On November 8, Detroit voters will consider a city charter proposed to reform the city government by bolstering ethics and reducing corruption. The proposed charter creates a board of ethics and the office of inspector general to investigate alleged ethical or criminal violations.

The charter seeks to improve transparency by requiring lobbyists and contractors to reveal financial connections with elected officials. Additionally, public servants are prohibited from accepting a gift, honoraria, or anything of value from individuals or companies seeking to do business with the city and a company can be barred from doing business with the city if found to be involved in contractual bribery or corruption.

Photo of the Detroit skyline by Shawn Wilson on Wikipedia.

Today’s Birmingham News offers an article by Kim Chandler, “New Alabama ethics law sweeps in culture shift for capital lobbyists,” which describes how lobbying techniques in the state have changed since the ethics law was passed. Chandler also considers the views of those whose businesses have suffered in the capitol as a result of those changes.

“Ten months after the Alabama Legislature approved the new ethics law capping lobbyists’ spending, the culture is different in Montgomery, said several legislators. There are no more free tickets, golf outings, social trips or nightly one-on-one dinners with lobbyists.”

Photo of the Alabama State Capitol building by Jim Bowen on Wikipedia.

Federal:

Ex-Abramoff Associate Ring Sentenced to 20 Months in One of Scandal’s Harshest Punishments

Influence Industry Officially in a Funk

Lobbyist Stint Led to Cain’s Political Forays

Lobbyists Claim Victory against Tax Rule

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

Ex-Alabama Rep. Terry Spicer Enters Agreement to Plead Guilty to Bribery

Alaska

Guilty Pleas Mark End of Alaska Corruption Investigation

Arizona

Judge Rejects Arizona Campaign Finance Measure

Illinois

Ex-Teachers Union Boss Gets $242,000 State Pension

Kentucky

David Williams’ In-Law is Restoring America Group’s Sole Donor

Montana

Montana Political Practices Office to Address Social Media Campaign Complaints

Nevada

Short-Staffed Ethics Commission Wading Through Flood of Cases

New York

Operative Convicted of Stealing from NYC Mayor

Ohio

Anti-Issue 2 Group Raises More Than Twice as Much Money as Supporters of New Collective Bargaining Law

Washington

With $22 Million Bet, Costco Shakes Up Washington Election

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Capitol to Allow Guns
 
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.

There was an entrance fee of $10 if you wanted to come to work today in a costume, and a lucky thirteen of us did just that.

Candy, pizza, prizes, and a staff meeting today too! We also held our second annual Halloween donut and cider sale. Akron Community Foundation Vice President for Community Investment, John Garofalo, came to support the sale.  Here he is with Elizabeth Bartz purchasing donuts and cider for the office.

The Compliance Department was very creative – they all showed up as their co-worker Compliance Associate Jim Warner. Well, each was a different Jim Warner, as you will see.

We had a blast helping the United Way of Summit County and we hope your day was as fun as ours. Enjoy the pictures! (The complete picture collection you can see on our Facebook.)

Here is a brief survey of articles:

USA Today offers “Social media companies ‘friend’ politics” by Fredreka Schouten.

In the Washington Post’s Capitol Business we find “LightSquared adds lobbyists from four firms to roster” by Catherine Ho.

ReadWriteWeb.com posted “Who Are The Top Tech Lobbying Firms?” by David Strom. Last year, the top three were: Microsoft, HP, and Google. Strom claims Google employs 25 different lobbying firms.

AllFacebook.com posted “Facebook Spends Record Amounts On Lobbying, But Not As Much As Google Does”

Bloomberg’s Businessweek published “Google’s 3Q lobbying bill rises to $2.4 million” by the Associated Press.

During this very week in 1930, the Washington Post began running stories about George Cassiday, a bootlegger who was selling alcohol to lawmakers from rooms in the House and the Senate office buildings. According to the U.S. House Office of the Clerk, Cassiday operated his operation from 1920 until 1930 – most of the span of prohibition.

The article says: “From a New York supplier, Cassiday routinely transported 35 to 40 quarts in two large suit cases by train. A Member, he claimed, secured basement office space for him that suited his illicit trade.”

After five years of investigating – one must wonder how hard they were trying in their investigation – the Capitol Police discovered Cassiday’s operation and arrested him. At the time of his arrest, Cassiday was wearing a green felt hat and that hat became his distinguishing characteristic as he made headlines.

The Washington Post reported that Cassiday said, “You find a more general spirit of good fellowship and conviviality in the House.”

Indeed.

You can read the article, “The infamous House bootlegger known as the ‘Man in the Green Hat‘” at the Office of the Clerk website.

Here is a fun video about George Cassiday and his exploits on the WETA TV website.

Photos courtesy of the Office of the Clerk Website and the Library of Congress.

• NCSL has updated their 50 state chart of state ethics commission information, with its interactive map, list of contact information, and detailed profiles.

• Politico published “Political advertising data may go online” by Brooks Boliek. According to the article, “The Federal Communications Commission is expected to vote Thursday on a notice of proposed rule making that could require broadcasters to post information about political ads and other data on the Internet.”

• Arizona’s clean elections program made the news yet again. “The Arizona Legislature may have to go back to the drawing board if it wants voters in 2012 to kill the state’s public-funded Clean Elections campaign-finance program,” reports the Arizona Republic in “Judge rejects Arizona campaign finance measure” by Alia Beard Rau.

• Read what the feds are tweeting right this moment on “The Feed” by Nextgov.

• Politico offers today “Ex-FEC chief: Lift money limits” by Dave Levinthal, where he begins by quoting former Federal Election Commission Chairman Michael Toner: “The United States should take a cue from the Commonwealth of Virginia — or the Cayman Islands, for that matter — and simply do away with limits on campaign contributions.”

• Remember “We the People,” the White House’s new online channel to offer your own petitions for better government? TechPresident gives us an update on whether the platform is living up to its promise to be a true place of genuine communication with the White House. Here is the blog post: “White House Begins Responses to ‘We the People‘” by Nick Judd.

Q: I am a registered lobbyist who would like to host a state legislator at a college football game.  Are there specific restrictions to this type of gift?

A: The most common gift restrictions are those relating to food and beverage.  Providing tickets or admission to a football game is a different type of gift, referred to as entertainment or hospitality.

Some jurisdictions do not restrict providing entertainment at all.  Pennsylvania does not restrict a lobbyist providing hospitality to an official.  However, Pennsylvania does require the lobbyist’s principal to report the gift of hospitality, even itemizing it if the aggregate of all gifts to the official is more than $650 in a calendar year.

Other jurisdictions allow a lobbyist to provide entertainment up to a certain amount.  In Texas, a lobbyist may provide expenditures for entertainment of $500 or less in a calendar year.  Ohio permits a lesser amount.  Lobbyists may provide Ohio officials gifts worth an aggregate annual value of $75 or less.  Like Pennsylvania, both Texas and Ohio require the gift to be reported.

Louisiana specifically prohibits providing tickets to sporting events except for a very narrow exception.  Other jurisdictions do not specifically mention entertainment or hospitality, but generally restrict these gifts to officials.  Though a big football state, Wisconsin generally prohibits all gifts to officials.

The question reinforces the idea that a lobbyist must understand all of a jurisdiction’s gift restrictions, not just those that pertain to food and beverage.  When considering any dollar value limitation on entertainment or hospitality, be sure to consider the proper method to value the gift in that jurisdiction.  For example, the cost of a football ticket for ethics purposes could be its face value or its fair market value.

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.

Missouri’s special legislative session on economic development ended Tuesday, October 25, 2011 without an economic bill.

The Senate passed a motion to adjourn sine die.

The Seals of the Missouri House of Representatives and Senate by Tom Lemmens on Wikipedia.

On Friday, October 28, 2011, we are selling apple cider and Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the Courtyard Square lobby from 9:00am – Noon.

If you would like to order donuts by the dozen or cider by the gallon in advance, please contact Nicolette Koozer at 330.761.9960 or email nkoozer@stateandfed.com

State and Federal Communications, and its predecessor State and Federal Associates, have been involved with lobbying compliance since 1976. You can imagine many others might try to duplicate our program but never have the resources or staff to implement the platinum type of service you currently receive from my highly trained in-house staff of 11 attorneys.

When I purchased my area of business from State and Federal Associates in 1993 and formed State and Federal Communications, Inc., we really were the only gig in town. As time goes on and as technology is easier, there are others—who have been clients or former employees—that feel a similar URL and a toll free number makes it easy to replicate. But don’t be fooled. There is only one true compliance company in Ohio and in this country and our reputation and our list of clients speak for themselves.

In government relations I have everyone down to two degrees of separation. In the case of competitors, it is only one because each has seen success and yearns for it. I don’t take it personally…it’s business. And, I assure you I take my business seriously and my relationship with my clients even more seriously. Your compliance needs have always been our absolute priority.

Thank you for the confidence you have in our services.  We look forward to many, many more years together.

Governor Dave Heinemen has called for a special session of the Nebraska Legislature to focus on proposed bills intended to reroute the Keystone XL crude-oil pipeline around a region of the state rich in groundwater. The session is scheduled to begin November 1, 2011, and is expected to last at least two weeks.

The call for a special session comes after weeks of debate as to whether such a session was necessary, as well as whether passing legislation pertaining to the pipeline would be constitutional and legal at this point in the process of planning the project.

For more information, you can read “Gov. calls for pipeline session”  by Paul Hammel in the Omaha World-Herald.

Photo of the Nebraska Legislature Chamber by ensignbeedrill on Wikipedia.

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK:  The Suffolk County Legislature has approved two bills that would overhaul the county’s ethics rules. One bill would create a five-member board of ethics, to replace the three-member commission. The county executive would appoint two members, and the legislature’s presiding officer, majority leader, and minority leader would each appoint one member. All appointees would require confirmation by the legislature.

The other bill consolidates disclosure and ethics requirements into one section of the county code. The bills are awaiting action by the County Executive.

The Suffolk County Ethics Commission is currently under investigation as a grand jury determines if the County Executive attempted to influence actions of the commission, and if the commission disclosed confidential information.

Montana Commissioner of Political Practices David Gallik is now working on clarifying the rules for using social media in political campaigns. A few complaints have emerged in Montana over  the use of email and social media in campaigns, and the commissioner  recognizes the existing laws were crafted primarily for campaigns using print media, television, and radio.

In the Missoulian article “Montana political practices office to address social media campaign complaints,” journalist Keila Szpaller spoke with Gallik about what comes next for the state. The article also explores how the use of social media in political campaigns, and its regulation, can bring into focus the tension between personal privacy and the demands of an open democratic process.