Latest Developments:
- The Los Angeles County District Attorney announced the indictment of the former Mayor of Maywood, the former City Manager, and the former Building and Planning Director, among others, for corruption involving campaign contributions and bribes in exchange for city contracts. Maywood is a tiny city in the center of Los Angele County. The Los Angeles Times explains that the ex-Mayor “took donations during his 2015 City Council campaign from contributors whom he promised to later reward with city work.”
- New Mexico Ethics Commission approved Advisory Opinion 2021-05. The opinion permits a state legislator, notwithstanding the state’s blackout period, to collect campaign contributions during the legislative session for a campaign for federal office.
In Case You Missed It:
- Aloha, Please: According to the Honolulu Civil Beat, “lawmakers want their ‘gifts of aloha’ back.”Gifts of aloha are described as “generally small food items, especially from lobbyists.” The Hawaii Ethics Commission’s new gift regulations banned “gifts of aloha.” “A handful of bills introduced in the Legislature this session would” revise the gift limit to “$25, the amount at which lawmakers were generally allowed to accept food gifts prior to the rules going into effect in November.”
- Nevada’s Virtual Lobbying: The Nevada legislature is attempting to make adjustments to its current definition of lobbying given how virtual lobbying during the pandemic has lessened state lobbyist registration. Currently, Nevada law requires registration of a lobbyist who “[a]ppears in person in the Legislative Building or any other building in which the Legislature or any of its standing committees hold meetings.” AB 110 would strike that language and retain the lobbyist trigger as one who “communicates directly with a member of the Legislative Branch on behalf of someone other than himself or herself to influence legislative action.”
- Personal Use in Mississippi: The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal Reports that “Mississippi politicians continue to personally profit from their campaign funds, new state filings show, a practice that’s illegal in many other states and at the federal level.” One state official “paid himself $30,000 from his campaign account,” and noted that the expenditure was “‘personal.’” The article points out that the law was changed in 2017, but pre-2018 campaign funds can be used for personal expenses or simply pocketed when officials leave office.
- More FARA Prosecutions Predicted: Politico reports that the Justice Department prosecutor who has “spearheaded the department’s crackdown on unregistered foreign agents” is leaving for private practice but he “predicted that DOJ will continue the crackdown under the Biden administration.” Under his leadership, “the department has seen foreign agent registrations soar, and reached record levels last year… as did the number of investigations opened.”