Latest Developments:
- The United States District Court in Missoula, Montana, in Doctors for a Healthy Montana v. Fox, overturned Montana’s statute that requires that PACs use “a name or phrase: (i) that clearly identifies the economic or special interest, if identifiable, of a majority of its contributors; and (ii) if a majority of its contributors share a common employer, that identifies the employer.” The court found that the law was “not a reasonable solution to the problem (‘of misleading voters through committee names’).”
- COVID-19 Update: Government officials, agencies, and courts continue to respond to the COVID-19 emergency. Each week we will add the latest information. For more information about filing deadlines, contact our Political Reporting Unit. Among the more notable developments this week:
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- The Utah Legislature returned August 20 for a special session. According to the Salt Lake City Tribune, the legislature is meeting to consider COVID-related matters, including issues related to schools and the November election.
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- South Carolina’s Legislature will return on September 2, 2020 for a special session. According to The State, the session “will likely expand absentee voting to registered S.C. voters ahead of the Nov. 3 general election because of the ongoing threat of COVID-19.”
- The California Fair Political Practices Commission announced a $1.35 million penalty as a settlement with Los Angeles County in a matter in which the county spent county funds to support a tax increase on the ballot. The state will split the money with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which sued the County over the violations. As Dan Walters, in CalMatters, points out — using public funds to support or oppose ballot measures is prohibited, but many public officials”often spend countless millions of taxpayer dollars on lavish ‘information’ campaigns that don’t even pretend to be neutral.” Commissioner Hayward also announced at the meeting that she is leaving the Commission.
Reminders:
Corporate Political Activities 2020 – Latest Developments: The Pracitising Law Institute (PLI) will conduct its annual two-day conference online this year, on September 10 – 11, 2020. You may register here. Nielsen Merksamer clients will join together as customary the day before in a virtual client workshop to discuss new developments in political law, to share experiences and best practices and to earn CLE credit. Clients and invitees will receive a save-the-date communication and discounts for the PLI conference.
In Case You Missed It:
- FEC Diversity Questioned: The Fulcrum reports that five dozen Federal Election Commission staff members sent a letter to the President and Senate leadership asking that they “nominate and confirm Commissioners of color.” The article points out that, in “its 45-year history, the Federal Election Commission has had 31 commissioners – all but one of them white [Ann Ravel].”
- Ohio Ethics Irony: The former Ohio House Speaker, recently charged with racketeering, remains a member of the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee, “the body that investigates and rules on ethics and lobbying matters for the Ohio General Assembly.” The Dayton Local News reports that the state law was written in a “way so that legislative leaders couldn’t easily remove JLEC members hostile to their interests and replace them with friendlier members.”
- North Dakota Election Initiative: Voters will consider an initiative measure in November that would create a top-four primary, require ranked-choice voting in the general election, and empower the State Ethics Commission to redraw legislative boundaries. The Dickenson Press reports that the measure was certified while a challenge is pending before the State Supreme Court. The Secretary of State indicated that ballots will be drafted by August 31, urging the court to reach a decision before that date.
- Chicago Ethics Politics: The Chicago Tribune interviewed ousted members of the Cook County Board of Ethics. The deposed chair laments that recent “instances of political patronage and corruption investigations” makes her “wish Cook County’s Board of Commissioners had made progress on the suggested ethics reforms.” According to the article, “three of the board members who crafted the reforms are gone, and their recommendations haven’t moved forward.”
- Virtually Nowhere: NBC News reports on the effect that holding national political conventions on the internet has on lobbyists. The report points out that “the absence of in-person conventions means the lobbyists have been effectively sidelined.” The report quotes a former congressmember, now a lobbyist, who opines that “‘Lobbyists are going to save a lot of money, but they’re going to lose an opportunity to have influence and socialize and meet a lot of people that you would not otherwise.’”