Latest Developments:
- A United States District Court Judge indicated that he would uphold most of San Francisco’s recent ballot measure, which requires additional disclaimers on political advertising. According to Courthouse News Services, the judge noted that “requiring lengthy disclaimers for small-print and short-length political ads is likely unconstitutional because they would ‘clearly just overwhelm the message.’” Otherwise, the law, which “requires political ads disclose top donors and secondary funding sources,” would be upheld.
- The Federal Election Commission continues without a quorum. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a default judgment against the Commission for failure “to plead or otherwise defend this action.” According to the FEC’s own summary of the case, the plaintiffs in CREW v. FEC sought declaratory relief to require the Commission to act on a complaint that two federal superfund PACs funneled money to the reelection campaign of the Governor of Missouri. (See, “Show Me the Money,” below.)
- The Michigan Board of Canvassers approved a summary of a ballot measure that would place regulation of state lobbying in the Michigan Constitution. The measure would ban lobbyist gifts, require registration within 48 hours, require both lobbyists and public officials to maintain contact logs, and impose a 2-year revolving door restriction. The group has 180 days to collect signatures. According to M Live Michigan, “the group will likely pay signature-gatherers for this effort. [The group’s spokesman] previously said the group expected to spend more than $1 million on the campaign because he anticipates a lot of opposition.”
Reminder:
2020 Legislation: Nielsen Merksamer tracks lobby and campaign bills around the country. Forty-four state legislatures are now in session, with two more states scheduled to commence legislative sessions this spring. Nielsen Merksamer is tracking more than 600 campaign finance and lobbyist-related bills in current legislative sessions nationwide. We track bills from the time they are introduced until final disposition in the session. When a bill becomes law, Nielsen Merksamer updates its summary for campaign or lobby law for that state; summaries are available to subscribers.
In Case You Missed It:
- Show Me the Money: The Missouri Ethics Commission fined the former Governor of Missouri a total of $178,000 for two campaign finance violations. According to the Kansas City Star, if the ex-Governor pays $38,000 of the fine and commits no more violations, the balance would be forgiven. Several other allegations were dismissed pursuant to a consent decree. A complaint remains pending with the Federal Election Commission.
- Sweet Charity: Cal Matters details the increase in fundraising for nonprofit organizations by politicians in California. The nonprofits, in turn, support the politician’s vision and, in some instances, provide salaries to relatives or travel opportunities for the politicians themselves. These “behested payments” in the State of California have gone from a little over $100,000 in 2011 to nearly $3 million in 2019.
- Charity Begins at Home: Cal Matters follow-up story covers the ability of one California state legislator to consistently raise money and funnel it to various nonprofits where his wife was employed at the time of each contribution. The article notes that several other state officials, including the Governor and the Secretary of State, have sought contributions for their spouses’ charities, but none of those spouses collect a salary for their involvement with the charity.
- Real Estate Bonanza: The North Carolina State Senate leader sold his townhouse to a lobbyist for a 32% gain after owning the home for just 3 years. The Charlotte News & Observer reports that the Senator had previously received $73,500 in rental payment for the townhouse from his campaign committee, which was previously the subject of an ethics complaint.
- The Business Advantage: The Center for Responsive Politics explains “Why corporate PACs have an advantage.” According to the article, business PACs (PACs affiliated with a corporation or trade association) “account for 73 percent of total PAC giving, dwarfing efforts from labor unions and issue-focused groups… By paying for PAC expenses with corporate funds, these companies can maximize their political giving. Issue-focused PACs, on the other hand, must spend donors’ money to pay for salaries and hefty fundraising fees.”
- Disbarred and Banned for Life: WBTV reports that a Raleigh attorney pleaded guilty to “four counts of lobbying without registration.” The attorney was “permanently banned from lobbying or practicing law.” The Secretary of State’s investigation was prompted by a WBTV report. The attorney indicated that “he agreed to plead guilty as a way to help his family and because he had already decided to retire from practicing law.” His disbarment for the four counts of lobbying without registration and one count of obstruction of justice takes effect April 1, 2020.
- Super Spending for Super Tuesday: Cal Matters analyzes independent spending on legislative races in the upcoming Super Tuesday California primary. The article notes that “(w)ith two weeks to go before election day in California, businesses, labor unions, mega-wealthy political donors and other coalitions of deep-pocketed interests seeking a say in state lawmaking have opened the spigots.” It lists the candidates who have benefited most from independent expenditures and the organizations that have spent the most.