Lobbying

“Trump’s Lobbying Ban Might Actually Make Corruption Worse” by Tim LaPira and Herschel Thomas for Washington Post

Florida: “A Liberal Leader from Tallahassee’s Past Praises GOP Speaker’s Call for Change” by Steve Bousquet for Tampa Bay Times

New York: “Emails Released by Mayor de Blasio’s Office Detail Reliance on Outside ‘Agents’” by J. David Goodman for New York Times

Oklahoma: “Gov. Mary Fallin Used Private Email to Set Up Meeting with Lobbyist” by Phil Cross for KOKH

Campaign Finance

District of Columbia: “D.C. Council to Debate Emergency Legislation on Campaign Finance Reform” by Jasper Scherer for Washington Post

Virginia: “Special Interests Spend Millions to Pay Virginia Legislators’ Bills” by Dave Ress for The Daily Press

Ethics

Iowa: “Daugaard Favors Repeal of New Ethics Law” by James Nord (Associated Press) for Rapid City Journal

Elections

“Clinton Campaign Will Participate in Wisconsin Recount, with an Eye on ‘Outside Interference,’ Lawyer Says” by Matt Zapotosky for Washington Post

“Donald Trump’s Early Backers in State Government May See Rewards” by Monica Davey for New York Times

Legislative Issues

Maine: “Maine Lawmakers Say Trips at Taxpayer Expense Are Vital” by Scott Thistle for Portland Press Herald

D.C. Council Member Kenyan McDuffie announced his plan to introduce emergency legislation to ban contributions to political action committees during non-election years.

There are currently other bills pending before the council that also seek to close this same campaign finance loophole, but they only had their first public hearings Nov. 16 and are unlikely to pass before the start of 2017.

McDuffie’s emergency bill would bypass many of the steps ordinarily required.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives cancelled a non-voting session day scheduled for Nov. 22, 2016, effectively ending the 2015-2016 legislative session.

Adjournment sine die does not technically take place until Nov. 30; however, both chambers have completed their work. Lawmakers will reconvene for the next legislative session on Jan. 3, 2017.

A group of Republican lawmakers filed a lawsuit in state court Wednesday, Nov. 23, to block the government ethics overhaul recently approved by voters.

The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of Initiated Measure 22, which became effective last week restricting campaign contributions and gifts from lobbyists. Gov. Dennis Daugaard says he supports repeal of the measure and he will not include money in his budget for the public campaign finance system called for by the new law.

Lobby Comply Blog will return on Monday, November 28, 2016. Enjoy your holiday!

Both chambers of the Florida Legislature held organizational sessions yesterday, Nov. 22, 2016. Agenda items included selection of House and Senate leadership, administering the oath of office for new members and approving the rules governing the upcoming session.

Newly minted Speaker Richard Corcoran’s agenda to reduce the influence of lobbyists will take effect during the next session through the approved House Rules. Among the changes, lobbyists are now required to disclose the issues they are lobbying by filing an electronic notice of appearance; former members of the Legislature are prohibited from lobbying the House for six years; and no member of the House may accept private plane travel from a lobbyist or a corporation employing lobbyists.

The Senate also passed its rules but did not make such sweeping changes.

The 2016 election was about a lot more than just a battle between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Across the country, states asked voters to consider a variety of ballot measures, including a few campaign finance issues. At the 2016 National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) State Vote seminar held in Washington, D.C., Wendy Underhill recapped a number of those issues and the decisions that voters made on Nov. 8.

Both California and Washington held votes related to the United States Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United vs. FEC. Voters approved ballot measures that urged government leaders to use their power to work to overturn the Supreme Court’s ruling, possibly through a constitutional amendment, if possible.

In Missouri, voters approved an initiative establishing limits on campaign contributions to candidates for state or judicial office; while in South Dakota, voters approved an initiative to create a publicly funded campaign finance program and an ethics commission.

For more from the NCSL State Vote seminar you can view some of the presentation slides here. To see a list of ballot measure election results of interest to government relations professionals, take a look at our 2016 election dashboard.

Yesterday, Gov. Pat McCrory formally requested a recount in his race for governor against Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper.

Cooper has already declared victory, but with the race within 10,000 votes, McCrory is not conceding and there is no answer to when the race will officially end. This week, the head of the conservative group Civitas Institute filed a federal lawsuit to block the counting of votes cast using same-day registration on Election Day. McCrory has also filed challenges in many counties alleging voter fraud, claiming ballots were cast by dead people and felons.

Lobbying

Indiana: “Holcomb Transition Team Enjoys Pacers Game at Team’s Expense” by Leslie Weidenbener for Indianapolis Business Journal

Oregon: “Governor’s Respected Energy Chief to Step Down, Partly Because of Lobbyist Influence” by Scott Thistle and Tux Turkel for Portland Press Herald

Campaign Finance

“FEC Questions Trump Donations Worth $1.3M” by Mark Hensch for The Hill

New York: “City Council Hears Legislative Package on Conflicts of Interest and Campaign Finance” by Samar Khursid for Gotham Gazette

Washington: “GMO Labeling Supporters Fined $320K Over Campaign Disclosure” by the Associated Press for KOMO

Ethics

“Trump Drops Threat of New Hillary Clinton Investigation” by Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael D. Shear for The New York Times

“Trump Foundation Admits to Violating Ban on ‘Self-Dealing’’ New Filing to IRS Shows” by David Fahrenthold for The Washington Post

Missouri: “Columbia Lawmaker Proposes Ethics Bills in Response to Greitens’ Campaign Promises” by Brittany Ruess for Columbia Daily Tribune

New York: “Percoco, Kaloyeros, Six Others Indicted” by Casey Seiler for Albany Times Union

Pennsylvania: “Pittsburgh’s Revamped Ethics Board Up, Running” by Bob Bauder for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Elections

North Carolina: “North Carolina Governor Alleges Voter Fraud in Bid to Hang On” by Elena Schneider for Politico

Wisconsin: “Many in Milwaukee Neighborhood Didn’t Vote – and Don’t Regret It” by Sabrina Tavernise for The New York Times

Redistricting

Wisconsin: “Judges Find Wisconsin Redistricting Unfairly Favored Republicans” by Michael Wines for The New York Times

On Nov. 17, California’s Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) approved regulations to make biennial cost of living adjustments to campaign contribution and gift limits that will apply from Jan. 1, 2017, through Dec. 31, 2018.

The newly amended regulations change the gift limit from $460 to $470 and makes increases to campaign contribution limits.

Since pre-filing began for the 2017 Arkansas legislative session, multiple measures have been introduced regarding lobbying, ethics and campaign finance.

If passed, measures introduced in the House would require reporting and disclosure of electioneering communications and covered transfers (House Bill 1005), prevent a member of the General Assembly from forming more than one political action committee (PAC) as either a registered agent or an officer (House Bill 1009), require the Secretary of State to make independent expenditures and PAC reports public (House Bill 1010), prohibit PAC-to-PAC transfers (House Bill 1011)  and ban direct contributions to candidates from PACs (House Bill 1012). Several measures introduced in the Senate mirror the House bills.

Additionally, bills introduced in the Senate would bar soliciting or accepting campaign contributions before the expiration of the immediately preceding general election (Senate Bill 2), prohibit elected officials from registering as a lobbyist while serving as an elected state official (Senate Bill 3) and ban constitutional officers, like the governor, from soliciting or accepting loans from lobbyists (Senate Bill 7).

Gov. Robert Bentley is considering a special session to address funding for four new super prisons. Bentley may call the special session within or right before the 2017 session.

Despite Bentley’s failure to pass his $800 million prison plan last year, he hopes a special session will address the issues of overcrowding and violence against officers at state prisons.

A special session may be called for the New York Legislature this December.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants a special session to pass a series of ethics reforms he proposed in a statement released on Nov. 16, 2016. Lawmakers are against a special session, but Cuomo is hoping to entice state legislators to return to the capital by promising a modest salary increase.

Lobbying

“White Nationalists Dress Up and Come to Washington in Hopes of Influencing Trump” by Lisa Mascaro for Los Angeles Times

“Groups Ease Off Events for Lawmakers Under New Lobbying Law” by James Nord (Associated Press) for The Washington Times

Campaign Finance

“FEC Deadlocks, Won’t Investigate Dark Money Group That Spent All Its Funds On an Election” by Robert Maguire for Center for Responsive Politics

California: “Did Money Buy California Ballot Measure Contests?” by Taryn Luna for The Sacramento Bee

Kentucky: “State Agencies Investigate Political Donations Raised by Tim Longmeyer, Others” by John Cheves for Lexington Herald-Leader

Ethics

“Ethics Watchdog Updates Gift Rules for Federal Workers” by Megan Wilson for The Hill

“A Scramble to Assess the Dangers of President-elect Donald Trump’s Global Business Empire” by Drew Harwell and Anu Narayanswamy for The Washington Post

Arkansas: “Lawmakers File Bills on Ethics, Taxes, Sessions” by John Lyon (Arkansas News Bureau) for The Times Record

Florida: “Convicted Opa-locka City Manager Gets 3 Years in Prison for Taking Bribes” by Jay Weaver and Michael Sallah for Miami Herald

Pennsylvania: “Mastery Charter Schools to Pay $2,000 to Settle City Ethics Complaint” by Martha Woodall for Philadelphia Inquirer

Elections

“Underestimating the Unconventional” by Susan Milligan for U.S. News and World Report