Latest Developments:
- The FBI announced this week the indictment of US Rep. Jeff Fortenberry “on federal charges that he lied to the FBI and concealed information about illegal campaign contributions that he accepted from foreign sources.” Fortenberry denies the charges, stemming from alleged “illegal contributions that his 2016 campaign received from a Nigerian-born billionaire named Gilbert Chagoury who lives in Paris.” According to the Lincoln Journal Star, “Chagoury allegedly arranged for $30,000 in cash to be contributed to Fortenberry’s campaign through other individuals during a fundraising event in Los Angeles.”
- The California Fair Political Practices Commission approved, with minor adjustments, staff-proposed regulations concerning so-called behested payments. CalMatters reports that rules come after a one-and-a-half-year debate about the trend of “politicians increasingly us[ing] charitable organizations to raise and spend money outside the limits of the state’s strict campaign finance laws.” The rules clarify when elected officials, and CPUC commissioners, truly “behest” and require increased disclosure of lawmakers’ ties to nonprofits, including when the official has an employment or controlling relationship with the nonprofit, any relationship with a member of their immediate family, or member of their campaign or officeholder staff, and when the payor of a behested payment is involved in a proceeding before the official’s agency. The regulation also seeks to force disclosure of the identity of donors utilizing “donor advised funds.” Overall, the rules require more diligence by officials soliciting payments and do not place new obligations on donors. California has not followed the lead of other states that restrict behested payments by certain sources or in particular circumstances. The Commission made clear that only the Legislature can change the law surrounding these payments.
- Pennsylvania Senate Leaders have introduced an ethics reform package “that would impose new requirements for lobbyists and political consultants to avoid conflicts of interest and define the relationship between lawmakers and those who try to influence them.” The package comes nearly a year after the Senate president was exposed for taking a trip to Arizona “organized by…a Harrisburg-based firm that helps fundraise for elected officials…and lobbies officials once they are in office.” Among the changes proposed include “requir[ing] lobbyists to register clients seeking state funding…bar[ing] state agencies from hiring an outside firm or lobbyist to lobby any branch of government…prevent[ing] lobbyists from being registered political consultants and prohibit political consultants from lobbying a state official,” and a one-year revolving door restriction.
In Case You Missed It:
- Recalling Campaign Donations: Court filings by the Michigan Secretary of State indicate that Gretchen Whitmer will have to dispose of donations she raised outside of the normal limits in preparation for a potential recall. Detroit News reports that Whitmer raised $3.4 million under a “state policy on recalls…[allowing] contributions, above the normal $7,150 limit on individual donors.” However, since a recall is unlikely to qualify before the last year of Whitmer’s term when it could not legally transpire, the excess funds must be returned or donated. Still, “[a]n important question will be what [she]…eventually does with the excess funds… If they’re donated to a political organization, they could still be used to benefit the governor’s reelection.
- Funds for me but not for thee: The Seattle Times editorial board opines on a 2019 campaign finance loophole drafted by City Council President M. Lorena Gonzalez which now directly benefits her as she runs for Seattle mayor. The “ordinance, which restricts business contributions to city political races for being ‘foreign influenced,’” still imposes few corresponding restrictions on contributions from labor unions. The Times contends that the ordinance “threshold for ‘foreign-influenced’ is…low [given that it captures] any foreign person [who] owns 1% of a company’s stock — or if total American ownership falls below 95%.”
- Rocky Mountain Campaign Finance Complaints: Boulder (Colorado) residents resubmitted a campaign finance complaint against a City Council member after their initial complaint was dismissed on technical grounds. The residents allege Council Member Steve Rosenblum “exceeded the city’s expenditure limits when he sought legal assistance to research, prepare and file a lawsuit against…a group of community members.” By participating in the municipal matching funds program, Rosenblum agreed to abide by spending limits, yet the citizens contend that “[p]aid work in support of a candidate’s campaign for public relations, investigative work and/or legal fees” must be considered “a campaign expense just as surely as the purchase of yard signs and printing costs are” and, thus, Rosenblum exceeded the legal spending limits.