June 7, 2011 •
No Extra Special Session
High Court Rules
The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled the Legislature does not have to meet today in a special session called by Governor Nikki Haley.
In a 3 to 2 decision, the court denied the special session, writing: “Although the General Assembly is currently in recess, it has not adjourned sine die and, therefore, is still in its annual session. Under these specific facts, respondent cannot convene an ‘extra’ session of the General Assembly since it is currently in session. To do so would interrupt the annual session and would violate the General Assembly’s authority to set its calendar and agenda and would constitute a violation of the separation of powers provision.”
The Legislature will meet in a previously scheduled session on June 14.
This blog post follows up a previous article “South Carolina’s Extra Special Session” by George Ticoras on June 3.
June 7, 2011 •
Lobbyists’ Registration Act Introduced in New Brunswick
New Brunswick to Debate Lobbying Law in Legislative Assembly
Legislation has been introduced in the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly providing for lobbyist registration and regulation.
Government House leader Paul Robichaud introduced Bill No. 43, the Lobbyists’ Registration Act, in response to a push by members of the Tory party for such a law following the discovery that Liberal party insiders were being hired to arrange meetings for energy companies bidding on provincial contracts.
Under the proposed legislation, lobbyists would be required to register, as well as name any companies they work for and the name of the ministers and departments met with. Lobbyists failing to register or making false or misleading statements would be fined up to $25,000 for a first offense and up to $100,000 for any subsequent offense.
The coat of arms for New Brunswick by Civvì on Wikipeida.
Oregon’s Legislature has been streaming videos on its website. Now you can view them on your mobile phone!
The Capitol Club, a lobbyist association in Oregon supplied the funding for the state’s Legislature to supply streaming video of hearings and sessions to mobile devices.
Read about what will now be offered and why the Capitol Club stepped up to help in Govtech.com’s article “Lobbyists Help Oregon Legislature Stream Video to Mobile Devices” by Sarah Rich from June 4.
June 6, 2011 •
News You Can Use Digest – June 6, 2011
Here are highlights from State and Federal Communications, Inc.’s latest edition of News You Can Use:
Federal
Campaign Finance Experts See Few Implications of Virginia Ruling
The Influence Industry: The fine lines between a Palin vacation and Palin tour
When ‘Coordinate’ Is a Dirty Word
From the States:
California
Former Vernon Official Pleads Guilty to Illegally Using Public Money
Colorado
Gessler Rulemaking on Campaign Finance Raising Eyebrows
Florida
Legislature Fails to Add Stronger Ethics Laws
Illinois
Senator Wants Charges Filed against Colleague
Louisiana
Mark St. Pierre is Taken into Custody after Jury Finds Him Guilty of Bribery, Conspiracy
Massachusetts
Financial Disclosure Forms Still Outdated
Minnesota
Campaign Finance Board Fines Alleged Felon Who Can’t Be Found
New Jersey
Christie Refuses to Reimburse N.J. for Traveling By Helicopter to See Son’s Baseball Game
Ohio
Cuyahoga County Offers First Ethics Training for Businesses
Tennessee
Tennessee Opens Door to Corporate Political Donations
Washington
Port Fined after Failing to File Lobbying Expenses
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.
June 6, 2011 •
“Clean Up Albany Act of 2011” Announced
Governor Cuomo and Legislative Leaders Reach Agreement on Comprehensive Ethics Reform Package
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and General Assembly leaders have reached an agreement regarding comprehensive ethics reform. The agreement titled the “Clean Up Albany Act of 2011,” creates a joint commission on public ethics to investigate violations of law by members of both the executive and legislative branches, oversee their financial disclosure requirements, and oversee lobbyists with newly expanded disclosure rules and definition of lobbying.
The act expands lobbying disclosure requirements, including the disclosure by lobbyists of reportable business relationships of more than $1,000 with public officials. It also expands the definition of lobbying to include advocacy to affect the introduction of legislation or resolutions. Additionally, the act calls for the state board of elections to issue new regulations clarifying disclosure requirements for independent expenditures.
Photo of Governor Cuomo by Pat Arnow on Wikipedia.
June 3, 2011 •
South Carolina’s Extra Special Session
Will They Meet?
The regular session of the South Carolina Legislature adjourned on June 2 and a special session is scheduled for June 14. However, Governor Nikki Haley has requested an earlier additional special session for June 7 to pass further legislation, but the elected representatives may not convene.
While House Speaker Bobby Harrell has instructed house members to return on June 7, Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell has said the senate will not return, even though both the governor and Senator McConnell are in the same political party.
Several legislators challenge the governor’s legal authority to convene a special session without extraordinary circumstances.
June 3, 2011 •
Highlighted Site of the Week – GovSpot.com
“The government information portal designed to simplify the search for the best and most relevant government information online.”
If you want to locate information quickly on just about anything related to United States government, go to this week’s Highlighted Site of the Week, GovSpot.com.
GovSpot.com is a clearing house of information in the old tradition of web directories such as Yahoo. It has a clean interface and is easy to navigate. You will find pages devoted to government contracting online resources and federal election sites. The Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of federal government have clearly laid-out links.
Need to find information in a hurry about state legislation? There is an interactive map of the states with all kinds of links to state government pages. You can find local government resources as well!
There are many government news links, government reports, and podcasts, too. Take a look – GovSpot.com may be worth bookmarking.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
June 2, 2011 •
iPhone Lobbying is Here
Bono releases an app for his anti-poverty group.
We are always on the lookout for any news regarding social media as it relates to lobbying, campaign finance, and elections.
Roll Call published an article today about how Bono’s anti-poverty group called ONE campaign has released an app for iPhone users. The app allows anyone with an iPhone to contact their lawmakers and it gives them a text offering ideas of what to communicate.
Ambreen Ali’s article, “iPhone App Will Help You Lobby,” explores this new facet to the world of lobbying and advocacy.
How do you think social media and mobile technology will affect lobbying and grassroots advocacy? Let us know what you think!
June 2, 2011 •
Tennessee Bill Allowing Corporate Contributions Becomes Law
Contribution Limits Increased
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has signed Senate Bill 1915 (companion to House Bill 1003) into law.
The bill allows corporations to contribute to candidates by removing the previous statutory prohibition. The bill also adjusts contribution limits to reflect change in the Consumer Price Index.
The new law is effective immediately.
Here is your chance to “Ask the Experts” at State and Federal Communications, Inc.
Q. Summer is approaching and I will be attending conferences such as NCSL and ALEC. Can I pay for dinners with legislators and/or State Night events?
A. First and foremost, are you or your company registered to lobby in the state? Most states have more stringent gift laws applicable to lobbyists and lobbyist principals (Texas is the exception to this rule of thumb). The answer will also vary depending upon whether you are paying for a private dinner or sponsoring a State Night event. For example, taking a legislator to dinner, paying for cab fare or other transportation, or giving him a ticket to a ballgame are not considered part of the national conference agenda. Therefore, the normal gift limits will apply.
Many states have gift limit exceptions specifically carved out for expenditures at national conferences to which all members of the legislature are invited. State Night events are considered part of the conference agenda; therefore the gift limit exceptions will apply.
Although a State Night sponsorship may be permissible, it is important to determine if and when the expenditure must be disclosed. The reporting implications for such events range from simple aggregate disclosure to detailed reporting where the name of every legislator attending must be listed.
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.
June 2, 2011 •
Elizabeth Bartz on Greater Akron Chamber Board of Directors
Chamber holds its 104th Annual Meeting.
On March 24, the Greater Akron Chamber held its 104th Annual Meeting and Elizabeth Bartz was reappointed for a second term on the Board of Directors.
Hundreds attended the grand event. Joe Kanfer, Chairman and CEO of GOJO Industries, was awarded the H. Peter Burg Award in recognition of his business and community leadership in Akron.
The evening’s festivities included a large-screen video presentation with testimonials from leaders of the Akron business community.
We enjoyed this segment featuring Elizabeth Bartz:
Video courtesy of the Greater Akron Chamber YouTube Channel.
Introduced in Both Houses
A proposed executive order requiring vendors submitting offers for federal contracts to disclose political contributions and expenditures has sparked a legislative response.
An amendment was added to HR1540, a fiscal national defense authorization bill, which passed last week, precluding an executive agency from requiring a vendor to disclose political contributions as a condition of contract participation.
Additionally, two companion bills opposing the proposed executive order were also introduced into the house and senate. SB1100 and HR2008, titled “Keeping Politics Out of Federal Contracting Act of 2011”, explicitly prohibit an executive agency from requiring submission of political information, and prohibit an agency from using political information as a factor in consideration of whether to award a contract. The bills’ definition of political information means information relating to political spending, including contributions, independent expenditures and electioneering communications.
Previously, a congressional hearing was also held concerning the proposed executive order.
Photo of the United States Capitol with the flag by Florian Hirzinger on Wikipedia.
Timely news from the states.
OKLAHOMA: The Oklahoma Legislature adjourned sine die on May 27, 2011.
ILLINOIS: The Illinois General Assembly has recessed. The senate will reconvene on October 25, 2011. No date has been set for the house to reconvene.
June 1, 2011 •
Twitter Gives Congress Advice
A Twitter post incident from U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner’s account leads to Twitter offering recommendations for account security.
Scott Wong from Politico reports how Twitter is responding to concerns on Capitol Hill that the Twitter accounts of legislators are vulnerable to hacking.
A representative from Twitter is sending them advice on how to keep their accounts secure.
Here is the article called “Twitter e-mails Congress safety tips.”
State and Federal Communications, Inc. provides research and consulting services for government relations professionals on lobbying laws, procurement lobbying laws, political contribution laws in the United States and Canada. Learn more by visiting stateandfed.com.
