Campaign Finance

Pennsylvania: “Philly District Attorney Larry Krasner Settles Campaign-Finance Violation” by Andrew Seidman for Philadelphia Inquirer

Ethics

National: “‘Not in Compliance’: Wilbur Ross, the Trump official who keeps watchdogs up at night” by Carrie Levine and Peter Overby for Center for Public Integrity

National: “Federal Grand Jury Issued Subpoena for Documents Relating to D.C. Council Member Jack Evans” by Steve Thompson for Washington Post

Maryland: “Maryland Delegate Says She Won’t Resign after House Censures Her for ‘Racist and Hateful Slur’” by Luke Broadwater and Pamela Wood (Baltimore Sun) for MSN

South Carolina: “Panel Punts Vote on Controversial SC Nominee, Setting Up Battle on Senate Floor” by Bristow Marchant for The State

Texas: “‘Sense of Despair’ as Former Dallas City Council Member Pleads Guilty in Feds’ Case That Implicates Prominent Developer” by Robert Wilonsky for Dallas News

Legislative Issues

North Carolina: “Why a Judge Ruled That the Entire North Carolina Legislature Is Illegitimate” by Alan Greenblatt for Governing

Lobbying

New Mexico: “Former Public Servants Lobby Ex-Colleagues” by Dan McKay for Albuquerque Journal

The Hawaii State Ethics Commission’s electronic filing system for lobbying disclosures is now available.

The E-Filing System allows for filing of lobbyist registrations and expenditures reports.

The E-Filing system is available at: https://hawaiiethics.force.com/lobbying/s/

Federal:

Cohen Tells Congress Trump Knew About WikiLeaks’ Plans, Directed Hush-Money Payments
MSN – Matt Zapotosky, Rosalind Helderman, Karoun Demirjian, and Rachael Bade (Washington Post) | Published: 2/27/2019

Michael Cohen, President Trump’s longtime lawyer and fixer, laid out for Congress for the first time a series of deceptions by the president. He charged that Trump lied to the public about business interests in Russia, lied to reporters about stolen Democratic emails, and told Cohen to lie about hush payments to cover up sexual misconduct. The accusations, aired at a daylong hearing before the House Oversight and Reform Committee, exposed a dark underside of Trump’s business and political worlds in the voice of one of the ultimate insiders. Perhaps no close associate has turned on a president in front of Congress in such dramatic fashion and with such high stakes since John Dean testified against President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.

From the States and Municipalities:

Arkansas: Arkansas Grapples with Ethics Cleanup Amid Federal Probes
4029tv – Andrew DeMillo (Associated Press) | Published: 2/24/2019

A flurry of corruption cases in the past two years has been eye-popping, even for the most jaded veterans of Arkansas politics. Among those who have been charged are a nephew of the current governor, a champion of campaign finance reform, and a top county official who admitted to taking bribes funneled through the church where he was a pastor. The recent cases have stirred fears the Capitol is becoming better known as a hotbed of corruption than for any policy achievements, and legislative leaders are scrambling to repair that image and find ways of deterring future misdeeds.

California: The Political Playbook of a Bankrupt California Utility
MSN – Thomas Fuller and Ivan Penn (New York Times) | Published: 2/23/2019

Despite evidence Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) was responsible for repeated safety violations and involved in deadly wildfires, lawmakers in California continued to benefit from political donations from the company. Investigators are now determining whether PG&E equipment was responsible for the state’s deadliest wildfire, the inferno in and around Paradise that killed 85 people and destroyed more than 13,000 homes. With the state’s tech giants focused on their influence in Washington, D.C., perhaps no company in California is more entangled with local Democratic politics than PG&E, which in January filed for bankruptcy. PG&E’s restructuring will test whether Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders can push to create a company free from what critics say has been a culture of cronyism between regulators and the regulated.

Florida: The SWAT Team Showed Up at a Florida Mayor’s Door. Then He Started Shooting, Police Say.
Washington Post – Reis Thebault and Eli Rosenberg | Published: 2/21/2019

The mayor of a small Gulf Coast town in Florida was arrested after shooting at a SWAT team that had come to arrest him on charges of illegally practicing medicine. Dale Glen Massad, mayor of Port Richey, a town of around 2,600 north of Tampa, fired two shots at officers who raided his home in the early hours of the morning. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement was investigating Massad, a former doctor who gave up his license in 1992, after being tipped off that Massad was still practicing medicine. No officers were injured and Massad was arrested without further incident. He is charged with two counts of attempted homicide, according to the complaint.

Georgia: Nine Lawyers in Running to Head State Ethics Commission
Yahoo Finance – R. Robin McDonald (Law.com) | Published: 2/28/2019

Nine lawyers are in contention to become the new head of Georgia’s ethics commission, which has moved to replace former Executive Secretary Stefan Ritter. He resigned following an internal investigation, which stemmed from the discovery of hundreds of pornographic images on his state-issued computer. Complaints also accused Ritter of squelching ethics inquiries of several Atlanta mayoral candidates and possible campaign violations by a gubernatorial campaign. Finalists for the job include Robert Lane, deputy executive secretary of the Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, and Michael Sullivan, director of the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

Illinois: At Chicago City Hall, the Legislative Branch Rarely Does Much Legislating
ProPublica – Mick Dumke | Published: 2/25/2019

From 2011 through 2018, Chicago Ald. Pat Dowell was the chief sponsor of more than 900 separate ordinances in the city council, most of them pertaining to such hyperlocal issues as business sign permits, driveway alley access, and parking meter hours for single addresses. That volume of ward-specific legislation is typical for aldermen. Except in rare instances, the council signs off on the mayor’s agenda, even letting the city’s executive pick its legislative leaders. In return, aldermen are allowed to reign over matters large and small in their wards, which some openly describe as “fiefdoms.” The structure of the council has received new attention over the last several months, as the city’s political establishment has been rocked by scandals involving aldermen.

Louisiana: Louisiana Cap on Legislative Wining and Dining Grows to $62
Tacoma News Tribune; Associated Press –   | Published: 2/24/2019

When the new budget year begins in a few months, lobbyists can spend $62 per occasion on food and drink for a public official in Louisiana. The current cap is $61. The 2008 law that sets the limit allows annual adjustments tied to increases in the federal Consumer Price Index for food and beverages.

Maryland: Maryland Del. Mary Ann Lisanti Stripped of Leadership Post Over Use of Racial Slur
Washington Post – Ovetta Wiggins | Published: 2/26/2019

A Maryland lawmaker who witnesses say used a racial slur to describe a legislative district in Prince George’s County has been stripped of her leadership position and will undergo sensitivity training. Del. Mary Ann Lisanti issued a public apology after addressing the executive committee of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland. Lisanti used the slur in front of several colleagues at an Annapolis cigar bar in January. She told another white lawmaker that when he campaigned in Prince George’s on behalf of a candidate last fall, he was door-knocking in a “n—– district,” said Del. Jay Walker, who witnessed the comment and represents the district in question.

New Hampshire: NH Lobbyists Paid Record Fees in 2018 But Info Hard to Track
Manchester Union Leader – Kevin Landrigan | Published: 2/23/2019

Unofficially, the nearly 500 private or public interests that hired lobbyists in New Hampshire last year paid out nearly $10.7 million in fees. The Manchester Union Leader constructed a database of the fees paid to these lobbyists from information available on the secretary of state’s website. But the state’s website is not searchable. State officials scan all the forms and post them online. This means anyone trying to aggregate all the fees paid to any firm has to total up all the individual forms. In 2018, more than 1,000 lobbying firms filed these reports because several firms have more than one associate working for them. For example, the Sheehan Phinney Capitol Group has five registered lobbyists who represent 40 clients. To find out what the firm got paid in total requires looking at more than 120 forms.

North Carolina: In N.C., a Surprise: In the end, everyone agreed it was election fraud
Chicago Tribune – Amy Gardner (Washington Post) | Published: 2/23/2019

North Carolina will hold a new election in the Ninth Congressional District following a hearing that outlined how a political operative had orchestrated an absentee ballot scheme to try to sway the race in favor of Mark Harris, the Republican candidate. Harris was under scrutiny for hiring Leslie McCrae Dowless, who allegedly assembled a crew to illegally collect, fill out, and forge mail-in ballots in two rural counties in the district. Mark Harris’s son, John, testified before the State Board of Elections that he warned his father he believed Dowless had broken the law in a previous election and should not be hired for the 2018 campaign. The elder Harris had maintained in interviews with reporters that he was unaware of red flags about the operative’s alleged tactics.

Ohio: Even After FBI Probe of Ohio Speaker, Tracking Lawmakers’ Travel Remains Challenging
Cincinnati Enquirer – Jessie Balmert | Published: 2/24/2019

Each year, several Ohio lawmakers spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on out-of-state travel. They meet legislators from other states, learn about how foreign countries tackle problems, and make connections that could help them professionally and politically. But figuring out how much each lawmaker travels and who pays for those trips is far from easy. Legislators must report some travel for official business on annual ethics forms but not all. Some lawmakers use campaign contributions to pay for travel and document trips there. But lawmakers can also receive free trips from national groups or pay for the trips themselves – it is impossible to tell.

Oregon: Polluted by Money
Portland Oregonian – Rob Davis | Published: 2/22/2019

Over the last few years, Oregon’s most powerful industries have defeated, weakened, or stalled efforts to deal with climate change, air pollution, and other environmental matters. An investigation by The Portland Oregonian found the failure to regulate campaign finance has made Oregon one of the biggest money states in American politics, and the ready cash creates an easy regulatory climate where industry gets what it wants. A company might give as little as a few thousand dollars per lawmaker. But taken together, legislators receive millions from industries with a shared interest in weak environmental regulation. Some state lawmakers said the campaign finance system works by showing voters who is giving money and letting them judge whether it is significant.

Pennsylvania: How Philly’s Electricians Union and Johnny Doc Converted Payroll Deductions into Political Influence
Philadelphia Inquirer – Chris Brennan and Dylan Purcell | Published: 2/25/2019

From 2002 through 2018, small-dollar donations withdrawn from the paychecks of members of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers produced just under $41 million to invest in helping elect allies to local, state, and national offices. The yearly haul has increased six-fold over the last decade. The recent indictment on corruption charges of the union’s leader, Johnny “Doc” Dougherty, entangled only one elected official – Philadelphia City Councilperson Bobby Henon – and did not charge anyone with making or receiving improper campaign donations. For a probe that took at least two years, it also gave barely a nod to the breadth of the influence and impact that Local 98 and its leader have amassed.

Texas: Most Dallas City Council Members’ Campaign-Finance Reports Show Violations – But No One Enforces Rules
Dallas News – Corbett Smith | Published: 2/26/2019

Despite a limit on how much individuals and groups can donate to mayoral and council candidates, oversight by Dallas officials is essentially nonexistent. The Dallas News reviewed the past four years of campaign finance filings, finding more than 30 questionable donations reported by 10 of the 14 city council members. A dozen more issues showed up on reports of former council members and losing candidates, but no one is in charge of combing over the forms, raising questions or scrutinizing irregularities. And no one is filing official complaints that would prompt an investigation, city officials said. Even if someone filed a complaint about campaign finance violations, there’s disagreement whether the city’s own ethics panel can even investigate the matter.

Campaign Finance

Arizona: “Regulators Now Have the Votes to Subpoena Utility’s Political Spending Records” by Howard Fischer (Arizona Daily Star) for Arizona Daily Star

Texas: “Most Dallas City Council Members’ Campaign-Finance Reports Show Violations – But No One Enforces Rules” by Corbett Smith for Dallas News

West Virginia: “W.Va. Senate Passes Bill to Change to Campaign Finance Law, Opponents Say It Lacks Transparency” by David Mistich for West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Elections

Illinois: “Chicago Poised to Elect first African-American Female Mayor After Lori Lightfoot, Toni Preckwinkle Advance” by Bill Ruthhart for Chicago Tribune

North Carolina: “Bladen County Operative at Center of NC Election Fraud Investigation Indicted, Arrested” by Ely Portillo and Jim Morrill for Raleigh News and Observer

Ethics

National: “House Democrats Forge Ahead on Electoral Reform Bill” by Zach Montellaro for Politico

Pennsylvania: “Pa. Audit Says Officials Took Freebies from Voting Machine Firms” by Liz Navratil and Angela Couloumbis for Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Lobbying

New Hampshire: “NH Lobbyists Paid Record Fees in 2018 But Info Hard to Track” by Kevin Landrigan for Manchester Union Leader

On February 26, legislation aimed at reforming U.S. campaign finance, lobbying, and ethic laws advanced in committee. The House Administration Committee approved of H.R. 1, the For the People Act, by a party-line vote of six to three.

In the sweeping 571-page bill, corporate PACs would be required to make certifications annually with the Federal Election Commission. Those certifications would include affirming under penalty of law no foreign national participated in any way in the decision-making processes of the PAC; corporate board members who are foreign nationals abstained from voting on matters concerning the corporation’s PAC; and the PAC did not solicit or accept recommendations from any foreign national.

The legislation expands the definition of foreign national to include any corporation, limited liability corporation, or partnership that is not a foreign national but is owned or indirectly controlled by foreign nationals meeting statutory thresholds of ownership or voting. The threshold is five percent of voting shares if the foreign national is a foreign country, a foreign government official, or a corporation principally owned or controlled by a foreign country or foreign government official. The threshold is 20 percent if the foreign national is any other type of foreign national. Corporations not considered foreign nationals would fall under the definition when a foreign national has the power to direct, dictate, or control the decision-making process of the corporation with respect to its interests in the United States or with respect to activities in connection with federal, state, or local elections.

Additionally, the bill restructures the Federal Election Commission, amends the federal conflict of interest law, and expands the revolving door provision by prohibiting Members of Congress from serving on corporate boards. Introduced by Rep. John Sarbanes, the bill requires any organization involved in political activity to disclose its largest donors, creates a multiple matching system for small donations for political campaigns, and amends rules governing super PACs.

If passed, the bill also requires presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns, prohibits partisan gerrymandering, increases oversight over election vendors, creates an automatic voter registration across the country, and changes registration requirements for lobbyists and foreign agents.

Campaign Finance

Idaho: “Sunshine Bill on Electioneering Stalls in Committee, Amid Nonprofits’ Concerns Over ‘Donor Privacy’” by Savannah Cardon for Idaho Press

Rhode Island: “Ex-GOP Candidate for Congress in R.I. Charged in Fraud” by Patrick Anderson for Providence Journal

Elections

National: “U.S. Cyber Command Operation Disrupted Internet Access of Russian Troll Factory on Day of 2018 Midterms” by Ellen Nakashima (Washington Post) for MSN

Ethics

Maryland: “Md. Lawmaker Apologizes for Allegedly Using N-Word with Her Colleagues” by Ovetta Wiggins for Washington Post

Legislative Issues

California: “California Lawmakers and Lobbyists Hustle to Write Hundreds of Bills, Many Not Fully Cooked” by John Myers (Los Angeles Times) for San Diego Union Tribune

Lobbying

Kentucky: “Kentucky Senate OKs Bill to Reveal Executive Branch Lobbying” by The Associated Press for Miami Herald

Michigan: “Lobbyist Spending Topped the Charts in Michigan Last Year, Reports Show” by Carol Thompson for Lansing State Journal

Campaign Finance

Pennsylvania: “How Philly’s Electricians Union and Johnny Doc Converted Payroll Deductions into Political Influence” by Chris Brennan and Dylan Purcell for Philadelphia Inquirer

Elections

National: “Russian Spy or Hustling Political Operative? The Enigmatic Figure at the Heart of Mueller’s Inquiry” by Kenneth Vogel and Andrew Kramer (New York Times) for MSN

Ethics

Arkansas: “Arkansas Grapples with Ethics Cleanup Amid Federal Probes” by Andrew DeMillo (Associated Press) for 4029tv

Ohio: “Even After FBI Probe of Ohio Speaker, Tracking Lawmakers’ Travel Remains Challenging” by Jessie Balmert for Cincinnati Enquirer

Legislative Issues

Illinois: “At Chicago City Hall, the Legislative Branch Rarely Does Much Legislating” by Mick Dumke for ProPublica

Oregon: “2 Oregon Lawmakers Demoted for Rude Behavior” by Sarah Zimmerman (Associated Press) for Portland Oregonian

Lobbying

California: “The Political Playbook of a Bankrupt California Utility” by Thomas Fuller and Ivan Penn (New York Times) for MSN

Louisiana: “Louisiana Cap on Legislative Wining and Dining Grows to $62” by The Associated Press for Tacoma News Tribune

New Mexico State Reps. Joy Garratt and Elizabeth Thomson introduced House Bill 551 earlier this month.

If passed, the bill would require lobbyists to participate in a sexual harassment training lasting at least four hours.

The program must be sponsored by the secretary of state, an employer of the lobbyist and conducted by a person qualified to conduct the training, or by a certified human resources professional.

Campaign Finance

New Jersey: “NJ Senate Approves Legislation Requiring ‘Dark Money’ Groups to Reveal Donors” by David Levinsky for Burlington County Times

Oregon: “Polluted by Money” by Rob Davis for Portland Oregonian

Elections

North Carolina: “After Harris Admissions, a New Election in 9th District” by Travis Fain for WRAL

Ethics

National: “Judge Broadens Gag Order Against Roger Stone After Instagram Post” by Darren Samuelsohn, Josh Gerstein, and Matthew Choi for Politico

Florida: “The SWAT Team Showed Up at a Florida Mayor’s Door. Then He Started Shooting, Police Say.” by Reis Thebault and Eli Rosenberg for Washington Post

Tennessee: “Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Regrets Wearing Confederate Uniform in College” by Jonathan Matisse and Scott Stroud for AP News

Lobbying

Canada: “Ontario Lobbyists Fear Loss of Access Unless They Sell Ford Fundraiser Tickets” by Jill Mahoney and Adam Radwanski for The Globe and Mail

Nevada: “Law Would Alter Nevada Financial Disclosure, Lobbyist Rules” by Bill Dentzer for Las Vegas Review-Journal

National:

The Growing Need for Opposition Research – on Yourself – in Today’s Political World
Governing – Alan Greenblatt | Published: 2/15/2019

The series of recent scandals in Virginia was kicked off by the emergence of a 35-year-old yearbook page from Gov. Ralph Northam’s medical school days. In September, members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee grilled then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh about entries in his high school yearbook and the calendar he kept as a student. Now reporters all over the country are scouring old yearbooks, looking for more examples of racist or otherwise disturbing images or language from the past of politicians. All this suggests that opposition research – as well as self-research, which refers to candidates hiring investigators to look into their own closets – will be a growing field in the years ahead.

Federal:

Elections Commission Chief Uses the ‘Nuclear Option’ to Rescue the Agency from Gridlock
Mother Jones – Nihal Krishan | Published: 2/20/2019

Ellen Weintraub, who has been on the FEC since 2002 and became chairperson in January, has become increasingly frustrated by the agency’s lack of enforcement, which has led to less disclosure, less transparency, and more “dark money” within the campaign finance system. Weintraub now says she will not allow FEC lawyers to defend the government when the commission has been sued for not enforcing the law. This drastic step, which one former FEC lawyer called the “nuclear option,” is effectively an effort to sabotage her own agency in order to enforce the law and create more campaign finance disclosure.

Intimidation, Pressure and Humiliation: Inside Trump’s two-year war on the investigations encircling him
MSN – Mark Mazzetti, Maggie Haberman, Nicholas Fandos, and Michael Schmidt (New York Times) | Published: 2/19/2019

President Trump’s public war on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has gone on long enough that it is no longer shocking. Trump rages almost daily to his 58 million Twitter followers that Muller is on a “witch hunt.” The president’s lawyer talks openly about a strategy to smear and discredit the special counsel investigation. Trump’s allies in Congress and the conservative media warn of an insidious plot inside the Justice Department and the FBI to subvert a democratically elected president. An examination by The New York Times reveals the extent of an even more sustained, more secretive assault by Trump on the machinery of federal law enforcement. Interviews with current and former government officials and others close to Trump, as well as a review of confidential White House documents, reveal numerous unreported episodes in a two-year drama.

From the States and Municipalities:

California: L.A. Ethics Commission Backs New Restrictions on Developer Donations
Los Angeles Times – Emily Alpert Reyes and David Zahniser | Published: 2/19/2019

Faced with complaints about a “pay-to-play” culture at City Hall, the Los Angeles Ethics Commission backed new restrictions on political donations from real estate developers seeking city approval for their building plans. The proposed ban would cover a broad array of people “substantially involved” in a proposed development project, including real estate executives, architects, engineers, and others. Such donors would also be barred from fundraising or gathering political donations for city officials. The commission also backed new restrictions on “behested payments” – donations solicited by politicians for charitable or governmental causes.

California: Nation’s First All-LGBTQ City Council Tests Modern Meaning of Diversity
San Francisco Chronicle – Scott Wilson (Washington Post) | Published: 2/18/2019

Palm Springs achieved a measure of fame a little more than a year ago when voters elected the nation’s first city council consisting entirely of members of the LGBTQ community. The gay and lesbian community, a majority of the electorate in this city of 45,000 people, cheered the milestone as an affirmation of the community’s model tolerance. The happy moment did not last long. The council elected in November 2017 also happened to be all white. What was viewed by many as a broad step toward greater diversity instead turned Palm Springs into a forum for a debate about what diversity means – and who, exactly, is best suited to represent whom in a state shaped for decades by identity politics.

California: Why Cities, Counties May Turn to the State Political Watchdog to Enforce Local Campaign Finance Issues
San Bernardino Sun – Joe Nelson and Sandra Emerson | Published: 2/20/2019

A law that took effect on January 1 in California essentially allows local agencies to draw on the state’s experience and expertise in dealing with campaign finance and ethics laws – for a price. Under its contract with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), San Bernardino County pays the agency a flat fee of $55,000 annually and is billed at hourly rates for any work exceeding the flat amount. In return, the FPPC audits the campaign accounts of all county elected officials each election cycle, investigates complaints, provides written and verbal guidance to elected officials and their donors regarding the county’s campaign finance and ethics ordinance.

Florida: ‘Who Gave It, Who Got It?’ How Political Influence in Miami Is Bought – and Concealed
Miami Herald – Joey Flechas and Sandra Emerson | Published: 2/21/2019

Whether it is candidates or ballot measures, moneyed interests use political groups that can receive and spend unlimited, untraceable “dark money” to influence elections in Miami and pay for attack ads. Florida’s lax campaign finance laws allow donors to seed thousands of dollars into committees that can give to one or more other committees. The money that pays for the ads can be difficult to trace back to the original donor. Because state authorities do not aggressively police campaign finance reports, political committees can easily get away with concealing their donors while flouting election laws. But political groups do not necessarily need to break campaign laws to hide the sources of their money. It is allowed to be moved through a byzantine web of political committees that mask its origins.

Montana: US Supreme Court Won’t Take Challenge to Montana Campaign Finance Law
Montana Public Radio – Corin Cates-Carney | Published: 2/19/2018

The U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, declined to take up a case challenging Montana’s campaign finance disclosure law.  The justices left in place a lower court’s ruling that the state’s so-called Disclose Act is constitutional. The law requires groups that engage in last-minute advertising in elections to make public how they spend money to influence the state’s elections.

New Jersey: This N.J. Mayor Is Getting Paid to Fight Legal Weed. Here’s Why That’s Causing Trouble.
Bergen Record – Payton Guion (NJ Advance Media) | Published: 2/15/2019

The mayor of the first town in New Jersey to ban legal marijuana sales has also spent most of the past year on the payroll as a lobbyist for a prominent anti-marijuana group in the state. But Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Stephen Reid has not always been upfront about that connection, raising questions about ethics and conflicts-of-interest. More than 60 towns in New Jersey have taken some step to prohibit marijuana businesses from their borders. Reid has traveled around the state, offering his hand to other towns considering a ban as the mayor of a town that’ has already done it. Since May 2018, Reid has been a paid lobbyist for New Jersey Responsible Approaches to Marijuana, and his potential conflict is the subject of lawsuit against the town.

Oregon: ‘Give Me the Money, and I’ll Give It to Her.’ Former Oregon Lawmaker Describes Participating in Dubious Campaign Practice
Portland Oregonian – Rob Davis | Published: 2/17/2019

On paper, two contributions to candidates last year came from former Oregon Rep. Deborah Boone. She wrote the checks and her name is listed as the donor. In reality, Boone said, the money came from donors who asked her to pass it on under her name, creating a set of transactions and reports that may have violated state law. Boone described the practice as commonplace among legislators. State records show millions of dollars have moved between Oregon politicians in the past decade in what look like straightforward gestures of support. Lawmakers also routinely give money to committees run by legislative leaders, who then redistribute it to candidates in tough races. According to Boone, the transactions are not always what they seem.

Rhode Island: Political Donations by Strip-club Industry Made in Lobbying Firm’s Name
Providence Journal – Brian Amaral | Published: 2/15/2019

Mysterious errors in campaign finance records concealed the source of thousands of dollars in donations from the Providence strip-club industry to Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo and House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello. Instead of listing their actual employers, the series of contributions listed a lobbying firm, the Goldberg Law Offices. A lobbyist at that firm, Robert Goldberg, also worked on behalf of the strip-club industry. Goldberg said he did not know why donations from people involved in the strip-club industry – and not, in fact, employed by his firm – listed his firm as their employer. The errors raise questions about the working relationship between a high-powered lobbyist and an industry he represented and illuminate the many connections between the strip-club industry and the halls of power in the state.

Texas: Sen. Angela Paxton Files Bill That Would Allow Her Husband, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, to Issue Exemptions from Securities Regulations
Texas Tribune – Emma Platoff | Published: 2/16/2019

In what state Sen. Angela Paxton describes as an effort to safely expand Texas’ burgeoning financial tech industry, she filed a bill that would empower the office of her husband, state Attorney General Ken Paxton to exempt entrepreneurs from certain state regulations so they can market “innovative financial products or services.” One of those exemptions would be working as an “investment advisor” without registering. Currently, doing so is a felony in Texas, one for which Ken Paxton was issued a civil penalty in 2014 and criminally charged in 2015.

Virginia: Richmond’s Donor Class and the VMI Brotherhood Stand Behind Embattled Virginia Governor
Washington Post – Gregory Schneider | Published: 2/16/2019

Gil Minor, a local corporate titan and major donor to both political parties, and Tom Slater, a prominent lawyer, met with Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam soon after the shocking news broke that a racist photograph had been unearthed from Northam’s medical school yearbook page. Minor and Slater are part of a political donor class in Richmond that has rallied behind the embattled governor. Perhaps more significant, they are part of a Virginia Military Institute (VMI) brotherhood, an elite alumni corps that includes several of the state’s power brokers. They did not want Northam, the first VMI graduate to become governor, to go down in disgrace. That support is a major reason Northam has clung to office when most of the political world has called for his resignation, leaving the state locked in a limbo of dysfunction that shows no sign of changing soon.

Washington: SEIU State Council to Pay $128,000 in Civil Fines Over Campaign-Finance Lawsuit
Seattle Times – Joseph O’Sullivan | Published: 2/19/2019

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Washington State Council 14 has agreed to pay a six-figure settlement over a campaign finance lawsuit. The settlement requires SEIU to pay $128,262.75 in civil fines, as well as $18,300.85 in costs and fees. Another $104,942.25 in civil fines is suspended, provided the organization has no violations over the next four years. The Freedom Foundation alleged the SEIU state council had been operating as a political committee without filing as such with the Washington Public Disclosure Commission. The state attorney general’s office determined that SEIU had made significant campaign contributions but failed to register and report as a political committee in for at least the years 2014 and 2016.

Wyoming: Legislature Reforms Campaign Finance
Staff – Sundance Times | Published: 2/20/2019

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed Senate Bill 18 into law. It is intended to enhance transparency by requiring that candidates report their expenditures and contributions simultaneously and up to two weeks before the election. It also raises the threshold for reporting from $25 to $100 to account for inflation. The law also clarifies campaign advertising provisions to now include online advertising and defines “electioneering communications,” while requiring that campaign activity be subject to the disclosure of donors and expenditures whether or not that activity was done in coordination with a candidate. A disclosure must now explicitly state, “Paid for by ….”

Campaign Finance

National: “Elections Commission Chief Uses the ‘Nuclear Option’ to Rescue the Agency from Gridlock” by Nihal Krishan for Mother Jones

California: “L.A. Ethics Commission Backs New Restrictions on Developer Donations” by Emily Alpert Reyes and David Zahniser for Los Angeles Times

Michigan: “Mayor Will File ‘Schor Lansing Fund’ with the IRS” by Kyle Kaminski and Berl Schwartz for Lansing City Pulse

Montana: “US Supreme Court Won’t Take Challenge to Montana Campaign Finance Law” by Corin Cates-Carney for Montana Public Radio

Washington: “SEIU State Council to Pay $128,000 in Civil Fines Over Campaign-Finance Lawsuit” by Joseph O’Sullivan for Seattle Times

Ethics

National: “Top Ethics Watchdog Rejects Ross’s Financial Disclosure Form” by Bill Allison for Bloomberg

National: “A Federal Employee’s Ethics Guide During Future Government Shutdowns” by Nicole Ogrysko for Federal News Network

Texas: “Sen. Angela Paxton Files Bill That Would Allow Her Husband, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, to Issue Exemptions from Securities Regulations” by Emma Platoff for Texas Tribune

Campaign Finance

National: “Lawmakers Launch New Probe Into ‘Complex Web’ of Alleged Ties Between NRA, Russians” by Pete Madden and Matthew Mosk for ABC News

Ohio: “Highland Heights Mayor Scott Coleman Expected to Resign After Embezzlement Accusation” by Sabrina Eaton for Cleveland Plain Dealer

Elections

California: “Nation’s First All-LGBTQ City Council Tests Modern Meaning of Diversity” by Scott Wilson (Washington Post) for San Francisco Chronicle

Ethics

National: “Trump Can’t Run the Mueller Playbook on New York Feds” by Darren Samuelsohn for Politico

National: “Flynn Pushed to Share Nuclear Tech with Saudis, Report Says” by Chad Day for AP News

National: “Intimidation, Pressure and Humiliation: Inside Trump’s two-year war on the investigations encircling him” by Mark Mazzetti, Maggie Haberman, Nicholas Fandos, and Michael Schmidt (New York Times) for MSN

Lobbying

Arkansas: “Panel: No food, drink for legislators at event” by Michael Wickline for Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Michigan: “Michigan Senator Seeks to End ‘Revolving Door’ of Lawmakers Turned Lobbyists” by Lindsay Van Hulle for Bridge Michigan

On February 14, a bill was introduced in the National Assembly of Quebec to allow the Lobbyists Commissioner to maintain the registry of lobbyists.

Currently, paperwork filed by lobbyists is processed with the Ministry of Justice. Bill 6 amends the Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Act in order to transfer responsibility for keeping the registry of lobbyists to the Lobbyists Commissioner.

The bill also creates a three-year statute of limitations for the prosecution of lobbying violations, starting from the time a prosecutor becomes aware of a violation. A prosecution would be prohibited if the commission of the offense occurred more than seven years earlier.

Campaign Finance

Oregon: “‘Give Me the Money, and I’ll Give It to Her.’ Former Oregon Lawmaker Describes Participating in Dubious Campaign Practice” by Rob Davis for Portland Oregonian

Elections

National: “The Growing Need for Opposition Research – on Yourself – in Today’s Political World” by Alan Greenblatt for Governing

Ethics

National: “Capitol Police Crackdown on Press Escalates to Physical Altercation” by Katherine Tully-McManus for Roll Call

Maine: “Maine Paid for 40 Rooms at Trump Hotel for LePage, Staff” by Scott Thistle and Kevin Miller for Portland Press Herald

New Jersey: “This N.J. Mayor Is Getting Paid to Fight Legal Weed. Here’s Why That’s Causing Trouble.” by Payton Guion (NJ Advance Media) for Bergen Record

New York: “Victims Offer Harrowing Testimony at Sexual Harassment Hearing” by Rachel Silberstein for Albany Times Union

South Carolina: “After Corruption Scandal, SC Lawmakers Push Changes at Electric Cooperatives” by Avery Wilkes for The State