New York Attorney General, Eric T. Schneiderman, issued a draft regulation that could lead to massive changes in the way political spending is disclosed. The proposed regulation would require any tax-exempt group that does business in the state to disclose what percentage of its total spending went to political activities.

This means that any group who spends money in New York in support or opposition of a candidate would be forced to disclose its spending. Further, once the group has spent over $10,000 for state elections, it will have to disclose each individual donor who gave $100 or more.

The proposed regulation does allow for a waiver to be granted if the group feels that disclosure of names could lead to serious threats or harassment. The proposal calls for disclosure during the six months before any Election Day in the state.

Public hearings must be heard on the proposed regulation, but the attorney general may unilaterally approve the final regulation. If approved by the attorney general, the rules could be placed into effect in time for the upcoming New York City mayoral election.

Lobbying

“Forbes-Tate Lures Boehner Aide to K Street” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

“Businesses Bet K Street Can Sway Debate” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

“Businesses Are Spending on Lobbying Instead of Jobs” by Jacob Feldman in U.S. News & World Report.

Campaign Finance

Minnesota: “Campaign finance board seeks new income to fund its work” by Rachel E. Stassen-Berger in the Star-Tribune.

Minnesota: “Minnesota’s Campaign Finance Board looks at expanding authority” by Cyndy Brucato in MinnPost.com.

Montana:  “Judge tosses Montana campaign finance case” by Marnee Banks in KAJ18 News.

New York:  “Local leaders push campaign finance reform bill” by Anthony Borelli in the Press & Sun-Bulletin.

New York: “Attorney General Seeks to Force Disclosure of More Political Donors” by Nicholas Confessore in The New York Times.

Ethics

“Empty Ethics Posts Draw Critics’ Ire” by Amanda Becker in Roll Call.

New York:  “Deposed State Sen. Monserrate Gets 2 Years for Campaign Finance Scheme” on CBS News.

Redistricting

Arizona: “Court rules Arizona redistricting commission must follow open meeting laws” by Paul Davenport (Associated Press) in the Arizona Capitol Times.

Ohio:  “New plan surfaces to redraw districts” by Jim Siegel in the Columbus Dispatch.

Government Tech and Social Media

“2012 Year in Review: Social Media” by Elaine Pittman in Government Technology.

“Feds with Klout” by Joseph Marks in Nextgov.

Governor Robert Bentley has set the special election schedule for the seat in Senate District 35:

• The special election primary will be held on January 29, 2013, or if no primary is needed, the special general election will be held that date;
• If a primary is held and a runoff is needed, it will be held March 12, 2013. If a primary is held and no runoff is needed, the special general election will be held March 12; and
• If a runoff is needed, the special general election will be held April 23, 2013.

The seat was held by Ben Brooks, who resigned upon being elected to circuit judge.

The governor has set the special election timeline to fill the House District 11 seat, vacated by Jeremy Oden upon accepting an appointment to the state public service commission:

• The special primary election will be held February 12, 2013, if needed, otherwise the special general election will be held on that date;
• The runoff following the primary, if needed, or the special general election if no runoff is needed following a primary, will be held March 26, 2013; and
• The special general election will be held on May 7, 2013 if both a primary and runoff are required.

Governor Bryant has set the date of a special election to fill Senate District 16.

The election is scheduled for January 15, 2013.

The seat was held by Senator Bennie Turner, who passed away November 27.

Akron City Council has increased the city’s campaign contribution limits, to take effect for the council elections in 2013.

The limit for mayoral and at-large candidates will increase to $650 from $450, and the limits for ward council candidates will increase to $400 from the current $200 limit.

The limits were previously raised in February 2011.

The city council has introduced a bill that would change the way unions and corporations, among others, could contribute to elections. The bill, introduced by Councilmember Rosie Mendez, would remove contribution limits on unions or other membership organizations and corporations for communications aimed at its members, stockholders, or employees. The only catch would be that the union or corporation must use reasonable efforts to restrict the communication to its members, employees, or stockholders.

Those in favor say that it will allow a small non-profit group to disseminate a candidate’s photograph in its newsletter. Councilmember Gale Brewer said, “You cannot put a television ad, you cannot do that now, and have a communication. This is just member to member.”

However, not everyone agrees. Amy Loprest, executive director of the city’s campaign finance board said, “I think we have one of the best campaign finance laws in the country, and this is a big step backwards.”

The bill was sent to the council’s committee of governmental operations where a hearing will be held on Thursday. A full city council vote could come as soon as next week. At this point, it is impossible to tell whether the council will pass the bill. But, either way, it is sure to drum up some strong emotions during debate.

Photo of the New York City Hall courtesy of Howrealisreal on Wikipedia.

The Ethics Commission has announced a system upgrade to the electronic filing system for campaign committees, available here. The San Francisco Electronic Disclosure System (SFEDS) now offers additional features including streamlined data entry, page help for every form, and an easier amendment process.

Committees will need to create a new user account, which will link to the existing committee filer account. The new user account will act as a gateway to access all accounts of multiple committee filers. The next filing deadline for committees is January 31, 2013.

Assistance is available by contacting the commission at 415-252-3100 or by e-mail.

Q. I am a registered lobbyist who will be having a colleague accompany me to meetings with legislators. Should I be concerned with registration and/or reporting for my colleague?

A. Many individuals believe the presence of a registered lobbyist relieves a person of any disclosure requirements. Most jurisdictions have no exemption for this scenario. Lobbyist registration and reporting is required upon meeting the registration threshold.

Some jurisdictions do have limited exemptions from lobbyist registration requirements. In California, these particular actions would not be counted towards the lobbyist registration threshold. You do not engage in direct communication when you meet with a covered official in the company of a registered lobbyist retained by you or your employer. In Idaho, corporate employees need not register if the corporation is registered as a lobbyist and designates one or more of its employees as the corporation’s official lobbyist and the designated lobbyist is also registered.

Even if registration is not required, you must consider the applicable reporting requirements. A number of jurisdictions require your employer to report all lobbying expenses, which include those for employees who lobby but do not meet the registration requirements. Wisconsin specifically requires the disclosure of pro-rata compensation and expenses for these non-lobbyist employees. In Idaho, even if you are not required to register as discussed above, expenditures made by unregistered corporate employees in a lobbying effort must appear on the applicable reports.

Whenever you lobby state officials, consider all disclosure and compliance requirements, especially those related to the reporting for a non-lobbyist employee.

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.

Each of them, as well as eight more of us from State and Federal Communications, attended the Council on Government Ethics Laws (COGEL) in Columbus, Ohio last week. Each of them presented at the conference and took the work they do every day and shared it with others.

Jim Sedor is our in-house rock star. He is Editor of News You Can Use our weekly news service we provide to all of our clients. We know now difficult it is to read 100 newspapers a week so we…I mean, Jim…helps you out by reviewing them for you. At COGEL, Jim spoke at one of the breakfast table topics on Monday, December 4th on How Do You Use the News.

John Cozine is the Research Manager and oversees a group of attorneys reviewing states, municipalities, and Canadian provinces and territories to make sure our website has all of the information our clients need for lobbying, political contributions, procurement lobbying, pay-to-play, gift laws, legislative sessions, and on and on and on. At COGEL he led a breakfast table topic on Monday about the Popular Vote vs. the Electoral College.

Joe May, Social Media Coordinator, had an encore performance of an earlier presentation—DIY Outreach and Education: e-Learning and Beyond.

Joe has taken State and Federal Communications and put us on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Lobby Comply blog, and even You Tube (State and Federal Communications TV). He has conducted presentations to federal government agency staff and at the Heartland Group (a regional part of COGEL) on how everything can work together to reach people using social media…and that includes a lot of people.

I love sharing my staff with others. They are in the trenches and making sure we are always providing our clients with up-to-the-minute news.

Until next month, we wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and a Happy New Year. We look forward to 2013 and know you will be extremely busy with every state’s legislature in session.

Campaign Finance

“2012 presidential election nearing all-time record, final campaign finance reports show” by The Associated Press in The Washington Post.

Arkansas: “3 GOP lawmakers fined by Ark. ethics commission” in the San Francisco Chronicle.

District of Columbia: “Reneging on campaign finance reform” column by Jonetta Rose Barras in the Examiner.

Texas: “Contributions Blackout Serves Many Functions” by Ross Ramsey in The New York Times.

“Bad News for Campaign Finance” editorial by David Firestone in The New York Times.

Lobbying

“Think Tanks or Partisan Advocates? Distinction Is Getting Harder to See” by Janie Lorber in Roll Call.

Florida: “Former lobbyist Allison Tant joins race to lead Florida Democratic Party” by Adam C. Smith in the Tampa Bay Times.

Texas:  “Ex-Arlington lawmaker forms lobbying firm” by Maria Recio, Anna M. Tinsley and Scott Nishimura in the Star-Telegram.

Wyoming: “Groups challenge Wyoming lawmakers’ lack of transparency with ALEC” by Joan Barron in the Star-Tribune.

Ethics

District of Columbia:  “DC lottery contract is subject of federal probe” by Ben Nuckols in Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

West Virginia: “W.Va. Ethics Commission director gets exemption” by The Associated Press in the Herald-Dispatch.

Redistricting

“Redrawn districts complicate inquiries to incoming representatives” by Brad Shannon in The Olympian.

“Redistricting fight puts Doggett in awkward situation” by Tim Eaton in the Austin American-Statesman.

Government Social Media

“North Carolina Archives Social Media” by Colin Wood in Government Technology.

The Federal Election Commission issued an Advisory Opinion on December 6, 2012, concluding a federal candidate’s campaign committee may make a contribution to an independent expenditure-only committee from funds raised for the federal candidate’s terminated political campaign.

Friends of Mike H, the principal campaign committee of former candidate Mike Haridopolos, requested an opinion to determine whether it could give $10,000 or more of its excess funds raised for Mr. Haridopolos’s 2012 U.S. Senate primary election campaign in Florida, from which he withdrew, to an independent expenditure-only committee called Freedom PAC. Currently, Mr. Haridopolos does not hold federal office and is not seeking any elected federal office.

Because Friends of Mike H. is not using its funds for personal use or for any unlawful use, the Commission found Mr. Haridopolos’s political committee may make its requested contributions to Freedom PAC. The Commission also noted that “amount limitations are generally unconstitutional as applied to contributions that will be used to finance independent activity.”

Federal:

2012 Presidential Election Nearing All-Time Record, Final Campaign Finance Reports Show

McConnell Pushes Back against Campaign Finance Reform Efforts

From the States and Municipalities:

California

Sacramento Lobbyist Dinged for Coalition Letter

District of Columbia

Mendelson: No time left for campaign finance reform this session

Illinois

Mel Reynolds Announces Congressional Run, Admits ‘Mistakes’

Maryland

Judge Says Ex-Delegate Tiffany Alston Is out; Committee Can Withdraw Hall’s Nomination to Seat

Michigan

Michigan State Representative Cleared by SOS in Election-Rigging Plan

Missouri

Missouri House GOP Plans Campaign Finance, Ethics Bill

Nevada

Secretary of State Goes to Court to Force AFP to Reveal Donors

New Jersey

Trenton Mayor Tony Mack Is Indicted on Federal Corruption Charges

North Carolina

Gov.-elect Pat McCrory Still Employed by Law Firm That Lobbies the State

Wisconsin

Incoming Senate Leader Favors Political Appointees over Judges on GAB

State and Federal Communications produces a weekly summary of national news, offering more than 80 articles per week focused on ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance.

News You Can Use is a news service provided at no charge only to clients of our online Executive Source Guides, or ALERTS™ consulting clients.

Lobbying

“On the cutting edge of ‘fiscal cliff’ lobbying” by Dan Eggen & T.W. Farnam in the Washington Post.

“Lobbying Heats Up Over Online Gambling Bill” by Juliana Gruenwald in NationalJournal.

“Lobbyists Could See More Curbs Arising From Campaign Finance Movement” by Eliza Newlin Carney in Roll Call.

Maryland: “Top aide to Md. governor leaving for lobbying firm” by The Associated Press in WTOP.com.

Philadelphia: “District adds voice to lobby-law dispute” by Will Bunch in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Philadelphia:  “City Ethics Board To Review Lobbying Complaints Against William Penn Foundation” by Mike DeNardo in CBS News Philadelphia.

Utah:  “Shurtleff to take federal lobbying job” by Matt Canham in The Salt Lake Tribune.

Campaign Finance

“McConnell pushes back against campaign finance reform efforts” by Alexander Bolton in The Hill.

“Raese continues to fight campaign finance limits” by Ry Rivard in the Charleston Daily Mail.

“FEC: Angle Violated Campaign Finance Laws” by The Associated Press in CBS News Las Vegas.

“Campaign Finance — Solved!” by John Haber in The Huffington Post.

“Why lobbyists dislike Citizens United” by Timothy P. Carney in The Examiner.

Ethics

Florida: “State ethics commission: State Rep. Erik Fresen may have failed to disclose personal finances” by Mary Ellen Klas in the Miami Herald.

South Carolina:  “State House expands ethics committee, eliminates partisan dominance” by Stephen Largen in the Post and Courier.

West Virginia:  “W.Va. Ethics Commission director to step down” by The Associated Press in the State Journal.