Maine’s Commission on Governmental Ethics and Elections Practices raised contribution limits.

Individuals and PACs may now contribute up to $1,950 per election to gubernatorial candidates, up to $475 per election to legislative candidates, and up to $575 per election for municipal candidates.

The next adjustment to contribution limits is expected to occur in January 2025

The city of Anaheim raised campaign contribution limits to $2,500 per election cycle.

Anaheim reevaluates contribution limits at the start of every odd-numbered year and alters them based on the consumer price index (CPI) of the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim region.

The area’s CPI increased by 11.8% and the contribution limit was changed, rounded to the nearest $100, to reflect this change from the previous limit of $2,200.

Campaign contribution limits have increased in the province of Ontario, Canada for 2023.

In a calendar year, a person individually may contribute $3,350 to each party, to each constituency association and nominations contestants of a party, and to each leadership contestant of a party.

Additionally, in a campaign period, a person may contribute $3,350 to each candidate of a party, and to each independent non-party candidate.

The total contribution made with respect to a single fundraising event by a contributor may not exceed $3,350 multiplied by the indexation factor.

The previous contribution limits from 2022 were $3,350.

Campaign contribution limits increased in British Columbia for 2023 to $1,401.40 for contributions to registered political parties, including their candidates, nomination contestants and registered constituency associations.

Additionally, individuals can also contribute up to $1,401.40 to independent candidates and leadership contestants, if a leadership contest is called in 2023. The previous limits from 2022 were $1,309.09.

Also increased to $400 is the limit of a fee paid to attend a leadership convention or other convention of a political party without counting toward the $1,401.40 contribution limit.

These contribution amounts are adjusted at the start of each calendar year.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit issued a ruling allowing trade associations representing banks to make campaign contributions.

The New Jersey state law prohibits banks from providing financial support to candidates, but the court found there is less risk of corruption when industry trade associations make the contribution because the member banks have varying interests.

The plaintiff in the case lacked standing to sue on behalf of individual banks, and the plaintiff’s First Amendment challenge to the law was rejected.

As a result, while banks cannot make political contributions to candidates in New Jersey, trade associations are now permitted to make such contributions.

Missouri Gov. Parson signed Senate Substitute for House Bill 2400 permitting certain limited liability companies (LLCs) to make campaign contributions to political committees.

To qualify, the LLC must elect not to be classified as a corporation under federal law; be in existence for at least one year prior to making contributions; and must submit a form to the Missouri Ethics Commission indicating the LLC is a legitimate business and not created for the sole purpose of making campaign contributions.

The bill also bars public agencies from requiring nonprofits to share the identities of donors, volunteers or supporters.

The bill is effective August 28, 2022.

Interim City Manager of Cincinnati, Ohio, John Curp, approved rules and regulations for the solicitation ban passed by City Council last year.

Ordinance 0415-2021 prohibits councilmembers from soliciting campaign contributions from developers who have an interest before council, created the Office of Ethics & Good Government, and authorized the city manager to establish rules and begin enforcement.

The new rules require all persons or entities who request or apply for city business to disclose financially interested persons by filing a form with the Office of Ethics & Good Government.

The office will maintain a City Business List and a Financially Interested Persons List on their website.

A financially interested person is a person or entity who has a financial interest in city business, including anyone who owns or controls 20% or more of the entity.

Campaigns are prohibited from accepting campaign contributions from a person on the temporary prohibition list.

The new rules and regulations will go into effect May 26.

Two training sessions for elected officials, business leaders, and the public are scheduled for May 20 at 1:30 p.m. and May 23 at 11 a.m. in Room 115 of City Hall.

“Going forward,” the Federal Election Commission (FEC) will require disclosure requirements for contributions received from limited liability companies (LLCs) be applied to independent expenditure-only political committees (i.e., Super PACs) in the same manner in which they are applied to all other political committees.

On April 15, four of the six commissioners issued a “Statement of Reasons” for their conclusion of a closeout of a complaint. In the statement, which refers to Matters Under Review (MUR) 7454, Chairman Allen Dickerson, Vice Chair Steven T. Walther, Commissioner Shana M. Broussard, and Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub assert, “contributions from LLCs to committees must be attributed pursuant to Commission regulations, and those regulations apply to all committees, including [Super PACs]. The Commission will apply that understanding going forward, and may seek civil penalties in appropriate future cases.”

In MUR 7454, the Super PAC in question had not obtained the required attribution information for two contributions made by LLCs. The Super PAC attributed the contributions only to the LLCs. Regulations require committees to report certain attribution information for contributions from LLCs.

An LLC that has a single natural-person member and is not taxed as a corporation must be attributed only to the natural person member, and not the LLC. A contribution by an LLC that is disregarded for tax purposes and does not have a single natural-person member is treated as a partnership contribution; and, a partnership contribution must be attributed to both the partnership and each partner, either in proportion to his or her share of the partnership profits or by agreement among the partners.

In prior cases premised on similar facts, the FEC could not agree whether, following the Citizens United and SpeechNow.org v. FEC court decisions, LLC reporting rules and conduit contribution rules applied to contributions made to the newly formed Super PACs authorized by those judicial rulings. The commissioners determined that “with the passage of time, [Super PACs] have become a regular part of the campaign finance landscape, and…there is no longer a lack of clarity concerning the application of LLC reporting rules and conduit contribution rules in these circumstances.”

Because the FEC has not previously made this conclusion under similar cases, they did not seek a civil penalty against the Super PAC.

The Virginia Senate Privileges and Elections Committee has rejected a proposal to cap what are currently unlimited campaign contributions to state candidates.

Senate Bill 44 would have limited the amount someone can give a candidate to $20,000 per election.

Advocacy groups have filed three ballot measure proposals with the Office of Oregon Secretary of State, focusing on limiting campaign contributions and increasing donor disclosure requirements.

For the proposals to be placed on the 2022 ballot, each proposal would need to gather 112,020 signatures by July 8, four months before the general election.

Cambridge, Massachusetts City Council passed an ordinance limiting campaign contributions to municipal candidates and their committees from certain business entities to $200 annually.

Business entities seeking a city contract will be required to disclose all campaign contributions made to candidates and their PACs in the preceding 12 months.

Business entities exceeding the $200 contribution limit will not be eligible for city contracts or other city action, including the receipt of special permits, zoning changes, or community development or other forms of financial assistance.

The definition of business entity is expansive and includes individuals as well as corporations and their officers.

The definition of business entity does not, however, include labor unions.

The ordinance is expected to take effect in 2022.

Cincinnati City Council voted unanimously to approve two ordinances addressing corruption in city government.

Ordinance 0415-2021 prohibits City Council members from soliciting campaign contributions from developers who have an interest in any ordinance before the council.

The ordinance will be effective when council appropriates funding to establish the administrative staffing and enforcement needs imposed by the ordinance.

Emergency Ordinance 0413-2021 is effective immediately and establishes a new position of ethics and good government counselor within the Department of Law to support ethics, election, and campaign finance transparency.

The ordinance transferred $375,000 from the general reserve for weather-related events to fund the position and to buy software to implement a program to make campaign finance disclosures more transparent.

The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) updated their regulations regarding local campaign contribution limits due to Assembly 571.

The updates will add language to the regulations regarding candidates for elective city or county offices subject to the state contribution limits.

Those local candidates and their committees will now be subject to the regulations regarding reporting of contributions and expenditures, establishing campaign accounts, solicitation of funds, loans, terminations, and other regulations related to campaign finance.

These regulations do not apply to candidates for an elective city or county office or the candidate’s controlled committee prior to January 1, 2021.

The South Carolina Ethics Commission issued an opinion finding candidates for public office may not accept campaign contributions in the form of digital cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.

Advisory Opinion 2021-001 references and adopts the reasoning of a similar opinion issued in 2018 by the South Carolina House Ethics Committee.

The opinions found cryptocurrencies do not meet the definitions of a “thing of value” or “contribution” as defined under current state law.

Both opinions state the decision to permit such contributions should be done through an act of the Legislature rather than through an advisory opinion.