Lobbying

Ohio: “Lobbyist John Raphael Sentenced to 15 Months in Federal Prison” by Lucas Sullivan for Columbus Dispatch

Rhode Island: “General Assembly Passes Lobbying Reform Act” by Christian Winthrop for Newport Buzz

Campaign Finance

“Trump’s Fundraisers See No Chance of Hitting $1 Billion” by Alex Isenstadt for Politico

New York: “NY Gov. Cuomo Wants New Limits on Secret Campaign Funds” by David Klepper for The Associated Press

Tennessee: “Jeremy Durham Faces Subpoena in New State Investigation” by Joel Ebert and Dave Boucher for The Tennessean

Texas: “Council to Consider Dark Money Ordinance” by Jack Craver for Austin Monitor

Ethics

California: “Countywide Ethics Commission Overwhelmingly Approved” by Tracy Wood for Voice of OC

California: “California Prop. 50 Passes, Allows Lawmakers to Be Suspended Without Pay for Wrongdoing” by Alison Noon (Associated Press) for Orange County Register

New York: “Fraud Charges Against Jail Officers’ Union Chief With a Taste for Luxury” by William Rashbaum, Michael Winerip, and Michael Schwirtz for New York Times

Elections

“Next for Democrats: A delicate dance to broker peace between Clinton and Sanders” by Philip Rucker and Dan Balz for Washington Post

Lobbyists and legislators may be violating new ethics laws according to the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission. An advisory opinion recently published by the commission addresses the practice of lawmakers giving fundraising appeals to lobbyists who likely pass them on to their employers. These appeals typically include dollar amounts for attending the fundraiser.

Legislation passed last year prohibits lobbyists from directly soliciting contributions for legislators or legislative candidates. This practice, the opinion concludes, likely constitutes a direct solicitation of a contribution.

The commission is not conducting any investigations on this matter as there has not yet been a formal complaint.

The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) adopted a regulation during its meeting on February 19 to ban political fundraisers in the homes and offices of lobbyists.

Regulation 18215 modifies the definition of “contribution” to include the value of a lobbyist home or office if the lobbyist were to host a campaign fundraiser. Previously, lobbyist fundraisers did not qualify as an otherwise prohibited contribution so long as the value of hosting the fundraiser did not exceed $500.

The change in regulation was necessary following recent amendments to the Political Reform Act effectively prohibiting all fundraisers hosted by a lobbyist or lobbying firm.

The FPPC rejected arguments to exempt hosted fundraisers for local candidates or fundraisers for which the lobbyist was reimbursed.