Today, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed Senate Bill 8160, part of his five-point ethics reform package introduced earlier this year. Effective immediately, individuals working in public relations are no longer required to register or report as lobbyists.

Other major changes to lobbying law will take effect 30 days from today. The most important of these changes are: lobbyists and lobbyist employers will face lower reporting thresholds, and 501(c)(4) organizations engaged in lobbying activity will be required to disclose all donors, including 501(c)(3) organizations.

In the realm of campaign finance, the new reform provides definitions and permissible actions for two types of political committees and increased disclosure from PACs.

Campaign Finance

“Study: Outside groups, secret money far more prominent than ever before” by Robert Maguire for Center for Responsive Politics

“Inside the Exclusive Events Helping to Fund Clinton and the Democratic Party” by Matea Gold and John Wagner for Washington Post

“Donald Trump Is Finally Raising Money. So Why Isn’t He Spending It?” by Matea Gold and Anu Narayanswamy for Washington Post

Missouri: “Campaign Limits Ballot Question Challenged” by Kurt Erickson for St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Wisconsin: “Ethics Commission Will Be Able to Make Political Donations” by Scott Bauer (Associated Press) for Minneapolis Star Tribune

Ethics

Connecticut: “Questions Raised About State Education Officials’ Roles in Their Children’s Hiring” by Jon Lender for Hartford Courant

New York: “Cuomo Signs Ethics Bill, with Few Cheers” by Chris Bragg in Albany Times Union

Pennsylvania: “Political Operative Gets Probation for Role in Chaka Fattah’s Corruption Case” by Jeff Gammage for Philadelphia Inquirer

Elections

“Federal Appeals Court Says No to Restoring Extra Days of Early Voting in Ohio” by Mark Berman for Washington Post

The Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council has opened up its proposed forms for public comment. The proposed forms include the lobbyist disclosure statement and instructions for fulfilling disclosure requirements.

The council was required, pursuant to the passage of Senate Bill 692, to create new forms for use by lobbyists and public officials who are required to make public disclosures. Creating the new forms must be completed by January 1, 2017.

Those wishing to comment may do so through September 18 by emailing the council at ethics@dls.virginia.gov and writing “Public Comment” in the subject line.

Missouri Sen. Bob Dixon wants Gov. Jay Nixon to call a special session to close a loophole in the state’s drunk driving law and to ask the Legislature to support a pilot program for the Missouri Public Defender System.

If the drunk driving loophole is not addressed, thousands of drunk drivers could be released on a technicality or given a lesser charge because of a mistake in the law regarding how breathalyzer equipment is calibrated.

Dixon is asking for the special session to occur next to the Legislature’s veto session. The veto session begins September 14.

Gov. Nixon has not yet commented on whether he will call a special session.

Photo of the Missouri State Capitol by Nickbigd on Wikimedia Commons.

A candidate who lost the Democratic primary for a Missouri House seat is challenging the primary election results.

Bruce Franks lost the primary in the 78th District to Penny Hubbard by roughly 90 votes. Franks won the in-person vote, and Hubbard’s margin of victory came solely from absentee ballots.

Franks filed suit last week alleging some people who cast absentee ballots did not qualify to apply for them. On Monday, a judge issued a stay in the case and deemed the lawsuit premature because the secretary of state has not yet certified the official election results.

This is potentially problematic for Franks, as state law requires all primary election challenges to wrap up by the end of August. If a special election is ordered, it must occur within 30 days of an order being issued. Furthermore, candidates may not be placed on a general election ballot less than six weeks prior to the election. Even if his challenge is successful, Bruce Franks would need to be certified the primary winner by September 27 to be placed on the general ballot.

Members of the Wisconsin Ethics Commission are now able to make political contributions to candidates.

The commission is comprised of partisan appointees selected by legislative leaders and the governor; it replaced the Government Accountability Board. The previous board was nonpartisan and, therefore, members were officially barred from giving to candidates.

In a meeting yesterday, only two of the commission’s six members voted to consider a ban on contributions. As a result, no final vote was taken.

Lobbying

New York: “NY State Ethics Watchdog Investigating Nonprofit with Ties to Large Corporate Political Donor” by Larry Kaplan for Nonprofit Quarterly

Campaign Finance

“Sanders’ New Group Exempt from Campaign Finance Laws” by Jasper Craven for VTDigger.org

Florida: “On 2nd Try, Miami-Dade Commissioners Approve Petition Count” by Douglas Hanks for Miami Herald

Ethics

Connecticut: “Malloy Releases Funds Withheld from CT Watchdog Agencies” by Keith Phaneuf for CT Mirror

Indiana: “FBI Looking for Foul Play in Creation of Indiana Vaping Law” by Tony Cook for Indianapolis Star

Elections

“Hillary Clinton’s 15,000 New Emails to Get Timetable for Release” by Mark Lander and Steven Lee Myers for New York Times

“Racism and Talk of Religious War: Trump staff’s online posts” by Jeff Horwitz (Associated Press) for Philadelphia Inquirer

Virginia: “McAuliffe Restores Voting Rights to 13,000 Felons” by Laura Vozzella for Washington Post

Legislative Issues

“Inside the Conservative Push for States to Amend the Constitution” by Michael Wines for New York Times

On August 22, Government House Leader Yasir Naqvi released proposed amendments to a campaign finance reform bill the Ontario Legislative Assembly has been considering this session. The Election Finances Statute Law Amendment Act, 2016, Bill 201, was introduced on May 17.

Changes in the newly proposed amendments include lower contribution limits. However, the amendments do not address the “cash-for-access system” that allows those making large political contribution to have personal and interactive contact, such as dinners, with public officials, according to The Globe and Mail. The bill has been considered since June by the Standing Committee on General Government. This and other amendments are expected to be debated in the coming weeks.

Photo of the Ontario Legislature by Antoien Cadotte on Wikimedia Commons.

Recently introduced legislation could eliminate unnecessary elections if only one person is on the ballot.

The special primary set for September 13, for example, will cost taxpayers $500,000 despite there being only one person on the ballot to become the Democratic nominee going into the November special general election.

Ohio Sen. Frank LaRose, who introduced Senate Bill 347, believes forcing county boards of elections to hold uncontested primary elections is a waste of both time and resources. His proposal would remove the requirement to hold a primary when only one candidate is certified and would allow the secretary of state to declare the lone candidate the party’s nominee.

On August 18, an ordinance revising the lobbying law for the city of Austin, Texas, met with preliminary approval from the City Council. The new proposed law repeals and replaces Chapter 4-8 of the city’s code relating to the regulation of lobbyists.

The draft ordinance was approved on a first reading only and will require at least two more approvals from the City Council to become law. The City Council is next meeting again on September 1, but the proposed ordinance is not yet on the council’s agenda for that date. The ordinance may be addressed later in the year following the adoption of the city budget in mid-September, according to the Austin Monitor.

If passed as currently drafted, the new ordinance would take effect on January 1, 2017.

Photo of the Austin, Texas skyline by Argash on Wikimedia Commons.

Saskatchewan’s Lobbyist Act is officially effective today. Under the Act, people who are paid to lobby elected Saskatchewan government members and civil servants must register their activities.

Lobbyists have 30 days to register with the new online database which launched today at https://www.sasklobbyistregistry.ca.

Lobbying

“Signs Suggest Hillary Clinton May Be More Open to Lobbyists in Her Administration” by Catherine Ho for Washington Post

“The Lobbying Law at the Center of Manafort’s Trouble with Ukraine” by Megan Wilson for The Hill

Missouri: “Republican Resigns from Missouri House to Avoid Waiting Period to Lobby” by Jason Hancock for Kansas City Star

Campaign Finance

“FEC to Fight Fake Candidates Like ‘Deez Nuts’” by Mark Hensch for The Hill

California: “Little-Regulated Accounts Offer a Path to Political Clout in Sacramento” by Jessica Calefati and Kaitlyn Landgraf (Bay Area News Group) for Marin Independent Journal

Massachusetts: “Donors Behind Charter Push Keep to the Shadows” by Michael Levenson for Boston Globe

New York: “For 2017 Effect, Time Running Out for Campaign Finance Bills in Limbo” by Samar Khurshid for Gotham Gazette

Ethics

“Foundation Ties Bedevil Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Campaign” by Amy Chozick and Steve Eder for New York Times

“Power Opens Door to Sexual Harassment” by Dave Boucher and Joel Ebert for The Tennessean

Elections

“Trump’s Empire: A maze of debts and opaque ties” by Susanne Craig for New York Times

The Legislative Ethics Board will consider whether lawmakers need to file fundraising reports for money received to attend national political conventions as delegates.

Some lawmakers attending this summer’s political conventions as delegates raised money to help fund their attendance at the conventions through crowdsourcing sites such as GoFundMe. Informal advice earlier this year provided to lawmakers said that such donations did not violate ethics rules and did not need to be reported.

The Legislative Ethics Board is expected to review the matter in October.

Photo of the Washington State Capitol by Tradnor on Wikimedia Commons.

Americans for Prosperity, a political advocacy group backed by the Koch brothers, launched an aggressive campaign to defeat South Dakota’s Initiated Measure 22.

IM 22 will appear on the November ballot and seeks to revise state campaign finance and lobbying laws to increase transparency.

Americans for Prosperity successfully worked in the past to block other measures requiring disclosure of contributor identities in states including Georgia and California.