A pay-to-play ordinance has been introduced in Montclair, New Jersey.

The ordinance would prohibit business entities which have made local political contributions from contracting with the township if the contributions were made within one year immediately preceding the date of the contract or agreement and are in excess of certain thresholds. Contribution thresholds include a maximum of $300 per calendar year each for any purpose to any candidate or candidate committee for mayor or governing body, $500 per calendar year to any joint candidates committee for mayor or governing body, and $500 maximum per calendar year to any PAC. Penalties for violating the ordinance include a four ban on contracting with the township.

A business entity may cure a violation of the ordinance, if, within 30 days after the date on which the applicable ELEC report is published, the business entity notifies the municipality in writing and seeks and receives reimbursement of the contribution from the recipient of such contribution.

Public comments will be accepted at the next Township Council meeting on September 20.

The Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission has voted to approve the creation of the proposed First Spouse’s Fund to benefit the spouse of the state’s governor.

The Commission voted 7-1 to approve an advisory opinion concerning the legality of collecting private donations to cover expenses of the governor’s spouse.

The fund is designed to reimburse the spouse of the governor for expenses incurred as a result of his or her position as first spouse, while also ensuring there is no conflict with Nebraska gift and contribution laws.

The Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission has issued recommendations to reform the state code of ethics.

The Commission has recommended repealing the provision allowing lobbyists to spend $100 annually on food and beverages for each legislative official and their respective families.

Further, the Commission has recommended that candidates for the state legislature be subjected to the same gift restrictions as legislative officials.

This would include a prohibition on the receipt of anything of value from lobbyists.

Federal:

Interest Groups Push Obama on Order

SEC Whetting Incentives for Whistle-Blowers

Super Committee Pits Lobbying Firms’ Clients against One Another

The Influence Industry: ‘Candidate super PACs’ surge ahead in the 2012 money race

From the States and Municipalities:

Connecticut

Guay to Head Unified Watchdog Group

Florida

New South Florida Politicians Go to ‘Good Government’ Boot Camp

Florida

Nonprofit Writes Florida Law for its Own Program

Georgia

Georgia Lobbyists Hope to Boost Ethics

Georgia

New Ethics Chief Named

Montana

Schweitzer Fined $4,100 in Ethics Case

Nebraska

Donations OK’d for First Lady’s Expenses

Nebraska

State Not Enforcing Campaign Limits

North Carolina

Candidate Criticized for Scheduling Fundraiser at Lobbyist’s Home

Pennsylvania

Ex-Pa. House Speaker Pleads Guilty to Corruption

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.

Jim Sedor is editor of News You Can Use.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy is set to name David L. Guay as the head of Connecticut’s newly created Office of Governmental Accountability.

Guay was one of three finalists for the position of executive administrator recommended to the governor in July by the heads of the nine agencies comprising the new Office of Governmental Accountability, including the Office of State Ethics and the State Elections Enforcement Commission.

Guay has served as the executive director of the Board of Accountancy since 1989, and has also held the position of director of election campaign finance services.

Guay’s new position calls for assisting each of the nine agencies in meeting their needs, while also promoting autonomy over the watchdog function each agency provides.

Elliot Volkman has written a piece, “Contractors Use Webinars, Social Media To Extend Their Voices,” on GovWin.com’s blog. He discusses the benefits and limitations government contractors may face when using social media for their communications strategies.

Aside from discussing how to make the most out of using Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, Volkman also gives advice on hosting webinars and how they can fit in with the use of social media.

For those of you who may have missed some of today’s relevant social media articles, here’s a few for you to check out!

• A platform called Change By Us allows anyone from a city agency, not-for-profit, business, community-based organization, block association, and just normal citizens to start a project to improve his or her city. ‘Change by Us’ Connects Citizens to Government
• You can post and vote for questions that will be asked at the GOP debate that will be held in Orlando, Florida on Sept. 22. GOP Candidates to Face User-Submitted Questions in Google/FOX News Debate
• While government apps have starting to appear everywhere, if they are not updated regularly, they become useless and misleading. Agency apps must be regularly updated or face obsolescence
• The White House will soon be launching a tool that will allow the public to float a petition to the executive branch that becomes “searchable” once it accumulates at least 150 electronic signatures, and the White House will issue an official response if it gets 5,000 signatures. With ‘We The People,’ White House Promises to Go E-to-the-People

Enjoy!

This week’s Highlighted Site Of The Week is the U.S. Department of Labor website which features information about the history of Labor Day and the first, nearly disastrous celebration of the holiday.

Although it was not declared a national holiday until 1894, Labor Day was first celebrated in New York City on September 5, 1882. Preceding the first official demonstration in 1882, there was a tradition of celebrations in support of labor issues.

September 5, 1882 was in the midst of the labor movement, with many unions in New York entering into on Central Labor Union. The parade marched through lower Manhattan while being watched by columns of police and club-wielding officers on horseback who were prepared to squash any attempts to create a riot. The parade which began with a couple hundred marchers ended at Resovoir Park with somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 marchers.

After the parade, nearly 25,000 union members celebrated at Wendel’s Elm Park to listen to speeches, eat, smoke cigars, and take part in drinking the “Lager beer kegs… mounted in every conceivable place.”

Now the holiday is celebrated by all laborers, not just those who are union members. Although, Labor Day has become more commercialized and family oriented, it’s good to see that 129 years later the general spirit of Labor Day is still alive in the millions of people who celebrate it.

Everyone have a great holiday weekend!

We now provide information on lobbying, political contributions, and procurement lobbying for:

Tempe, Arizona

Evansville, Indiana

South Bend, Indiana

Flint, Michigan

North Las Vegas, Nevada

Reno, Nevada

Fayetteville, North Carolina

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Knoxville, Tennessee

The Georgia General Assembly, in special session since August 15, 2011, adjourned on August 31, 2011.

The adjournment comes after reaching agreements concerning legislative redistricting.

Eric Brown’s Political Activity Law blog pointed to a press release today, in which Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that information connecting lobbyists’ activities, their compensation, and expenses with each of their clients would now be provided on the city’s lobbyist disclosure database.

Regarding the new data that is now going to be released, Mayor Emanuel said,

“Today I am delivering on a promise to make more lobbyist data available as part of my administration’s commitment to transparency. For the first time ever, we are making city lobbyist data available online that isn’t just numbers on a spreadsheet. This new data ties information together in a way that shows the connection between client, lobbyist and city hall.”

This information is available through the City of Chicago Data Portal. The lobbyist databases include the Lobbyist Agency Report, Lobbyist Gift Report, Lobbyist Categorized Expenditures Report, Lobbyist Major Expenditures Report, and Lobbyist Registry.

In fact, it was so fabulous, I sent apologies to all of our previous interns for not spending time with them.

Earlier this summer I told you about Emily Kesler from Northwestern, Cristina Dickos from The Ohio State University, and Zachary Koozer from the University of Akron. They were each hired for a specific job:

Emily assisted Joe May, Social Media Coordinator, to review sites and wrote some excellent posts for our blog.

Cristina worked directly for me to manage my overwhelming American Express bill and to help with many administrative duties. I have to say Cristina was amazing. She was far more professional than four temps we had in that same position over the last 12 months.

Zachary helped Ken Kelewae update our computers in the office to Microsoft 7. He also learned that many of us use our keyboard as a placemat. He cleaned out all of our keyboards.

In addition, they joined me at meetings for the United Way of Summit County Board, Social Services Advisory Board, and the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce. They met Mayor Don Plusquellic at a great event at Firestone Country Club before the Bridgestone Tournament. The Chamber had small group meetings to discuss internships in the city and my team joined the presidents of Akron hospitals, banks, and companies to share their experiences.

They also helped with some local service programs. We worked with Good Samaritans to help distribute food to 150 families. One day this summer, they joined several on staff in the United Way Day of Action cleaning and painting the Edgerton House in Akron.

And, we also had fun. One field trip was to a building where the owner keeps antique cars, many of them used in local parades, in his basement.

Yes, it was a great summer. It was also very financially beneficial to them. Each worked more than 300 hours and received a bonus of $3 for every hour worked. We ended the summer with our annual United Way campaign kickoff lunch and wished them all well when they go to school.

Until next month, think about an internship program at your organization. Give me a call if you have any questions.

A report by state Auditor Thomas Schweich found that the Missouri Ethics Commission is underfunded and understaffed.

The ethics commission was given new responsibilities in 2010, including additional abilities to initiate investigations and enforce new campaign finance laws.

The commission had been seeking seven new employees to address the new responsibilities, but budgetary constraints led to only two new hires.

The auditor’s report suggests raising lobbyist registration fees to increase revenue.

The report notes, “According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Missouri’s current lobbyist registration fee of $10 per year is one of the five lowest registration fees in the nation.”