Baltimore City Council is in the process of approving an ethics bill to align with state law.

City Council Bill 22-0275 expands the prohibition on city employees soliciting gifts to any donor.

Currently, the ban applies to controlled donors such as a lobbyist or person seeking to do business.

The bill also adds associations representing counties or municipal corporations to the list of donors whose gifts may not be accepted, absent an exception.

The bill was presented for third reading on August 26.

City Council President Brandon Scott introduced a proposed ordinance in an attempt to close a loophole regarding gifts to elected officials from lobbyists and persons doing business with the city.

Council Bill 20-0483 will prohibit elected officials and their staff from accepting gifts from not only anyone they know to be a lobbyist, but also anyone they reasonably should know to be a lobbyist.

Like current gift restrictions, this prohibition will also extend to those doing business with the city, engaging in regulated activity, or having a financial interest in the performance of an elected official’s duties.

Sen. Shirley Nathan-Pulliam announced she is retiring from the Maryland State Senate District 44 seat, effective December 1.

Nathan-Pulliam cited health issues as the reason for stepping down from the seat.

Both the Baltimore City and Baltimore County state central committees are now accepting resumes and will make a recommendation to Gov. Larry Hogan.

Gov. Hogan officially makes the appointment to fill the vacant seat.

Gov. Larry Hogan has set February 4, 2020, as the date for the special primary election to fill the vacant 7th Congressional District seat.

The seat is vacant after Rep. Elijah Cummings passed away earlier this month.

The special general election to fill the remainder of Rep. Cumming’s term will be held on April 28, 2020; the same day as Maryland’s regularly scheduled primary election.

In 2018, the Baltimore City Council enacted the Transparency in Lobbying Act requiring lobbyists to file reports twice a year and affirmatively identify their clients when approaching city government officials.

The effective date of the act was contingent on a viable online reporting system being implemented.

The Baltimore City Ethics Board has implemented the online lobbying reporting system.

Lobbyist registrations and reports can now be filed electronically.

The next year-end report is due on or before January 31, 2020, covering all of the reporting period immediately preceding January 1 through December 31, 2019.

The ethics board has advised persons that previously filed paper registration statements to submit the year-end report on paper and not electronically.

On October 15, 2018, the Baltimore City Council passed an ethics bill introduced by City Councilman Zeke Cohen.

Ordinance No. 18-0230, also known as the Transparency in Lobbying Act, became law without the mayor’s signature on December 3, 2018.

The ordinance requires lobbyists to file reports twice a year and affirmatively identify their clients when approaching city government officials. Additionally, any lobbyist violating the act may be banned for a period of three years.

An amendment was adopted delaying the effective date of the reporting provisions. As a result, lobbyists will file the annual report due January 31, 2019.

Following the 2019 annual report, lobbyists will likely report semi-annually beginning with a report due on July 31, 2019.

The bill will be effective March 3, 2019, while the section impacting reporting requirements will be effective March 3, 2019, or 30 days from a viable online reporting system being implemented, whichever is later.

In April, City Councilman Zeke Cohen introduced an ordinance amending the Baltimore City Ethics Code.

Ordinance No. 18-0230 originally required lobbyists to file reports quarterly instead of annually.

At a work session for the bill, the reporting period was amended from quarterly to semi-annual reporting.

The bill was also amended to require a working online portal by June 1, 2019.

If passed, the ordinance will become effective 30 days after it is enacted.

City Councilman Zeke Cohen introduced an ordinance amending the Baltimore City Ethics Code.

Ordinance No. 18-0230 requires lobbyists to file reports quarterly instead of annually. Additionally, the ordinance obligates lobbyists to affirmatively identify themselves as a lobbyist and the person on whose behalf they are lobbying to a public servant.

If passed, the ordinance will become effective 30 days after it is enacted.

In United Healthcare Services, Inc. v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, United Healthcare Services, Inc. (United) was not awarded the city of Baltimore’s Request for Proposal (RFP) for medical administration services despite being fully compliant with listed Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) and Women Business Enterprises (WBE) goals.

The companies awarded the contract did not comply with the requested MBE and WBE set at 11 percent and 4 percent respectively. After United complained, the city allowed the selected offerors to revise their MBE and WBE forms.

United filed suit against the city alleging violations of Baltimore’s procurement laws. The court found the city “is generally given a wide berth in making its decisions,” and United cannot point to a provision in the City Code the city clearly violated.

Additionally, the City Code only requires bidders make a “good faith effort” to be in compliance with the RFP and “the City has more expertise interpreting the City Code, and its own rules, than the Court.”

In turn, United failed to establish it would be likely to succeed on the merits.

The Baltimore County Council passed an ethics bill requiring training for certain county government officials and registered lobbyists.

The bill requires the Ethics Commission to provide a training course for registered lobbyists at least twice a year. A registered lobbyist will be required to complete the initial training course within six months of registration, and once each year thereafter. The bill allows the training to be in-person or online.

According to the County Charter, the bill must be presented to County Exec. Kevin Kamenetz within two days and he has 10 days to approve or disapprove the legislation. If approved by Kamenetz, the bill will become effective on July 17, 2017.

Read the bill here.

Baltimore City’s primary election results have been ordered to be decertified by state election officials, and a precinct-level review of irregularities is being conducted.

The decision comes in response to a discrepancy between the number of voters who checked in at polling locations and the number of ballots cast, which were higher than the number of check-ins. State elections officials became concerned when they learned Baltimore city officials certified their primary election results and later located 80 provisional ballots which were never analyzed.

The investigation into these discrepancies is expected to continue throughout next week.

Gov. Larry Hogan canceled the bill-signing ceremony scheduled for April 28, 2015, in response to rioting in Baltimore. Prior to the cancellation, Hogan released a list of over 180 bills he intends to sign, including a bill to change contribution disclosure reporting for lobbyist employers.

Senate Bill 767 modifies the threshold amount to include contributions in the aggregate amount of $500 or more, in order to match disclosure requirements of persons doing public business. The bill also changes semi-annual reporting dates to May 31 and November 30.

Since the bill goes into effect June 1, 2015, this year’s dates have been modified to August 31 and November 30. Previously, reports were due on February 5 and August 5.

House Bill 769, a bill making similar changes to contribution disclosure requirements for persons doing public business, is not listed as a bill to be signed. The final bill signing is currently scheduled for May 12, 2015.

Photo of Gov. Larry Hogan by Marrh2 on Wikimedia Commons.

Council President Jack Young has introduced legislation on behalf of city watchdog officials to close gaps in Baltimore’s ethics code after reviewing attempts to take advantage of loopholes.

The bill would prohibit council members from accepting gifts from anyone who has lobbied the city in the previous 12 months, even if the lobbyist is no longer registered.

Last January a prominent lobbyist attempted to give a gift, including tickets, to a council member during a short interlude between the expiration of the lobbyist’s 2011 registration and the eventual 2012 registration renewal.

Social Media News

“Top 14 Government Social Media Initiatives” by J. Nicholas Hoover in Information Week.

“How Social Media Is Keeping the GOP Primary Going” by Micah Sifry in TechPresident.

IT News

“New York Officials Promise Reforms After Scathing IT Audit” by Matt Williams in Governing.

“Baltimore’s top IT official resigns after alleged ethical violations emerge in N.Y.” by Gus Sentementes in The Baltimore Sun.

Open Data

“In New York, Landmark Open Data Legislation Will Soon Be Up for a Vote” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.