Latest Developments:
- The Governor of Maine signed P. 619, which permits businesses to “contribute the paid staff time of its employees and independent contractors to establish the committee and to provide fundraising and administrative services directly to the committee.” The measure also provides for inflation adjustments for the existing limit on individuals’ contributions to corporate-affiliated PACs beginning in 2023.
- The Governor of Colorado signed B. 1060, which caps contributions to school board candidates. Individuals may contribute up to $2,500 and small contributor committees may contribute up to $25,000 per election cycle. The measure takes effect July 1.
- The Wisconsin Ethics Commission reminded lobbyists that they may now make contributions to “candidates for non-legislative partisan state offices.” The window for making personal contributions to legislative offices will open next month after the legislature finishes its “veto review floorperiod” and adjourns for the year.
In Case You Missed It:
- Ethics Agency Chastised: Tennessee Lookout reports that “[a] judge on Monday deemed the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance guilty of ‘willfully’ violating a court order barring the collection of registration fees from nonpartisan political action committees.” The court found the Bureau violated a 2018 injunction prohibiting it from collecting the fees.
- Santa Fe Disclosure Law Upheld: According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, the United States Supreme Court turned down a petition for review of the city’s campaign spending disclosure requirements. In Rio Grande Foundation v. Santa Fe, a nonprofit, which spent money to oppose a soda tax, challenged the city’s “ordinance that forces nonprofit organizations that spend more than $250 supporting or opposing a ballot initiative to place on a publicly-accessible government list the names, addresses, and employment information of any donor who contributes even a penny to the organization for that purpose.”
- New York Reforms Analyzed: The Gotham Gazette reviewed recent changes to New York lobby and campaign finance provisions that were included in a state budget act. The article explains the negotiations on what would replace JCOPE, as well as details on additional public campaign financing, voting reforms, and changes to the state’s open meeting law that were contained in the bill.