The state of Oklahoma has just announced the debut of its new web portal, OK.gov. The site sports a new look and promises to offer a wealth of searchable  datasets on Data.OK.gov. For instance, you can view state expenditures and vendor payments by quarter.

According to their site: “Data.OK.gov strives to make Oklahoma government more transparent through an unprecedented level of openness in Oklahoma government. By publishing raw datasets in different formats, you can look up statistics, build applications, conduct analysis and perform research. Data.OK.gov allows for a simple way to gather Oklahoma government data about the economy, public health, transportation, environment, and more on one website. Centralized access to this data saves you from having to visit multiple websites.”

Perhaps you don’t find the information you need on OK.gov? The state invites you to send your feedback and let them know what data you would like to see included.

Here is the press release for the new site.

The Alaska House of Representatives adjourned the special session on Monday following the Senate’s adjournment last week.

While lawmakers passed a bill pertaining to human trafficking, the governor pulled his oil tax measure after the bill appeared to be going nowhere.

The Senate adjourned claiming that the governor’s removal of a bill on a special session call, while the session was under way, ended the session.

Q. Some of the state lobbying reports ask about my travel expenses. What does this include?

A. “Travel expenses” is a phrase used by several states. It can refer to two different types of expenditures.

Some states require the disclosure of personal, reimbursed expenses incurred while lobbying. This would include food and beverage, hotels, cab fare, and travel expenses for a lobbying trip. Iowa, for instance, requires lobbyist employers to disclose all reimbursements made to their lobbyists. So, if a lobbyist lives in Topeka and flies to Des Moines to communicate with a legislator, the airfare is a reportable expense. Note, however, this generally only applies if the primary purpose of the trip is lobbying as defined by the state. A trip during which the lobbying contacts made were incidental to the main purpose of the travel would usually not need reported.

Other states, however, require the reporting of airfare or other travel costs paid by a lobbyist on behalf of a legislator or other public official. In Idaho and Mississippi, for example, a lobbyist or lobbyist employer may pay for a public official to travel to an event or to the company’s facilities, and the cost of the travel must be reported.

In all of these cases, the state reports request “travel expenses.” As you can see, it is very possible for the same words to have different meanings in the eyes of different states. When in doubt, lobbyists and employers can always contact us for guidance.

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.

Certainly you have heard about the recommendation that each of us should be taking 10,000 steps every day for our health. As part of its wellness program, State and Federal Communications is taking up the challenge and today we kick off our “We’re Walking” program.

We have divided into three teams and for six weeks we will walk in the morning, at lunchtime, and after work – whenever we can. At the end of the six weeks, we will see which team has walked the most steps. The winners will receive bragging rights, of course, and a few prizes.

Good luck to all of the participants!

Campaign Finance

“FCC’s political ad rule disappoints supporters and foes alike” by Andrew Feinberg in The Hill.

“The FCC Makes Campaign Finance (a Bit) More Transparent” by Kirsten Salyer in Bloomberg.

“FCC Approves Political Ad Rule” by Amy Schatz in The Wall Street Journal.

Ethics

“Former State Senator Is Sentenced to 7 Years in Vast Bribery Case” by Benjamin Weiser in The New York Times.

“Illinois Gov. Ryan’s Corruption Appeal Sent Back to Lower Court” by The Associated Press in Governing.

“Aaron Schock hit with FEC complaint” by John Bresnahan in Politico.

Campaign and Government Tech

“With the 2012 Election Looming, NRCC Names a New Digital Director” by Nick Judd in TechPresident.

“Philadelphia Embraces The World Of Open Data” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.

Members of the Alaska House of Representatives are considering their next step after the Senate abruptly adjourned from the special session on Friday.

The Senate adjourned following the Governor’s decision to pull an oil tax bill, which was one of two measures on the special session agenda.Under the state Constitution, the House could remain in session, forcing the Senate to return every three days.

It is not clear how soon a decision will be reached or announced.

Photo of the Alaska State Capitol by Kevin Lam on Wikipedia.

The independent expenditure rules that were previously adopted by the New York City Campaign Finance Board were published in the City Record and have an effective date of May 16, 2012. The new rules will not be enforced for any election occurring prior to August 13, 2012.

The rules cover what type of expenditures and communications must be reported to the Board, which contributions supporting those expenditures must be reported to the Board, who must file with the Board, and when those reports have to be filed with the Board.

National:

Conservative Nonprofit Acts as a Stealth Business Lobbyist

Social Media Directors Increasing in Government

Federal:

‘We the People’ Petition Site the Newest Tool in K Street Lobbying Repertoire

Who Pays When The President Travels for The Campaign?

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

House OKs Lobbyist Penalty

California

AT&T Wields Enormous Power in Sacramento

California

California Ethics Czar Urges Disclosure of Payments to Web Pundits

Louisiana

Cap on Legislative Wining and Dining Moves to $56

Minnesota

Debt-Laden Minnesota GOP Notified of Eviction

New York

Lobby Formed for Cuomo Blew Deadline

North Carolina

Charles Thomas, N.C. Speaker’s Top Aide, Linked to Lobbyist

North Dakota

North Dakota Bridles at Neighbor’s Capitol Insult

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Lawmaker Wins and Loses on the Same Day

South Carolina

ALEC Has Special Exemption in South Carolina’s Lobbying Law

West Virginia

Ethics Ruling Regarding House Speaker Raises Concerns

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.

The United Way of Summit County held their 2012 Annual Meeting at the John S. Knight Center in Akron, Ohio on Wednesday, April 25. After a very successful 2011 campaign, State and Federal Communications received two awards in recognition of its efforts.

Along with nine other organizations, the company was given the Campaign Chair Award. According to the United Way, this award was “presented to organizations for extraordinary achievement, outstanding increases and successful first-time campaigns.”

State and Federal Communications also received the “Highest Per Employee Corporate Giving Award” in the category of a company with 49 or fewer employees.

Thank you United Way of Summit County. We are thrilled to be a part of the amazing work you do each year. And thank you to everyone here at State and Federal Communications for their generous effort to make our campaign a success!

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) approved several advisory opinions on a variety of issues.

In AO 2012-12, the FEC allowed a corporation to solicit contributions from its non-corporate franchisees and licensees’ executive and administrative personnel. The FEC found the personnel were part of Dunkin Brands, Inc. restricted class because of the degree of control it maintained on the franchisees and licensees.

In another opinion, the FEC concluded an association of physician-owned hospitals are not federal contractors although they provided services to patients in government-sponsored healthcare programs such as Medicaid. Therefore, the association is not prohibited from making contributions to independent expenditure-only political committees.

Additionally, the FEC found a New Hampshire campaign finance statute requiring disclaimers for telephone surveys was preempted by federal statutes and FEC regulations because the calls in question were only related to federal candidates.

The FEC also let stand the $46,200 aggregate limit for contributions to federal candidates over a request to contribute amounts over this limit.

The FEC press release concerning these and other decisions can be found here.

“1,000 Independent Agents Lobbying Lawmakers in Washington” by Young Ha in Insurance Journal.

Alabama: “Lawmakers recommend reprimand for lobbyist” by Sebastian Kitchen in the Montgomery Advertiser.

California: The San Francisco Ethics Commission announced that their Lobbyist Electronic Filing System will experience down time for maintenance. For the schedule, see the Ethics Commission news update.

Delaware: “Bill would expand lobbyist disclosures” by Randall Chase (Associated Press) on WDEL.com.

“States Aim to Launch More Mobile Apps” by Hilton Collins on Government Technology.

“Twitter Chat Experiment Under Way in the Silicon Valley” by Brian Heaton on Government Technology.

“Salesforce Getting Social in New Government Cloud” by Matt Williams in Government Technology.

“Social Media Directors Increasing in Government” by Elaine Pittman in Governing.

During a Rules Committee hearing, the U.S. Senate considered a bill requiring senators to file electronically with the Federal Election Commission, just as members of the House of Representatives and presidential candidates do. The bill, called the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, was sponsored by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and received support from Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

For full news coverage, be sure to read:

“Senate considers entering digital age for campaign filings” by Susan Davis in USA Today.

“Schumer: Senators should file campaign reports electronically” by Tom Brune in Newsday.

Image of the Seal of the United States Senate by Ipankonin on Wikipedia.