The Palm Beach County Commission voted in favor of a proposal to expand the county’s ethics commission from five members to seven. County Commissioner Priscilla Taylor pushed for the change, saying the commission needed more diversity.

The proposal will go before the committee responsible for drafting changes to the county code, and then back to the county commission for a final vote.

Independent community groups are responsible for selecting the ethics commission’s members.

The Florida Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections is working on a proposed bill to revise the state’s ethics law.

The draft language relating to lobbying and gift law in the bill establishes a fine for executive branch lobbyists for failure to provide required information or knowingly providing false information in a report, and prohibits vendors from providing gifts to reporting individuals or procurement employees. Other changes the committee is considering include:

• Restrictions on former legislators’ employment as a lobbyist, such as ban on executive branch lobbying and a prohibition on becoming a partner, principal, or employee of a firm whose primary business is lobbying the state legislature within the two years after a legislator leaves office; and
• A prohibition on or reduced gift limit for gifts to covered individuals from committees of continuous existence, or CCEs. House Speaker Will Weatherford has called for elimination of CCEs, which are often used by legislators to pay for meals, travel, and gifts.

The committee plans to have final draft language available on January 18, and plans to consider the proposed bill at its January 22 meeting.

The Federal Election Commission issued an Advisory Opinion on December 6, 2012, concluding a federal candidate’s campaign committee may make a contribution to an independent expenditure-only committee from funds raised for the federal candidate’s terminated political campaign.

Friends of Mike H, the principal campaign committee of former candidate Mike Haridopolos, requested an opinion to determine whether it could give $10,000 or more of its excess funds raised for Mr. Haridopolos’s 2012 U.S. Senate primary election campaign in Florida, from which he withdrew, to an independent expenditure-only committee called Freedom PAC. Currently, Mr. Haridopolos does not hold federal office and is not seeking any elected federal office.

Because Friends of Mike H. is not using its funds for personal use or for any unlawful use, the Commission found Mr. Haridopolos’s political committee may make its requested contributions to Freedom PAC. The Commission also noted that “amount limitations are generally unconstitutional as applied to contributions that will be used to finance independent activity.”

Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs is calling for measures to monitor and prevent lobbyists from texting county commissioners during meetings. The county commission voted in September to delay putting a measure requiring employers to provide employees with sick time on the ballot. Three of the four commissioners who voted to delay the measure acknowledged that they were texting with lobbyists opposed to the measure during the meeting, and later deleted a number of those texts.

Mayor Jacobs released a memo stating that she ordered a system to be set up to archive text messages from county phones. She is also calling for the county to study how other governments address electronic lobbying during meetings, in consideration of a potential ban on such discussions.

Advocates for the proposed sick time ballot initiative have filed suit claiming that the county commissioners violated state public record and open meetings laws, and asking the court to set aside the vote on the measure.

The Board of County Commissioners passed an amendment to the county’s lobbying ordinance on September 6, 2012. Expenditure reports are no longer required if a lobbyist had no expenditures during the reporting period.

The ordinance previously required expenditure reports to be filed even if no lobbying expenditures were made.

The ordinance will become effective 10 days from the date of enactment.

Hollywood’s new lobbyist ordinance takes effect August 1, 2012. Lobbyist registrations now expire yearly, and will be effective from August 1 to July 31 of the following year. All current lobbyist registrations will expire July 31, 2012, and a new registration statement must be filed.

There will also be an annual registration fee of $50 for each principal or client identified on the registration statement, except for those principals or clients that do not compensate the lobbyist for lobbying. Lobbyists who do not receive compensation are now required to register.

The city clerk will also offer electronic filing of lobbyist registrations beginning August 1.

Florida: “Ethics commission wants power to collect fines – and respect” by Aaron Deslatte in the Orlando Sentinel.

Georgia: “Former director, assistant file lawsuits against ethics commission” by Aaron Gould Sheinin and Chris Joyner in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Missouri: “Ethics Commission wants state ethics laws modernized” by Mike Lear in Missourinet.

South Carolina: “Haley ethics probe shines light on dark side of S.C. politics” by Gina Smith in The State.

The new lobbyist registration ordinance in Palm Beach County took effect April 2, 2012. The expenditure report due date is now November 1 of each year, and continues to cover the period from October 1 – September 30.

Electronic registration is now available in addition to paper registration. Registrations now must also include the phone number of the lobbyist and principal, their signatures where both may be made electronically, and the county or municipalities to be lobbied.

The ordinance specifically excludes from expenditure reporting the salaries of the lobbyist and principal, office overhead expenses, and personal expenses for lodging, meals, and travel.

All registrations on file and in effect with the county prior to the ordinance’s effective date remain in full force and effect.

Campaign Finance

“FEC to Congress: Expand ban on personal use of political committee funds” by Rachel Leven in The Hill.

Ethics

Arkansas: “Group throws financial weight behind ethics reform initiative” by Rob Moritz in Arkansas News.

Florida: “Gov. Rick Scott’s chief of staff draws ethics complaint for using state staff to apply for a job” by May Ellen Klas in The Miami Herald.

Florida: “Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s Chief of Staff Resigns Amid Scrutiny of State Contracts Awarded Friends” by Mary Ellen Klas in Governing.

Redistricting

Alaska: “State redistricting board will meet Monday to address supreme court concerns in SE Alaska” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

Arizona: “Clean Elections Commission weighs in on redistricting suit” by Mary Jo Pitzl in the Arizona Republic.

Kansas:  “Kansas redistricting fight may navigate to the courts” in the Kansas City Business Journal.

The Legislature ended a two-week extraordinary apportionment session on Tuesday, March 27, 2012. Governor Rick Scott called the special session to redraw the map of new Senate districts. The redistricting plan now goes to the Florida Supreme Court to decide whether the upper chamber did enough to fix the flaws in the first map that provoked the court’s rebuke.

At least one campaign sent out a fundraising note the next day congratulating the Legislature for its hard work during an elongated session, and asking for donations to make up for lost time. State law prohibits lawmakers from accepting campaign contributions while the Legislature is in session.

Photo of the Old and New Florida Capitol buildings by Infrogmation on Wikipedia.

Alaska: “Alaska Redistricting Board says it has adopted new election districts” by Matt Buxton in the Fairbanks Daily News Miner.

Arizona: “Brewer signs bill to keep Arizona redistricting commission going while new maps are pending” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

Florida: “Redrawn Senate map passes House, scramble for seats begin” by Mary Ellen Klas in the Tampa Bay Times.

Florida: “Legislature ends redistricting session, new Senate map approved” by Mary Ellen Klas in The Miami Herald.

Idaho: “Redistricting will shake up Idaho Legislature” by Sean Ellis in the Capital Press.

Kansas: “Kan. House to debate congressional remap bill” by The Associated Press in the Salina Journal.

Maryland: “Group seeks referendum on new Md. congressional map” by Annie Linskey in The Baltimore Sun.

Missouri: “Missouri Supreme Court upholds House districts” by Elizabeth Crisp in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

West Virginia: “W.Va. lawmakers seek OK of congressional districts” by Eric Eyre in the Charleston Gazette.

Wisconsin: “Judges: Collaboration needed on Wis. voting maps” by The Associated Press on Madison.com.

Wisconsin: Opinion piece “Redistricting decision offers important lesson” by Christine Neumann-Ortiz in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Arizona: “Arizona lawmakers OK money for redistricting panel” by The Associated Press in the Arizona Daily Sun.

Arizona: “Arizona redistrict panel to get more cash” by Mary Jo Pitzl in the Arizona Republic.

Florida: “Down to the wire, Senators propose last-minute changes to new Senate map” by Mary Ellen Klas in the Miami Herald.

Florida: “Florida Senate panel approves redistricting plan” by The Associated Press in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Florida: “Fla. Senate panel approves redistricting plan” by Bill Kaczor in the Deseret News.

Kansas: “Kan. Senate delays vote on redistricting bill” by The Associated Press in the Salina Journal.

Kansas: “Kansas House votes down latest redistricting bill” by Fred Mann in the Wichita Eagle.

New York: “Between the Lines: Map Complete, Time to Sort Out Who’s Running” by Joshua Miller in Roll Call.

Florida: “Lawmakers ready to tackle redistricting during special session” by Bill Kaczor (Associated Press) in Florida Today.

Florida: “Legislators return for special session to redraw rejected Senate map” by Mary Ellen Klas The Miami Herald.

Florida: “Senate Re-Redistricting Plan Is Flawed, Says State Dem Chair” by Brandon Larrabee in Sunshine Slate.

Kansas: “Kansas lawmakers face votes on redistricting plans” by The Associated Press in the Wichita Eagle.

Minnesota: “Redistricting maps give DFL advantage in legislative races, but …” by Eric Black on MinnPost.com.

New York: “An Update on New York Redistricting” by Thomas Kaplan in The New York Times.

New York: “Silver bristles at Cuomo slap at NY Legislature” by The Associated Press in The Wall Street Journal.

New York: “New York: Redistricting End Is Nigh” by Joshua Miller in Roll Call.

The Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners has passed an ordinance requiring registered lobbyists to complete ethics training. The effective date of the ordinance is March 16, 2012.

Registered lobbyists must, within 60 days of registration, submit to the clerk of the board a certificate of completion of an ethics course offered by the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust. Lobbyists must also complete a refresher course every two years. The cost of the ethics course will be $100.

Additionally, the requirement is not applicable to any municipal lobbyist in the county unless the municipality has adopted an ordinance requiring ethics training and an agreement with the county authorizes the county ethics commission to provide an ethics training course.

Finally, the executive director of the Miami-Dade County Ethics Commission may waive the ethics course requirement for a particular lobbyist when it is determined that the lobbyist has taken an initial or refresher ethics course offered by a municipality satisfying the requirements pertaining to the Miami-Dade County ethics course requirements.

The Miami-Dade County Ethics Commission has noted their intent to contact all registered lobbyists in regards to this course once the course is prepared and ready to be offered.