The Mission of State and Federal Communications is to make sure that your organization can say, “I Comply.”

We are the leading authority and exclusive information source on legislation and regulations surrounding campaign finance and political contributions; state, federal, and municipal lobbying; and procurement lobbying.

Contact us to learn how conveniently our services will allow you to say “I Comply” for your compliance activities.

http://www.stateandfed.com/

The Board of Supervisors has adopted a Lobbyist Ordinance to regulate any person who contacts certain county officials with the purpose of promoting, supporting, modifying, opposing, or causing delay or abandonment of conduct. Ordinance No. NS-19-42 regulates contract lobbyists, in-house lobbyists, lobbying firms, and expenditure filers who influence policy without directly contacting officials.

Legislative, procurement, and grassroots activity is covered by the ordinance, which specifically provides for the possibility a political action committee will qualify as an in-house lobbyist.

Registration and disclosure forms will be available when the ordinance becomes effective on March 27, 2014.

Here is our March – April calendar. State and Federal Communications will be attending these events. If you plan to be there as well, be sure to say hello!

March 3-6   PAC National Conference, Miami Beach, Florida

March 16-19   NASPO Marketing to State Governments, San Diego, California

April 7-8   PAC Spring Executive Meeting, Washington, D.C.

April 9-11   SGAC Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California

April 30 – May 2   OSBA Convention, Columbus, OH

For those of you who read this column regularly, you know I like my music.

Call me (call me) on the line
Call me, call me any, any anytime
Call me (call me) I’ll arrive
You can call me any day or night
Call me!

In this instance, we want you to call Elliott Postlewait, our marketing assistant. He is the #1 person who can help you navigate through our website. Our goal is to make sure all of our subscribers have everyone on staff understand the value received from State and Federal Communications. We are not just Compliance Now, Lobby Comply, Summary of Changes, or News You Can Use. We do a lot more than just post on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Our website, www.stateandfed.com, is full of all of the information you need to handle compliance in your government relations or legal offices for lobbying, campaign finance, procurement, pay-to-play, and gift laws in the 50 states, District of Columbia, Federal, more than 250 municipalities, and Canada.

Give Elliott Postlewait a call at 330-761-9960 or e-mail him at epostlewait@stateandfed.com and set up a time for a call with your team. Call him, call him any anytime.

Until next month, take the time to take a drive through our website…Elliott will help you maneuver through our site.

Thank you,

Elizabeth Z. Bartz
President and CEO
@elizabethbartz

A group billing itself as “the first nationwide super PAC focused on electing Democratic state legislators and other political leaders to build middle-class economic security” is challenging Pennsylvania’s ban on corporate and labor union contributions. General Majority PAC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in late February, alleging the prohibition on PACs from receiving corporate and labor union contributions to make independent expenditures chills its free speech rights and is contrary to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling.

Given the short amount of time until Pennsylvania’s primary election, the group also requested an injunction to immediately suspend the law so it may begin operating in Pennsylvania as soon as possible. General Majority made clear it intends to register as a Pennsylvania PAC upon reaching the state’s registration threshold, and will not coordinate with any state candidates or party committees.

Lobbying

“Bottom Line” in The Hill.

“Wyden’s rise starts K Street bidding war” by Megan R. Wilson and Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

“Hollywood’s Top Lobbying Group Is Sponsoring CPAC” by Nikki Schwab in U.S. News & World Report.

Campaign Finance

Florida: “More Ads in Florida Push Independent Expenditures above $7.5 million” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

Ethics

California: “California lawmakers report meals, sports tickets, other gifts” by Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times.

New Jersey: “Port Authority chairman hit with ethics complaint by NJ Working Families Alliance” by Steve Strunsky in The Star-Ledger.

Vermont: “Vermont House working on ethics rules” by Nancy Remsen in the Burlington Free Press.

Congress

“Snow Delays Senate Votes for Another Day” by Niels Lesniewski in Roll Call.

State Legislative Sessions

Florida: “A viewers’ guide to the 2014 Florida Legislature session” by Steve Bousquet in the Miami Herald.

Kansas: “Kansas lawmakers taking a break from session” by The Associated Press on KAKE News.

Utah: “Nine days remain in productive legislative session” by Billy Hextra in the Daily Herald.

Wyoming: “Bill on special legislative session to deal with fallout from Supreme Court decision dies” by Bob Moen (Associated Press) in The Republic.

Elections

Texas: “What to Watch in the Texas Primary” by Ross Ramsey in Governing.

Trenton Mayor Tony Mack was removed from office February 26 after a jury found him guilty of crimes of dishonesty. Mack is ineligible to hold public office in the future and lost his tax-payer funded pension.

City Council President George Muschal was sworn in as acting mayor just hours after a judge ordered Mack’s removal. Although he is willing to serve out Mack’s term, Muschal made it clear he does not intend to run in the regularly scheduled mayoral election on May 13. He plans to spend the next few months working with the state, including Gov. Chris Christie, to facilitate positive change for the city.

After he took office in 2010, Mack’s administration clouded the city in a haze of corruption, cronyism, high crime rates, and financial mismanagement. Mack was convicted February 7 of six counts of bribery, fraud, and extortion; his sentencing is scheduled for May 14 in federal court.

The Ethics Commission will be holding a series of workshops over the next few months to receive input concerning proposed amendments to campaign laws. The suggested reforms include classifying the duplication of candidates’ campaign materials as nonmonetary contributions instead of independent expenditures.

In addition, the commission seeks to curb the practice of making independent expenditures on credit so as to delay disclosure of donors who verbally agree to pay the debt after the election.

Commission staff researched and produced a report to be discussed at the next commission meeting on Thursday, March 13, 2014. The report is available here.

Virginia’s lack of gift laws has been thrown into the spotlight recently with the federal indictment of former Gov. Bob McDonnell. McDonnell became embroiled in scandal after accepting gifts worth thousands of dollars from Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams. While state law required all gifts of more than $50 to be disclosed, there was no limit on what a public official could accept from any donor. Williams also gave gifts to McDonnell’s wife and daughters; these gifts went undisclosed because state law does not require gifts to officials’ family members to be disclosed.

The national attention on Virginia has turned the tide in favor of ethics reform. Several ethics bills filed before the session convened on January 8 have now been incorporated into Senate Bill 649. This comprehensive bill prohibits gifts of more than $250 from lobbyists, requires reporting of gifts to immediate family members, changes lobbyist reporting from annual to semiannual, and establishes the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council, a newly created legislative agency tasked with facilitating compliance with the state’s ethics laws. The bill passed the Senate on February 10 and the House of Delegates with a substitution and amendments on February 26, but the Senate rejected the House’s amended bill on February 28.

While it remains to be seen whether the General Assembly will pass ethics reform before it adjourns on March 8, newly sworn-in Gov. Terry McAuliffe took swift action to ensure his administration would not face the same ethical issues as McDonnell’s had. On his first day as governor, McAuliffe signed Executive Order 2, which prohibits the acceptance of gifts in the executive branch exceeding $100 per calendar year. The order became effective immediately upon his signature. Gifts from lobbyists and principals are now restricted to $25. The order does allow for some exceptions, such as excluding items of $25 or less from the definition of gift. It also allows the receipt of certain items while engaging in an activity serving a legitimate public purpose, such as food and refreshments served at certain events.

Q. My company is planning to get more engaged on the local level. What are some things I need to consider?

A. There are many considerations for a company prior to engaging on the local level. To ensure you are in compliance while interacting with municipal officials, it is important to check whether the municipality has a lobbyist registration ordinance, gift rules, or a pay-to-play ordinance. These provisions, if present, will impact your ability to engage with municipal officials. Requiring lobbyists to register on the municipal level is a quickly emerging trend throughout the U.S. This trend is not just impacting individuals who engage in what is generally regarded as lobbying, but also affecting permitting, sales, and other business functions.

For example, in San Jose, California, lobbying includes attempting to influence the proposal, drafting, development, adoption, recommendation, or approval of any contract, permit, license, or hiring action. The proliferation of these types of provisions has made it such that applying for a building permit, attempting to contract with the state, or even attempting to influence the selection of a candidate to be hired may be considered lobbying depending on the jurisdiction and the circumstances. The broad application of lobbying ordinances in municipalities merits attention and consideration prior to engaging to ensure registration is completed if needed.

An additional consideration is whether your company belongs to any trade associations with a lobbying presence in the municipality. Trade associations can help facilitate introductions to key players. However, you must still pay attention to the lobbyist registration threshold. It is a common misconception that being in the presence of a registered lobbyist negates an individual’s registration requirement. This is very rarely the case and should not be relied upon as a general rule. For more information about local level lobbying, please visit our website, www.stateandfed.com.

You can directly submit questions for this feature, and we will select those most appropriate and answer them here. Send your questions to: marketing@stateandfed.com.

(We are always available to answer questions from clients that are specific to your needs, and we encourage you to continue to call or e-mail us with questions about your particular company or organization. As always, we will confidentially and directly provide answers or information you need.) Our replies to your questions are not legal advice. Instead, these replies represent our analysis of laws, rules, and regulations.

Lobbying

“Lobby shop strikes gold with Wyden hire” by Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.

“Comcast now a $19 million lobbying powerhouse” by Todd Shields, Stephanie Green and Laura Litvan (Bloomberg News) in the Chicago Tribune.

“David L. Cohen quite influential without being a ʹlobbyistʹ” by Jonathan Tamari in The Inquirer.

“Shadow lobbying spends three times more than traditional lobbying” in the AG Beat.

Massachusetts: “Lobbying Spending Increases Dramatically” by The Associated Press in WGBH.

Massachusetts: “Review: Mass. health lobby spent $100M since 2007” by Steve LeBlanc (Associated Press) in the Boston Globe.

New Mexico: “New Mexico Debates New Lobbyist Rules” by Liz Farmer in Governing.

Campaign Finance

“Supreme Court disrupted by protest over campaign finance ruling” by Al Kamen in The Washington Post.

“Hidden camera footage surfaces of Supreme Court debate” by Mario Trujillo in The Hill.

“Coming Soon from SCOTUS: Campaign Finance and Affirmative Action” by Damon root in Reason.

“Facing 140,000 Comments, Treasury Braces for IRS Hearing, Legal Fight” by Eliza Newlin Carney in Roll Call.

California: “Identity of Campaign Finance Scandal Informant Revealed” by Wendy fry on NBC 7 San Diego News.

Florida: “Why this Florida congressional race is one of the most expensive ever” by Amber Phillips in The Denver Post.

Florida: “Political campaign fundraisers lose the frills” by James L. Rosica in The Tampa Tribune.

Missouri: “Former St. Louis alderman fined for using campaign funds for personal use” by Nicholas J.C. Pistor in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Pennsylvania: “D.C.-based PAC sues, saying Pa. can’t ban campaign contributions” by Kate Giammarise in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Texas: “Interactive: Campaign Finance Viewer for March Primaries” by Ryan Murphy and Travis Swicegood in The Texas Tribune.

The Feds

“Washington-Area Federal Offices Are Closed Monday” by Kellie Lunney in Government Executive.

Ethics

Colorado: “Critics see proposed ethics commission cure as bad medicine” by John Tomasic and Tessa Cheek in the Colorado Independent.

Colorado: “Director Jane Feldman leaves Colorado Ethics Commission” by Lynn Bartels in The Denver Post.

South Carolina: “Ethics reform bill heads back to SC House without changes to legislative oversight of members” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

Jane Feldman is stepping down as Executive Director of the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission. She is the first and only director to serve, as the commission is a product of a 2006 ethics ballot measure.

Luis Toro, director of Colorado Ethics Watch, praised Feldman, calling her “the very model of a dedicated civil servant.”

While Feldman looks forward to retirement from state government, her critics claim she may simply be a scapegoat. Complaints brought the commission under public scrutiny, and a House committee will soon hear a bill concerning the commission’s procedural mechanisms. Meanwhile, the commission is investigating Gov. John Hickenlooper for alleged gift violations.

There is no word yet of a new Executive Director.

Lawmakers have passed a measure to keep the lieutenant governor’s office vacant until the November general election.

Senate Bill 139 allows Gov. Mike Beebe to postpone a special election for the vacancy left by former Lt. Gov. Mark Darr, who left office following $11,000 in fines for ethics violations.

The bill awaits Beebe’s signature.