Federal:

Colbert Declares Victory at FEC

FEC Limits Lawmakers’ Fundraising for Super PACs

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

Gambling Trial Highlights Fees Paid to Legislators

Arizona

Justices Strike Down Arizona Campaign Finance Law

Florida

Judge Strikes Down Florida Campaign Finance Matching Law

Illinois

Jury Finds Blagojevich Guilty of Corruption

Massachusetts

Ethics Changes Generate Talk as Proposal to Require Lobbyists to Wear ID Badges Is Likened to Nazi Germany

Massachusetts

Special Education Director Said to Siphon $10 Million

Missouri

Missouri Lawmakers Eat for Free

Nevada

Tougher Nevada Campaign Money Laws Come into Play

New York

New Contribution Rule Limits Assignments to Elected Judges

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Ethics Commission Reprimands NRA Lobbyist

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Justices in Altercation

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.

Jim Sedor is editor of News You Can Use.

Q. I am a lobbyist but am not registered in a jurisdiction because I mainly use outside counsel and do not meet the registration threshold. Should I be concerned with any reporting requirements or other restrictions?

A. Yes, you need to be familiar with the jurisdiction’s reporting requirements. Even if you do not surpass a registration threshold, your activities may require disclosure. In Pennsylvania, a principal/company is required to report pro-rata compensation and expenses paid to non-lobbyists if they engage in lobbying activities, yet remain under the $2,500 per quarter registration threshold. Though you never engage in direct lobbying, preparation, or strategic planning with your lobbying firm, it may be reportable.

Verify the reporting of political contributions in your jurisdiction. If you are not a registered lobbyist, you may still have responsibility for directing how political contributions are distributed. Vermont, for example, requires political contributions to be disclosed on an employer’s report.

Finally, be aware of gift restrictions. You may believe it is permissible to take a public official to lunch or for a cup of coffee because you are not registered in the jurisdiction. In Massachusetts, a person not registered as a lobbyist may only provide gifts valued at less than $50 to a state, county, or municipal employee. If your company is registered as a lobbyist employer in the jurisdiction, gift restrictions may be applicable to all employees. Michigan only allows a lobbyist employer to provide gifts in a month which are valued at $55 or less. Expenditures which are reimbursed are attributable to the company in all instances. Whether these expenses require reporting will vary.

 

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.

Providence, Rhode Island will not have its online portal set up for lobbyist registrations by July 1, the date the new city local lobbying ordinance takes effect. However, the City Clerk will accept e-mail registrations containing the name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and lobbyist’s employer’s identification.

No registration fee will be due or accepted until the online portal becomes available. After the online portal becomes available, the City Clerk will contact individuals to complete the registration process.

The registration information can be e-mailed to astetson@providenceri.com.

A new bill introduced into Congress redefines lobbyist and increases lobbyist reporting requirements.

Representative Mike Quigley has introduced the Lobbying Disclosure Enhancement Act, which changes the definition of lobbyist by removing the exception of individuals whose lobbying activities account for less than 20 percent of the time engaged in lobbying over a three month period.

Lobbyists would be required to register online within five days of employment, as opposed to the current 45 day requirement. For each lobbying activity which engaged an official, a lobbyist would be required to report the date of the contact, the specific issue discussed, and identify those covered executive branch officials or Members of Congress contacted about the issue. If lobbying an employee of a Member of Congress, the Member’s name would also have to be reported. Political contributions by lobbyists to candidates would have to be reported quarterly instead of semi-annually.

The bill also creates a special unit for enforcing the lobbying disclosure laws called the Lobbying Disclosure Act Enforcement Task Force, whose primary responsibility would be investigating and prosecuting each case referred to the Attorney General.

National:

FCC Report Finds Major Shortage in Local Reporting

Federal:

Donor Meeting at White House Draws Fire

FEC Asks Crossroads to Reveal Donors

Secret Election Financing Surges with Evasion of IRS Scrutiny

From the States and Municipalities:

California

Bill to Ban Event Tickets, Other Gifts to Lawmakers Gets New Life

Florida

Palm Beach County Ethics Code Exemption Allows Free High-Priced Tickets for Public Officials

Georgia

With Ethics Chief’s Exit, Who’ll Step In?

Illinois

Chicago Puts Lobbyists’ Pay On-line

Massachusetts

House Republicans Recommend ‘Snitch Rule,’ Ethics Reforms

North Carolina

Legislating at Lightning Speed with Lots of Goofs

Oregon

Oregon House Rejects Bill That Would Cap Penalties for Campaign Finance Violations

Rhode Island

U.S. Representative to Pay R.I. $127,000 for Campaign Fund Error

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.

Jim Sedor is editor of News You Can Use.

Only lobbying activities that are associated with a reportable expenditure require the completion of the activity detail report.

The Illinois Secretary of State will be modifying the reporting process in the coming weeks to reflect this change. Activity detail reports for activity not associated with an expenditure that were previously filed do not need to be amended to reflect this change.

The reporting of lobbyist activity associated with a reportable expenditure remains unchanged.

Photo of Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White courtesy of the Illinois Secretary of State website.

All lobbyists, for both the legislative and executive branches will file their reports with the legislative branch. Executive branch lobbyists will not have to register with the legislature as legislative branch lobbyists. They will, however, have to register for the online reporting system used by the legislative branch.

The legislative branch will be sending a letter with directions and passwords for the new system to all registered executive branch lobbyists and their clients. The online system will open to executive branch lobbyists on July 1st, 2011.

Federal:

Federal Election Commission Deadlocks on Greater 2012 Donor Disclosure

More Political Action Committees to Get ‘Super’ Powers?

U.S. Appeals Decision Overturning Ban on Corporate Donations to Candidates

Weiner Resigns in Chaotic Final Scene

From the States and Municipalities:

Colorado

Complaint Filed against Secretary of State Scott Gessler

Connecticut

Ethics Dispute Drained Local Budget of More than $630,000

Georgia

Shake-Up at Ethics Commission as Top Staffers to Exit

Hawaii

State Drops Campaign Gift Appeal

Massachusetts

DiMasi Found Guilty on Seven of Nine Counts in Kickback Scheme

No Fault Found in House Incident

Nevada

Justices Rule on When Lawmakers Should Recuse from Issues

New York

Ethics Clears Legislative Hurdles

Report: Grassroots lobbying in N.Y. skyrockets since 2008

Pennsylvania

Lawyers, Chamber of Commerce Oppose City’s Broad, New Lobbying Disclosure Law

Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s Union Law That Cuts Bargaining Powers to Take Effect Following Supreme Court Ruling

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.

Jim Sedor is editor of News You Can Use.

Lobbyists and lobbyist’s principals can no longer register, reregister, or continue to be registered in South Carolina if they have outstanding late filing penalties.

House Bill 3183, which Governor Nikki Haley recently signed into law, prohibits the State Ethics Commission from allowing delinquent lobbyists and lobbyist’s principals to participate in lobbying until the fines and filing have been remedied.

The bill also delineates what the fines and penalties are for late filing. Persons filing late are first fined $100 if a report is not filed within 10 days of the due date. After receiving notice by certified or registered mail that a required report has not been filed, there is a $10 a day fine for the first 10 days after receiving the notice. The fine increases to $100 a day for each additional day the required report is not filed, capping at $5,000.

If the report is still not filed, the offender faces an additional misdemeanor conviction with imprisonment or fines.

Flag of South Carolina courtesy of mapsof.net.

Federal:

A Weiner Ethics Case Would Cover Uncharted Ground

Virginia Federal Judge Rejects Government Request to Reconsider on Donations

Democrat or Republican, National Party Committees Reap Campaign Riches from Registered Lobbyists

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

Big Names in Alabama Politics Set for Bingo Trial Opening

District of Columbia

D.C. Attorney General: Council’s Thomas diverted public funds

Michigan

Koch-Backed Group’s Fake Eviction Notices Rile up Detroit

Nevada

Rory Reid to Pay $25,000 Fine in PAC Case

New York

Bill Not a Feast but Lunch is OK

Cuomo and Legislative Leaders Strike Deal on New Ethics Rules

N.Y. Finds a Growth Industry in Ethics Enforcement

Ohio

House Cozy with Charter School Lobby

Texas

Dallas City Council Rolls Back Some Changes to Ethics Ordinance

Washington

Former Evergreen Professor Fined $120,000 in Largest-Ever Ethics Penalty

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.

Jim Sedor is editor of News You Can Use.

The New York Governor’s Office has released the ethics bill created by the agreement between legislators announced last Friday.  The bill, which had previously been titled the Clean Up Albany Act of 2011, will be known as the Public Integrity Reform Act.

Chiefly, the bill establishes an independent Joint Commission on Public Ethics and enhances disclosure requirements by requiring state employees to disclose income from outside sources and names of clients. The Joint Commission on Public Ethics will have jurisdiction over all elected state officials and their employees in the executive and legislative branches, as well as lobbyists.

The bill provides the Joint Commission on Public Integrity must create an online ethics training course for registered lobbyists with a specific curriculum regarding the public officers’ law and ethics to be completed every three years. Additionally, the bill requires the disclosure by lobbyists of any reportable business relationship of more than $1,000 with public officials.

The definition of “widely attended” event is altered to include any event where 25 or more people other than legislators, officials, or government employees attend and which is related to the attendee’s duties or which allows the public official to perform a ceremonial function.  The bill also allows officials to accept food or beverage valued at $15 or less.

The bill increases penalties for violations of the filing requirements and contribution limits and provides for a special enforcement proceeding in the Supreme Court.

The bill must age three days after its introduction and then can be voted on by the Legislature. The Legislature will recess today until next Monday, making adoption possible next week.

Legislation has been introduced in the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly providing for lobbyist registration and regulation.

Government House leader Paul Robichaud introduced Bill No. 43, the Lobbyists’ Registration Act, in response to a push by members of the Tory party for such a law following the discovery that Liberal party insiders were being hired to arrange meetings for energy companies bidding on provincial contracts.

Under the proposed legislation, lobbyists would be required to register, as well as name any companies they work for and the name of the ministers and departments met with. Lobbyists failing to register or making false or misleading statements would be fined up to $25,000 for a first offense and up to $100,000 for any subsequent offense.

The coat of arms for New Brunswick by Civvì on Wikipeida.

The Capitol Club, a lobbyist association in Oregon supplied the funding for the state’s Legislature to supply streaming video of hearings and sessions to mobile devices.

Read about what will now be offered and why the Capitol Club stepped up to help in Govtech.com’s article “Lobbyists Help Oregon Legislature Stream Video to Mobile Devices” by Sarah Rich from June 4.

Federal

Campaign Finance Experts See Few Implications of Virginia Ruling

The Influence Industry: The fine lines between a Palin vacation and Palin tour

When ‘Coordinate’ Is a Dirty Word

From the States:

California

Former Vernon Official Pleads Guilty to Illegally Using Public Money

Colorado

Gessler Rulemaking on Campaign Finance Raising Eyebrows

Florida

Legislature Fails to Add Stronger Ethics Laws

Illinois

Senator Wants Charges Filed against Colleague

Louisiana

Mark St. Pierre is Taken into Custody after Jury Finds Him Guilty of Bribery, Conspiracy

Massachusetts

Financial Disclosure Forms Still Outdated

Minnesota

Campaign Finance Board Fines Alleged Felon Who Can’t Be Found

New Jersey

Christie Refuses to Reimburse N.J. for Traveling By Helicopter to See Son’s Baseball Game

Ohio

Cuyahoga County Offers First Ethics Training for Businesses

Tennessee

Tennessee Opens Door to Corporate Political Donations

Washington

Port Fined after Failing to File Lobbying Expenses

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.

Jim Sedor is editor of News You Can Use.