Latest Developments:
- The Governor of New York signed A 9006, a budget bill that replaces New York’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics with the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government. (See Part QQ of the bill, beginning on page 151.) The 11-member commission will be appointed by various officeholders, subject to approval by an independent review committee made up of deans of ABA accredited law schools. However, the commission will choose its own chair and executive director, and the executive director will be responsible for hiring the staff. Members of the commission will serve staggered four-year terms. The measure continues the effect of “regulations or advisory opinions in effect on the effective date of this section that were issued by predecessor ethics and lobbying bodies.” These provisions of the bill take effect July 8, 2022.
- The United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on “Enhancing the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938.” Politico explains that “Lawmakers and a legal scholar, government watchdog and nonprofit advocate debated whether the Foreign Agents Registration Act should be expanded or reined in during a hearing… on the 1938 law — the first such session dedicated to FARA held by the House Judiciary Committee since 1991.”
- The Governor of Utah approved HB 90, which extends coverage of the Lobby Disclosure and Regulation Act to local officials and educational officials, i.e., county, municipal, and school board officials. It permits those government entities to enact stricter measures. The bill also requires registration of “foreign agents.” The measure takes effect May 3, 2022.
- The Governor of Virginia signed HB 492, which requires the Virginia Department of Elections to randomly audit the campaign finance statements of a 10% of legislative campaign committees and 1% of other campaign committees. The measure becomes operative January 1, 2024.
- The Seattle Ethics Commission increased the contribution limit for candidates not participating in the democracy voucher program from $550 to $600 per election cycle for the 2022 election cycle.
- The United States Department of Justice announced an indictment of New York Lt. Governor Brian Benjamin on corruption charges. The New York Times reports “The five-count indictment charging Mr. Benjamin said that while he was a state senator, he had conspired to direct $50,000 in state funds to a Harlem real estate developer’s charity. In exchange, the developer gathered thousands of dollars in illegal contributions to Mr. Benjamin’s 2020 Senate campaign and his unsuccessful 2021 bid for New York City comptroller…” The developer is accused of filling “out campaign contribution forms in front of Mr. Benjamin, signing the forms not in his name, but in the names of his relatives…” He steered “a series of fraudulent donations to the comptroller campaign. Some were made in the names of individuals, including the developer’s 2-year-old grandchild, who did not consent to them; others had donated money but were fully reimbursed.” Benjamin resigned within hours after the indictment was unsealed.
Reminder:
Voting and the Disability Community: Disabled voters faced unique challenges in elections held during the pandemic, particularly in regard to privacy and access to all-mail voting. The American Bar Association will be considering how to improve the law and best practices by election administrators. If you are interested in the topic, join Nielsen Merksamer’s Jason Kaune and others at this webinar on Wednesday, April 20 at 3 p.m. Eastern (Noon Pacific) open to ABA members. Register here.
In Case You Missed It:
- BART May Cancel Contract over Spousal Conflict: According to the California Fair Political Practices Commission California “Government Code Section 1090 prohibits an officer, employee, or agency from participating in making government contracts in which the official or employee within the agency has a financial interest.” The Los Angeles Times reports that the Bay Area Rapid Transit District “may be required to void a $40-million construction management contract after an investigation revealed a potential conflict of interest… The manager clearly had a role in making several contracts with the firm…” The manager’s spouse is an employee of the contractor and “received an annual profit-sharing distribution from the firm, and the firm’s contracts with BART likely contributed to at least some of those profits…”
- High Flying Ethics Issues: KIVT4 explains that “Members of Congress are limited to earning a maximum of $29,895 from outside sources of income in 2022, according to rules set by the House Ethics Committee.” A Hawaiian member “earned $29,151.79 from Hawaiian Airlines in 2021… His outside income also raised questions about a potential conflict of interest, since Hawaiian Airlines has business before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. [The member] serves on that committee, which has jurisdiction over the airline industry. [His] office defended his seat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, saying his background as a commercial pilot offers a ‘unique perspective.’”
- FEC Cracks Down on Canadians: According to the New York Times, “A Canadian steel industry billionaire illegally helped steer $1.75 million in donations to a pro-Trump super PAC and has agreed to pay one of the largest fines ever levied by the Federal Election Commission to settle the case… [The billionaire] played a role in directing one of his executives who is a U.S. citizen to send in the contributions — some of the largest made by any donor to the super PAC — even though federal law prohibits foreigners from participating in decision making related to campaign donations, as well as from directly writing campaign checks.”
- Entire Ethics Panel Resigns: Maryland Matters reports that the volunteer “ethics panel that produced a controversial set of findings against members of the Prince George’s County Board of Education is stepping down en masse. The panel notified board chair Juanita D. Miller of their intention to resign as a group in an April 3 letter that was obtained by Maryland Matters. The departures will take effect on Friday and will leave the (school) board, which has been dogged by allegations of misconduct, without ethics overseers.”
- Straw Donor Plea: The United States Department of Justice announced that former state senator and congressional candidate Brent Waltz “pled guilty in federal court … to two felonies: making and receiving conduit contributions, and making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Waltz faces up to five years in prison for each offense.” The Indianapolis Star explains that the “he participated in a scheme to funnel $40,500 in illegal contributions to his failed campaign for Congress in 2015.” Money from a casino operator “was funneled through a Maryland political consultant” and that money was used “to reimburse more than a dozen ‘straw donors’ who contributed to Waltz’s campaign for U.S. House.”