Latest Developments:
- The San Francisco Ethics Commission, at its recent meeting, adopted revised regulations with an additional 6 amendments. The regulations take into account changes made by Proposition F, approved by the voters at the November election, which bans contributions from LLCs and LLPs and restricts contributions from persons with financial interests in land use matters before elected officials.
- The California Supreme Court ruled in San Diegans for Open Government v. Public Facilities Financing Authority that ordinary citizens do not have standing to challenge contracts in which government officials are financially interested. State law prohibits public officials and employees from having a financial interest in public contracts that they make, but the court ruled that only a party to the contract can challenge it. Cal Matters notes that the ruling allows “the foxes to guard the henhouse — and perhaps feast on its residents.”
- The Mayor of Chicago asked the Chicago Board of Ethics to delay, for three months, the implementation of the city’s ordinance that requires lobbyists for nonprofit organizations register with the city. The ordinance, SO2019-5305, was passed July 24, 2019 and was scheduled to take effect January 1, 2020. Crain’s Chicago Business explains the rationale for the delay and includes a copy of the Mayor’s letter.
- British Columbia has a new Lobbyist Transparency Regulation that will take effect on May 4, 2020. The new regulation reduces the threshold that requires registration from 100 hours to 50 hours per year, increases the disclosures required on monthly reports, and limits gifts by lobbyists.
Reminders:
The American Bar Association presents: Campaign Finance Enforcement Trends: The Use of Public Resources and other Hot Topics. Join Jason Kaune, of Nielsen Merksamer, who moderates the program. Learn all about the regulation of campaigns and get an understanding of some of the thorny issues troubling regulators and the public! Featured speakers include: Steve Berlin, Executive Director of the Chicago Board of Ethics; Megan Engelhardt, Assistant Executive Director of the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board; Amber Maltbie of Nossaman LLP., Sacramento. The online program will be held on Monday, January 27, 2020, at 1 PM Eastern (10 AM Pacific). The program is free for ABA members. Sign up here.
The Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) met December 15 to 18, 2019. The conference is designed for government ethics administrators. Jason Kaune and Evann Whitlam of Nielsen Merksamer moderated and facilitated a panel discussion entitled, “Campaign Finance Update: The ‘Must Know’ Litigation Developments,” with Megan McAllen, Director of Campaign Finance Litigation at the Campaign Legal Center and Tanya Senanyake, an Attorney for the Litigation Division at the Federal Election Commission. Nielsen Merksamer edits an annual bluebook, compiled from government ethics administrators’ contributions. The bluebook includes a synopsis of all major campaign finance litigation in the United States and Canada in the past year. Nielsen Merksamer clients may obtain a free PDF of that publication by requesting a copy through their political attorney.
In Case You Missed It:
- Sunshine State Welcomes Unlimited Corporate Contributions: The Tallahassee Democrat explains that while Florida law limits contributions to $1,000 for state legislative candidates, candidates can control their own PACS, which do not have limits. According to the article, the “PACs allow for big-dollar contributions, lavish spending and curious exchanges of funds between lawmakers.”
- Revolving Door Locked: A former Massachusetts Speaker of the House, who was convicted of public corruption and served five years in a federal prison, remains barred from registering as a lobbyist. The Boston Globe reports that the Secretary of State’s office found that the former Speaker’s 2011 federal conviction prohibits him from registering as a lobbyist until 2021. The former Speaker’s attorney promises a lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court.
- More Free Lunches in Honolulu: We’ve previously reported on the ethics issues raised after a developer provided lunch to the Honolulu City Council and staff following a favorable vote. Now, Honolulu Civil Beat reports that “a major city contractor” has bought lunch for the Department of Design and Construction and the Environmental Services’ Wastewater Division. The company has “nearly $8 million in design and construction contracts alone,” according to the article. Both the city and the contractor “said the food was just a ‘token of aloha’ that can be considered an exception to the regular ethics rules.”