Federal:

Jesse Jackson Jr. Pleads Guilty: ‘I lived off my campaign’

Justices Take Case on Overall Limit to Political Donations

From the States and Municipalities:

Arizona – Arizona Senators Look to Revamp Lobbying Gift Ban

California – Prosecution of California Lobbyists on the Rise, FPPC Reports

Kansas – Lobbyists Vouch for Bill to Increase Spending Limits

Kentucky – Kentucky Bill Would Prohibit Lobbying during Legislative Session

Nebraska – Senators Want to Stop Lobbyist Contributions during Session

New York – Review Shows NY Pension Fund Fixed Ethics

North Carolina – Lawmakers’ Economic Interests Not Easily Tracked

Pennsylvania – Pa. Justice Convicted of Corruption

Virginia – Justices Consider Va. Limits on Access to Public Records

West Virginia – Ethics Commission Taps New Director

State and Federal Communications produces a weekly summary of national news, offering more than 80 articles per week focused on ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance.

News You Can Use is a news service provided at no charge only to clients of our online Executive Source Guides, or ALERTS™ consulting clients.

Good morning, everyone! We are excited to announce that we are launching a new LinkedIn group called Government Relations Compliance.

If you have a LinkedIn account, this is a great place to discover what your colleagues are talking about. Find out how they are solving the challenges in complying with government rules and regulations for lobbying, grassroots lobbying, political contributions, and procurement.

Join the conversation!

Lobbying

California: “Prosecutions of California lobbyists on the rise, FPPC reports” by Laurel Rosenhall in the Sacramento Bee.

Campaign Finance

“McCutcheon case could give Citizens United a run for its money in Supreme Court” by T.W. Farnam in the Washington Post.

Ethics

Oklahoma: “Bribery case against Oklahoma ex-legislators to move forward” by Nolan Clay in the Oklahoman.

West Virginia: “Ethics commission taps new director” by Dave Boucher in the Daily Charleston Mail.

Lobbying

“K Street Files: A Business-Labor Brotherhood?” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

Arizona: “Arizona senators look to revamp lobbying gift ban” by Bob Christie in Arizona Capitol Times.

Arkansas:  “Bill to delay ex-executive, judicial officials from lobbying advances” by Rob Moritz in the Arizona Times.

Campaign Finance

“David Axelrod blasts campaign finance system” by Tarini Parti in Politico.

“Citizens United Part II? Supreme Court takes up direct campaign donations” by Krissy Clark in American Public Media Marketplace.

Florida: “House Democrats to Oppose $10,000 Campaign Contribution Cap” by Jim Turner in Sunshine State News.

West Virginia: “Dozens protest Citizens United decision at state Capitol” by Paul J. Nyden in the Charleston Gazette.

Ethics

Florida: “Florida Senate Committee Weakens Ethics Bill” by Ashley Lopez in the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting.

Florida: “Ethics bill goes to full Florida Senate” by The Associated Press in the St. Augustine Record.

Senator Ray Jones has introduced a bill to prohibit lobbying during legislative sessions. Senate Bill 183 prohibits both legislative and executive lobbyists from contacting any member of the General Assembly, directly or indirectly, regarding any issue, bill, or proposal under consideration by the General Assembly during regular or extraordinary sessions.

The bill restricts the definitions of legislative agent and executive branch lobbyist to include only those who either receive compensation for lobbying, or those lobbying on behalf of more than one group, organization, business, or public interest issue entity. If passed, lobbyists violating the prohibition will face a fine of $500 for each violation.

Lobbying

“Lobbyists Use Campaign-Style Opposition Research to Turn Tables on Rivals” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

“Data mining is new lobbying gold” by Byron Tau in Politico.

“First ladies, first lobbyists?” by Kristin Donnelly in MSNBC.

Arizona: “Arizona senators look to revamp lobbying gift ban” by The Associated Press in the Arizona Daily Sun.

Colorado: “Colorado gun-control bills draw no big lobbying money — yet” by Karen E. Crummy in the Denver Post.

Florida: “Legislative lobbying hit $123 million last year” by Travis Pillow in the Tallahassee Democrat.

Georgia: “Vote possible on proposed Ga. lobbying rules” by The Associated Press in the Daily Citizen.

Kansas:  “Lobbyists vouch for bill to increase spending limits” by Andy Marso in the Topeka Capitol-Journal.

Nebraska: “Senators want to stop lobbyist contributions during session” by Kevin O’Hanlon in the Lincoln Journal Star.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: “Nutter asks Ethics Board for ruling on city lobbying regs” by Jan Ransom in the Philadelphia Inquirer-Daily News.

Campaign Finance

“Watchdog groups warn of fundraising scandal in Obama second term” by Alexander Bolton in The Hill.

Alaska:  “Democratic proposal seeks campaign finance change” by The Associated Press in the Anchorage Daily News.

California: “Proposal would repeal limits on campaign contributions in California” by Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times.

New York: “Public Forum Discusses Campaign Finance Reform” by Adam Littman in the Nanuet Patch.

New York:  “Republican candidate George McDonald tries an unusual path to New York’s mayoralty: the brazenly defiant fundraising scofflaw” by Jonathan Lemire in the Daily News.

Ethics

Colorado: “Ethics commission delays release of Gessler probe once again” by Tim Hoover in the Denver Post.

Florida: “Michelle Anchors appointed to Commission on Ethics” by Tom McLaughlin in the NWF Daily News.

North Carolina: “Lawmakers’ economic interests not easily tracked” by Mark Binker in WRAL.

Oklahoma:  “New Ethics Commission director eyes reforms” by James Coburn in the Edmund Sun.

Knox County, Tennessee:  “Panel to examine ethics commission makeup, scope of investigative powers” by Mike Donila in the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Lobbying and consulting services could soon be subject to sales tax under Governor John Kasich’s budget proposal. House Bill 59, the governor’s expansive budget bill, proposes to decrease the state sales tax rate, but makes up for lost revenue by increasing the services subject to sales tax. All service transactions would be subject to the tax unless specifically exempted in the bill, including legal and accounting services.

You can view a list of the services that will be covered by the sales tax here.

While Governor Kasich predicts lobbyists will attempt to remove the tax on their industry from the budget bill, a Florida Institute of CPAs lobbyist claims it’s not just self-interest–determining who is taxed and who pays can be tricky when lobbying firms hire both accountants and lawyers to assist with projects.

If passed, the sales tax will apply to all non-exempt services rendered on or after September 1, 2013.

From the States and Municipalities:

California – Donor to Three Mayoral Candidates Hit with $170,000 Ethics Fine

Connecticut – Howls as Malloy Tries to Shorten Leash on Watchdogs

District of Columbia – D.C. Campaign Finance Proposals Await More Public Comment

Florida – Cashing in on State Contracts Becomes Growth Industry

Florida – Gov. Rick Scott Turns to Lobbyists to Help Push His Agenda

Georgia – New Lobbying Rules Would Prohibit Airfare Expenses

Illinois – Diluted Emanuel Ethics Proposal Finally Gets Nod

Kansas – Legislature Mulls Changing Official Lobbying Threshold

Massachusetts – Lynch, Markey Sign Pledge to Limit Third-Party Ads

New Jersey – Head of Lobbying Firm Hired by AshBritt Will Host Christie Fundraiser

New Jersey – N.J. Firms Donated over $700,000 to Republican Governors Association

New York – Lobby for Cuomo Keeps Donors Secret

South Carolina – South Carolina Attorney General Forwards Complaint against House Speaker Harrell to SLED

Texas – In Some Cases, Government Is All Relative

Virginia – Virginia General Assembly Displays State’s Exceptionalism and its Exceptional Weirdness

State and Federal Communications produces a weekly summary of national news, offering more than 80 articles per week focused on ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance.

News You Can Use is a news service provided at no charge only to clients of our online Executive Source Guides, or ALERTS™ consulting clients.

The American League of Lobbyists has issued a statement in response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday night.

Monte Ward, the organization’s president, said on their site: “Lobbyists are the professional advocates who help educate lawmakers every day about how their action (or inaction) affects the nation.  Lobbyists will be critical components helping our federal lawmakers to understand the implications of their votes on the issues that they will tackle.”

The American League of Lobbyists statement provides a summary of the group’s self understanding and a reflection on the nature of the lobbying industry, with an eye to the future. You can find a pdf file of their “Recommendations for Improving the Regulation of Federal Lobbyists” at this link.

The Chicago City Council approved phase two of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s ethics reform. This time, however, it didn’t come easy and the mayor is not completely satisfied with its outcome. The set of reforms focused mainly on public officials.

Mayor Emanuel’s proposal included a two year ban on lobbying after leaving city council office and allowing citizens to make anonymous complaints against aldermen. The city council was against both of these provisions and eventually passed a watered-down version of the proposal.

The ban on lobbying will only last for one year and does not take effect until January 1, 2014. The idea of anonymous complaints was completely tossed out; as the aldermen were afraid the tactic would be used by political enemies to gain an advantage. Emanuel was not pleased with the changes. He vowed to continue to fight for the anonymous complaints and mentioned the aldermen are just playing into the hands of the cynics.

Following the council’s vote Emanuel said, “I believe all of you work really hard. You don’t get credit for how hard you work. You get an unfair rap. But when you take an action like you just took, it reinforces a cynicism about you.” He added, “I want you all to know that is not the end of the process. I’m going to continue to do it.”

Photo of the Daley Plaza and Chicago City Hall by JeremyA on Wikipedia.

Lobbying

Kansas: “Legislature mulls changing official lobbying threshold” by Vikaas Shanker in the Topeka Capital-Journal.

Louisiana: “Study ties Jindal tax plan to ALEC” in the Baton Rouge Advocate.

Maryland:  “Bills seek to slow the revolving door of public officials into lobbying” by Becca Heller in the Maryland Reporter.

Campaign Finance

“ABA Supports Disclosure of Secret Political Spending” by Ian Vandewalker in the Brennan Center for Justice Blog.

Hawaii: “Mayor donor fund took in $360,000; Ethics digging deeper” by Gina Mangieri in KHON2 News.

New Jersey: “N.J. firms donated over $700,000 to Republican Governors Association” by John Reitmeyer and Melissa Hayes in the Bergen Record.

Rhode Island: “Local Politicians Owe $1.3M in Campaign Fines” by Stephen Beale in GoLocal Prov.

Ethics

Connecticut: “Conflict of interest bill gains traction” by Ken Dixon in the Connecticut Post.

Iowa: “Ethics committee won’t reprimand Iowa state senator” by Mike Wiser in the Quad-City Times.

Kentucky: “Metro ethics bill passes House panel” by Joseph Gerth in the Courier-Journal.

Maine: “Maine bill seeks to end cozy relations between state officials, private firms” by Naomi Schalit and John Christie in the Portland Press Herald.

Rhode Island: “Drive to reinstate R.I. Ethics Commission power over legislators resumes” by Katherine Gregg in the Providence Journal.

Lobbying

“The Dodd-Frank Cashout: Frank staffers launch lobbying firm” by Timothy P. Carney in the Washington Examiner.

“Al Jazeera signs a lobbying firm” by Anna Palmer in Politico.

“K Street Files: Ex-Frank Aides Open Lobbying Shop” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

“Lobbying World” in The Hill.

Campaign Finance

Arizona: “Teeth sought for campaign-finance law” by Howard Fischer in the Arizona Daily Star.

Utah: “Senate OKs $50 limit on anonymous campaign contributions” by David Montero in the Salt Lake Tribune.

Redistricting

“Redistricting board waiting on word from court” by The Associated Press in the Juneau Empire.

Open Government

“Mo. lawmakers endorse Sunshine Law measures” by The Associated Press in the News Tribune.

State of the Union

“Word cloud: Obama’s State of the Union speech” by Megan H. Chan in Politico.

“The State of the Union speech — in word clouds” by Aaron Blake in the Washington Post.

Q. We’ve had some disagreement internally within our organization – please help. As a federal registrant employing in-house lobbyists, are we only required to report the time and expenses associated with our “registered” lobbyists.

A. It’s a good question. The answer to which often gets lost amongst the efforts to report lobbyists’ activities. Federal registrants are certainly required to make best efforts to track, capture, and report the lobbying activities and expenses of those employees who meet the 20% threshold standard (lobbyist employee). In addition, registrants are equally required to track, capture, and report expenditures associated with employees who do not meet the 20% threshold but still engage in lobbying activities during the course of the quarter (non-lobbyist employees.) The names of non-lobbyist employees are not included on the report and neither is information related to what issues they addressed or contacts they made. That said, the Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House have consistently advised that all employee time spent engaged in lobbying activities should be included when determining an organization’s lobbying expenses, even when the employee(s) does not meet the statutory definition of being a lobbyist. In line with the best efforts standard, then, it is important to have in place reasonable, demonstrable processes to capture both lobbyist and non-lobbyist activities.

You can directly submit questions for this feature, and we will select those most appropriate and answer them here. Send your questions to: marketing@stateandfed.com.

(We are always available to answer questions from clients that are specific to your needs, and we encourage you to continue to call or e-mail us with questions about your particular company or organization. As always, we will confidentially and directly provide answers or information you need.) Our replies to your questions are not legal advice. Instead, these replies represent our analysis of laws, rules, and regulations.

At any given time, more than 1,000 legislative bills, which can affect how you do business as a government affairs professional, are being discussed in federal, state, and local jurisdictions. These bills are summarized in the State and Federal Communications’ digital encyclopedias for lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying, and can be found in the client portion of the State and Federal Communications’ website.

Summaries of major bills are also included in monthly e-mail updates sent to all clients. The chart below shows the number of bills we are tracking in regards to lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying.