The Chicago Board of Ethics rolled out a new electronic lobbyist registration system on May 1, 2012. Lobbyists can now register online on the Electronic Lobbyist Filing System page.

Electronic registration is voluntary, so lobbyists may still file paper registrations if they choose to do so. For lobbyists who are already registered, they can use the online system to add clients to their registration forms. Registered lobbyists should contact the board of ethics if they need their login information.

Assemblyman Mike Gatto is preparing legislation in response to the alleged pay-to-play scandal at the Los Angeles County Assessor’s office. The bill, AB 404, would require tax agents to register as lobbyists in counties already regulating lobbying.

Tax agents are hired by property owners to persuade appraisers and the assessor that property values are lower than listed. While the bill leaves it up to the counties to craft specific regulations, the draft regulations would require tax agents to register as lobbyists with the county, would forbid them from making campaign contributions to any county elected official, and would also bar them from giving gifts worth more than $50 to county employees.

The district attorney’s office is investigating allegations that one tax agent, Ramin Salari, used contributions to obtain favorable treatment from Assessor John Noguez. A former appraiser, Scott Schenter, claimed to have cut roll values with the expectation that affected property owners would be more likely to donate to Noguez’s campaign.

Lobbying

“Panel discusses effect of campaign and finance reforms on lobbyist spending at St. Peter’s College” by Charles Hack in the Jersey Journal.

“Political favors ‘just the way you do business here,’ lobbyists say” by Joe Schoenmann in the Los Vegas Sun.

Jack Abramoff makes another statement in “Ex-lobbyist: Lawmakers, not lawbreakers, to blame” by Ross Ramsey in the San Angelo Standard-Times.

Campaign Finance

Connecticut: “Legislature splits with Malloy over campaign bill” by Mark Pazniokas in the Connecticut Mirror.

Louisiana: “Senate moves Jindal ethics bills” by Marsha Shuler in the Baton Rouge Advocate.

New Hampshire: “NH Senate considers campaign reporting today” by Grant Bosse in the New Hampshire Watchdog.

New Hampshire: “Campaign finance bill targets nonprofits” by Ted Siefer in the Union Leader.

Vermont: “State senator resigns from committee over campaign finance bill” by Olga Peters in The Commons Online.

Super Pacs

“Dem pollster: Independents want candidates to address money in politics” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

“Insight: Super PACS: Follow the money – if you can” by Marcus Stern, Kristina Cooke and Alexander Cohen (Reuters) in the Chicago Tribune.

Howard Marlowe, the president of the American League of Lobbyists was featured on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal program. Marlowe discussed the LDA reforms the group is proposing.

According to C-SPAN’s post, Role of Federal Lobbyists: “Howard Marlowe talked about the role of federal lobbying, and he responded to telephone calls and electronic communications. Topics included legislation that affects the industry, and changes the industry itself is proposing that would alter law that governs those engaged in lobbying Congress and senior officials in the Executive Branch.”

The Chicago Tribune posted an article giving an account of the nature of the conversations Marlowe faced from callers on the program. Be sure to read “Lobbyists’ lobbyist draws public anger” by David Ingram.

Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, is speaking today in Washington, D.C. at the American League of Lobbyists State Lobbying Educational Seminar. The event is part of the group’s Lobbying Certificate Program.

According to the event details on the American League of Lobbyists website, this is the aim of the session:

“For many in D.C., lobbying starts with what goes on in the Beltway. But it doesn’t end there. No organization or corporation seeking to fulfill their entire legislative agenda can rely solely on federal lobbying. State-level lobbying, however, comes with an entirely new set of regulations and compliance landmines than federal lobbying. Did you know that ‘lobbying activities’ has a different definition depending where you are and to correctly filing disclosure forms takes a whole new process? Plus, even if you simply want to monitor what’s going on at the state level, you’ve got to coordinate effectively with different in-house or entirely new outside government relations teams.”

“Tired of ‘Tainted’ Image, Lobbyists Try Makeover” by Eric Lichtblau in The New York Times.

“State lobbyists spend record amounts: report” by Nannette Miranda on KABC-TV Los Angeles.

“Del. Senate Approves Bill on Lobbyist Disclosures” by The Associated Press on WBOC.com.

National:

Crowd-Sourcing Site Aims to Give Voters Lobbying Power

Federal:

Conservative Group Seeks FEC Approval to Keep Donors Secret

Obama Campaign Puts Bo on the Trail

From the States and Municipalities:

California

Lawmakers Mix Work with Fundraising in Sacramento

Illinois

Mayor’s Ethics Panel Offers Tweaks, Plans to Take Bigger Steps

Kentucky

Audit: Richie Farmer abused system

Maine

Lawmakers Decry Corruption Claim

Maryland

Legislation Would Give State Voters More Political Gift Information

Montana

Groups Ask That Montana Judge Toss Ban Restricting Campaign Donations

North Carolina

Second Tillis Staffer Admits to Inappropriate Relationship with a Lobbyist

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Ethics Panel Reprimands OU Doctor for Accepting Excessive Speaking Fees

Texas

Austin Approves New Campaign Finance Rules

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.

A new electronic lobbyist registration is now available for the Commonwealth of Virginia. All lobbyists, including those already registered for 2012-2013, will need to create a new account on the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Lobbyist Registration Portal and complete a new lobbyist registration.

New accounts must be activated through the confirmation e-mail sent from the state.

Lobbyists will also receive a confirmation e-mail when their electronic registration has been approved by the state.

Campaign Finance

New York: “Senate Democrats call for campaign finance reform” by Bill Lambdin on WNYT.com.

Vermont: “Campaign finance bill sent to Judiciary Committee” by Terri Hallenbeck in the Burlington Free Press.

Lobbying

North Carolina: “Second Tillis staffer admits to inappropriate relationship with a lobbyist” by Dan Kane and John Frank in the Charlotte Observer.

Texas:  “Texas legislator fined for failure to disclose gifts” in the  Fort Worth Star Telegram.

Ethics

District of Columbia: “D.C. Council Backs Off Pressuring Mayor to Select Ethics Panel” by Tom Sherwood on NBCWashington.com.

South Carolina: “SC House votes to open investigations into its own if ethics committee finds probable cause” by Seanna Adcox (Associated Press) in The Republic.

On April 30, 2012, the Lobbyists Registration Act came into force in the Canadian province of Manitoba. The act requires lobbyists to file returns using an electronic registry system. Although the act was originally passed in 2008, it came into force only this year upon proclamation, allowing the lobbyist registrar the opportunity to create the system with its online component.

The act categorizes lobbyists as either consultant lobbyists or in-house lobbyists. Consultant lobbyists are individuals who, for pay or other benefit, undertake to lobby on behalf of a client. An in-house lobbyist is defined as an employee, partner, or sole proprietor of an organization who lobbies, or has a duty to lobby, on behalf of the organization. However, to be designated as an in-house lobbyist, an individual’s lobbying or duty to lobby has to constitute a significant part of his or her activities, which the regulations define as meeting or exceeding 100 hours annually. Additionally, if an individual’s lobbying, together with lobbying by others in the organization, meets or exceeds 100 hours annually, the senior officer of the organization must file a return.

The act defines lobby to mean communicating with a public official in an attempt to influence the development of a legislative proposal; introducing a bill or resolution before the assembly; making or amending a regulation; developing, amending, or terminating a program or policy; or awarding a financial benefit. For consultant lobbyists the definition of lobby also includes arranging a meeting with a public official or communicating with a public official in an attempt to influence the award of a contract.

Consultant lobbyists already lobbying before April 30th have 30 days to begin filing. If lobbying begins after April 30th, consultant lobbyists have 10 days to file. A senior officer filing on behalf of an organization with in-house lobbyists has two months in which to file, regardless of whether lobbying begins before or after April 30th. Additionally, the officer must file returns within two months after the end of each six-month period after filing the previous return.

Q. Some of the state lobbying reports ask about my travel expenses. What does this include?

A. “Travel expenses” is a phrase used by several states. It can refer to two different types of expenditures.

Some states require the disclosure of personal, reimbursed expenses incurred while lobbying. This would include food and beverage, hotels, cab fare, and travel expenses for a lobbying trip. Iowa, for instance, requires lobbyist employers to disclose all reimbursements made to their lobbyists. So, if a lobbyist lives in Topeka and flies to Des Moines to communicate with a legislator, the airfare is a reportable expense. Note, however, this generally only applies if the primary purpose of the trip is lobbying as defined by the state. A trip during which the lobbying contacts made were incidental to the main purpose of the travel would usually not need reported.

Other states, however, require the reporting of airfare or other travel costs paid by a lobbyist on behalf of a legislator or other public official. In Idaho and Mississippi, for example, a lobbyist or lobbyist employer may pay for a public official to travel to an event or to the company’s facilities, and the cost of the travel must be reported.

In all of these cases, the state reports request “travel expenses.” As you can see, it is very possible for the same words to have different meanings in the eyes of different states. When in doubt, lobbyists and employers can always contact us for guidance.

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.

National:

Conservative Nonprofit Acts as a Stealth Business Lobbyist

Social Media Directors Increasing in Government

Federal:

‘We the People’ Petition Site the Newest Tool in K Street Lobbying Repertoire

Who Pays When The President Travels for The Campaign?

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

House OKs Lobbyist Penalty

California

AT&T Wields Enormous Power in Sacramento

California

California Ethics Czar Urges Disclosure of Payments to Web Pundits

Louisiana

Cap on Legislative Wining and Dining Moves to $56

Minnesota

Debt-Laden Minnesota GOP Notified of Eviction

New York

Lobby Formed for Cuomo Blew Deadline

North Carolina

Charles Thomas, N.C. Speaker’s Top Aide, Linked to Lobbyist

North Dakota

North Dakota Bridles at Neighbor’s Capitol Insult

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Lawmaker Wins and Loses on the Same Day

South Carolina

ALEC Has Special Exemption in South Carolina’s Lobbying Law

West Virginia

Ethics Ruling Regarding House Speaker Raises Concerns

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.

Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, and John Cozine, Research Manager for the company, contributed to a publication by the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO). The white paper, “Effective Communication between State Procurement and Industry,” was presented at NAPSO’s recent national meeting.

The How to Market to State Governments Meeting was held April 15-17 in Orlando, Florida.

State and Federal Communications’ contribution can be found in the “Vendor Reporting and Disclosure” section, which covers compliance issues regarding lobbying, vendor disclosure, and pay-to-play.

“We felt it was important that we participate to make sure the paper included information about compliance,” said Bartz.

“Big lobbying spending dips” by Dave Levinthal in Politico.

“U.S. Chamber of Commerce Continues to Spend Heavily on Lobbying, Filings Show” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

“K Streeters Adjusting to Loss of Earmarks” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

“Fears of lame-duck session in Congress could boost K Street’s bottom line” by Kevin Bogardus and Rachel Leven in The Hill.

California: “How to wire a state capital” by Charles Mahtesian in Politico.

California: “AT&T wields enormous power in Sacramento” by Shane Goldmacher and Anthony York in The Los Angeles Times.

Minnesota: “Not all laws come from high-powered lobbying campaigns” by John Reinan in the MinnPost.