The Hawaii State Ethics Commission voted to accept new testimony prior to its public hearing on May 21.

The hearing is specifically concerning proposed amendments to the state lobbying and gift rules.

In order to consider the new testimony, the Commission deferred the matter to its next meeting scheduled for mid-June.

The proposals include:

• Clarifications as to what activities constitute lobbying
• Exclusions from lobbyist registration requirements
• A requirement that expenditures be reported on an accrual rather than cash basis.

Additionally, the proposals would amend prohibitions on certain kinds of gifts, valuation of gifts, and gift disclosure statements.

Once the Commission approves the rules, the rules are subject to approval by the Department of the Attorney General and the governor. Afterward, they will be posted with the Office of the Lieutenant Governor for a period of 10 days before becoming effective.

The Cuyahoga County Council recently updated the county’s code of ethics to clarify the ethical rights, responsibilities, and prohibitions applicable to elected officials, employees, board members, contractors, and lobbyists.

New provisions include, but are not limited to, a new lobbyist registration threshold, a new lobbyist reporting requirement, updated gift rules with a presumption of influence standard, and a lower monetary contract threshold for contractor registration and ethics training.

A summary of the changes to the ethics laws and a copy of the ordinance are available for review on the county inspector general’s website. The ordinance became effective May 27.

Minister of Justice and Solicitor General Jonathan Denis recently introduced the Alberta Accountability Act to ensure high ethical standards and to enhance accountability on behalf of elected officials and public servants.

Among other changes, the legislation revises post-employment restrictions, increases consistency in conflict of interest rules, clarifies gift rules, eliminates the majority of sole-source contracts, and expands the authority for the Alberta Ethics Commissioner.

The Act passed the House and is currently awaiting Royal Assent.

Kentucky could see updates to its legislative ethics code this session.

House Bill 3 would amend the state ethics code to include recommendations of the Legislative Ethics Commission, including:

• Establishing a “no cup of coffee” rule for gifts from lobbyists and employers to legislators;
• Creating a prohibition on lobbyists and employers paying for out-of-state travel for legislators;
• Including employers of legislative and executive branch lobbyists in the prohibition on campaign contributions during a regular legislative session;
• Requiring the reporting of advertising costs for advertising supporting or opposing legislation; and
• Including legislative candidates in the lobbyist gift prohibition.

The Legislative Ethics Commission has included those recommendations for a number of years in its report to the Legislative Research Commission. The existing ethics law was enacted in 1993.