steven Yaccino for Bloomberg.com

With the Missouri Supreme Court denying an appeal of two lower court rulings, a constitutional amendment reinstating campaign contribution limits will appear on the November ballot. State contribution limits, originally approved by voters in 1994, were repealed by the General Assembly in 2008.

If passed, the 2016 ballot measure would ban direct corporate and labor union contributions and limit individual and committee contributions to statewide candidates to $2,600 per election. Contributions to political parties would be capped at $25,000 per election.

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend this year’s 46^th Annual Legislative Conference hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF).  The theme of this year’s conference, held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, was “Defining the Moment, Building the Movement.”

Once again, the CBCF provided an opportunity for attendees to gain important, relevant, and timely information on a variety of topics, particularly the upcoming 2016 presidential election! In addition, this year’s conference provided a great opportunity for networking and saying hello to some old friends, while making some new ones along the way.

For more information on the Annual Legislative Conference and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, please go to www.cbcfinc.org.

Lobbying

Tennessee: “Memphis Lawmaker Defends Decision to Accept Free Trip to Europe” by Jody Callaham for The Tennessean

Campaign Finance

“MLB a Little Late to the Game with FEC Filings” by Ashley Balcerzak for Center for Responsive Politics

“Trump Shatters GOP Records with Small Donors” by Shane Goldmacher for Politico

New York: “Campaign Finance Board Considers Rules Changes, Including Controversial ‘Coordination’ Proposal” by Samar Khurshid for Gotham Gazette

Ethics

California: “Former L.A. Coliseum Executive Sentenced to Jail in Corruption Case” by Joseph Serna and Rong-Gong Lin II for Los Angeles Times

Florida: “Opa-locka Lawsuit Describes Sordid World of Threats, Shakedowns” by Michael Sallah and Jay Weaver for Miami Herald

New Jersey: “U.S. Says for First Time That Christie Knew of Bridge Plot” by David Voreacos and Elise Young for Bloomberg.com

Elections

“Some Republicans Acknowledge Leveraging Voter ID Laws for Political Gain” by Michael Wines for New York Times

“Donald Trump’s Anything-Goes Campaign Sets an Alarming Political Precedent” by Jonathan Martin for New York Times

State Sen. Joe Seng lost his battle with brain cancer on September 16, 2016.

Seng was elected to represent District 45 for the fourth time in 2014.

As Seng’s seat was not up for election this year, a special election will need to be called to fill his remaining term.

Today, the Texas Ethics Commission will ask the Legislative Budget Board for an increase in appropriations to fund possible future litigation, according to the San Antonio Express News.

The Ethics Commission is unsure if Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office will defend the agency in future litigation, according to the commission’s appropriations request. In April, the attorney general’s office refused to provide legal representation for the commission in a lawsuit challenging a law prohibiting the use of audio and video recordings from the House and Senate floors being used in political advertising, according to the News.

In the request, the commission states, “The Commission does not know whether future requests for representation will be declined by the Office of the Attorney General and wants to be financially prepared to retain outside counsel to defend the constitutionality of laws passed by the legislature.”

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin called a special legislative session that began September 18, 2016.

The session is expected to run through September 20 and is limited in scope to the issue of authorizing funds to cover flood recovery costs.

This is West Virginia’s second special session held in 2016.

The Hawaii Senate convened a third special session last week to confirm two judicial appointments.

The Senate confirmed one judicial appointment for the District Family Court of the Third Circuit and another for the District Court of the Fifth Circuit.

The two-day special session began Tuesday and adjourned Wednesday, September 14.

Lobbying

“Chaka Fattah’s K Street Friends Stand by Him” by Sean McMinn for Roll Call

“Nonprofit Seeks to Crowdfund Lobbying” by Megan Wilson for The Hill

Campaign Finance

“Whom to Vote for? Employees Tend to Follow Their Leader” by Andrew Ross Sorkin for New York Times

“New Records Shed Light on Donald Trump’s $25,000 Gift to Florida Official” by Kevin Sack and Steve Eder for New York Times

Florida: “Appeals Court Declines to Put Campaign-Finance Rules on Ballot” by Douglas Hanks for Miami Herald

Ethics

“White House Women Want to Be in The Room Where It Happens” by Juliet Eilperin for Washington Post

Connecticut: “Wade to Recuse Herself from Anthem-Cigna Review” by Mark Pazniokas for Connecticut Mirror

Elections

“Sowing Doubt Is Seen as Prime Danger in Hacking Voting System” by David Sanger and Charlie Savage for New York Times

“Clinton Campaign Releases Doctor’s Letter Describing ‘Mild’ Pneumonia” by Abby Phillip and Anne Gearan for Washington Post

Virginia: “Va. Supreme Court Finds McAuliffe Not in Contempt on Felon Voting Actions” by Laura Vozzella for Washington Post

Legislative Issues

“Why the U.S. Economy Lags: It’s the politics, stupid” by Paul Davidson for USA Today

Cleveland City Council approved a proposal this week to put a minimum wage increase before the voters in a 2017 special election.

If passed by the voters, the proposal would increase the city minimum wage to $12 per hour in January 2018 and increase the wage $1 annually thereafter for three additional years.

The issue will appear on the ballot on May 2, 2017.

Photo of the Cleveland skyline by Eric Drost in Wikimedia Commons.

On September 15, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) was unable to agree on a policy to clarify when and if a U.S. domestic subsidiary corporation of a foreign national is illegally involved in political activity.

Federal law prohibits foreign nationals from directly or indirectly making contributions, donations, expenditures, independent expenditures, and disbursements in connection with federal, state, or local elections. FEC regulations also prohibit foreign nationals from directing, controlling, or participating in the decision-making process of any person, such as a corporation, with regards to decisions concerning the making of contributions, donations, expenditures, or disbursements in connection with elections in the U.S.

Additionally, the FEC was unable to reach an agreement on the creation of a safe harbor for political committees to accept corporate contributions deemed not to have come from foreign national sources.