Immediately following transparency complaints in early 2023, the state Senate moved to make financial disclosures of members available online.

Now, the Senate has gone further and voted to mandate public disclosure of additional information about personal finances and potential conflicts of interest.

Senators, along with their spouses and domestic partners, will now be required to file a more comprehensive form similar to those required of candidates for state office.

The form asks about employment; investment or other income greater than $5,000; board service; greater than 10% ownership of a company; leases or contracts with the state; and lobbying activities.

The Michigan House introduced 13 new bills proposing fundamental changes for lobbying and disclosure laws.

Changes proposed include requiring members of the Legislature and other public officials to file financial disclosure reports and prohibiting them from voting on bills if there is a conflict of interest.

Other proposals include a prohibition on lobbying by members of the Legislature, a two-year revolving door ban for members of the Legislature and other executive branch officials, and making lobbyists ineligible for civil appointments.

The proposed changes also include increasing fines for violations of the lobbyist gift ban and establishing ethics committees in the House and Senate with the power to accept complaints, investigate complaints, and make recommendations for disciplinary action.

On December 4, the Tallahassee City Commission approved an ordinance amending the city’s ethics code.

The ordinance expands the Independent Ethics Board’s jurisdiction to covered individuals including:

• Each public official
• An employee or member of a city board, commission, or council required to file financial disclosures, or with purchasing authority exceeding $35,000
• Employees participating in the procurement of services or commodities exceeding $10,000

The amended ethics code extends the ban on solicitation and acceptance of gifts to covered individuals.

Additionally, the amended code extends the prohibition against misuse of public position to all public officials and employees of the city.

The ordinance becomes effective January 1, 2020.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther signed Executive Order 2016-01 on Tuesday, May 10, establishing ethics guidelines for public officials.

Effective immediately, public officials and employees may not solicit or accept gifts or employment from anyone doing business with the city. They also must wait at least one year after leaving public service before representing any person or entity before a department, board, or commission with respect to a matter they personally participated in while serving with the city.

Designated officials and employees must also file financial disclosure statements each year. The statements must include a description of each gift, or aggregate of gifts, exceeding $75 from certain sources during the previous calendar year.

Ginther believes the order will help to improve public opinion of City Hall.

State Rep. Mike Reynolds is criticizing officials at the state Ethics Commission for offering proposed changes to lobbyist reporting and registration, conflict of interest, and financial disclosure rules.

According to Reynolds, “the Ethics Commission seems to be declaring open season for lobbyists on elected officials” as the proposed changes “. . . have the potential of increasing lobbyists’ gifts to lawmakers by hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.”

Opponents of the proposed changes argue expansion of the current guidelines will increase undue influence on elected officials and reduce the efficacy of the commission in and of itself.

Trenton’s recently established ethics board passed the city’s first code of ethics last week. The long-awaited code outlines behavioral guidelines for elected officials, city employees, and representatives serving on city boards. Included are provisions regarding conflicts of interest, receipt of gifts, and financial disclosure.

Additionally, the code permits the ethics board to investigate possible ethics violations.

The code will go to the state Department of Community Affairs before it is enacted and added to the code book.

Title 15 requires government officials and employees to disclose their financial affairs and sets minimum ethical standards for the conduct of state and local business. The law also requires all counties, municipalities, and school boards adopt ethics standards at least equal to the state’s ethics law with regard to conflicts of interest, financial disclosure, and lobbying. Each local ethics commission is required to certify its compliance with the Maryland Ethics Commission on or before October 1st of each year, beginning in 2011.

Some local officials are still working toward agreement and passage of the required bills. Although officials may follow the state’s guidelines, many are choosing their own paths. For instance, the registration thresholds for lobbyists in Title 15 include an expenditure clause and a gift clause: $500 in expenditures towards influencing legislative or executive action; or $100 in gifts for the purpose of influencing executive action. The recently passed Charles County bill has a $100 gift threshold, while Alleghany County’s gift threshold is $200. Neither bill includes an expenditure clause. However, in Howard County, there is a $100 expenditure threshold for any lobbying activity, but no gift threshold.

Conflict of interest rules have also been the subject of debate. Title 15 forbids former public officials (other than legislators) and employees from assisting or representing a party in a contract or other specific matter for compensation if the former official or employee participated significantly in the matter as an official or employee. Frederick County attempted to limit this prohibition to one year for former commissioners with an exemption for former employees. This modification was rejected by the state. The Frederick County delegation now plans to propose changes to Title 15 before the general assembly to allow the one year limitations.

Counties such as Baltimore and Montgomery continue to debate and, as of December 1, 2011, had yet to approve a final version of the required ethics bill.

In the latest development, the State Ethics Commission met to respond to exemption requests. According to the Maryland Municipal League web site:

“The Maryland State Ethics Commission met on December 8 to consider a number of exemption requests from various municipalities around the state. Several jurisdictions were requesting an extension of an existing exemption, while some cities and towns were requesting new exemptions from the recently enacted financial disclosure reporting requirement. The results were varied, although it seemed as though population and budget size were the criteria most often cited by the members of the Ethics Commission when exemptions were being considered. For more information, please contact Tom Reynolds or Candace Donoho on the MML staff.”