Latest Developments:
- The New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) met this week. On the agenda was a discussion of lobbying regulation. Staff indicated that revisions to clarify the comprehensive lobby regulations adopted last year will be proposed at the Commission’s January meeting. That announcement was followed by a disruptive demonstration at the meeting by Kat Sullivan, who has been battling with JCOPE over whether she is required to register as a lobbyist. She carried a sign, threw confetti, and sang a song. The New York Daily News described her performance as a “pitch-perfect protest in the form of a parody of the tune ‘Let it Go’ from Disney’s ‘Frozen.’” The Chair advised her that JCOPE meetings do not provide for any public participation or public comment.
- The Fair Political Practices Commission met this week and discussed, as an agenda item (Number 14), the ethics of commissioners making political contributions. The Chair reiterated, in accordance with Commission policy, that Commissioners should not make contributions to federal candidates. At the Chair’s behest, a Commissioner who was a donor to a 2020 presidential candidate was stripped of his subcommittee chairmanship. The Los Angeles Times reports that another Commissioner said that “the FPPC must be seen as an impartial watchdog over campaigns and said the recent controversy has undermined that perception.” Meanwhile, at the end of last week, the Governor of California appointed E. Dotson Wilson to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, who attended his first meeting. The Sacramento Bee reports that Mr. Wilson recently retired as the longest-serving Chief Clerk of the Assembly. Prior to that, he was Deputy Chief of Staff to Willie Brown.
- The Chicago City Council approved an Ordinance SO2019-8541, which prohibits elected officials and employees from lobbying state, county, or any other local government on behalf of any person. The ordinance contains some exceptions, including volunteer activities, political activities, and attorneys engaged in legal representation.
- The Federal Communications Commission issued a citation and order in the case of a man who sent tens of thousands of robocalls to voters in the San Diego area in the final days before a California primary election for the State Assembly. In Compliance reports that the proposed fine is $10 million. The content of the calls was salacious and the sender failed to use caller ID, instead spoofing the phone number of another telemarketing firm.
In Case You Missed It:
- Spending Big on Judges: The Brennan Center for Justice issued a 27-page report that analyzed spending on state supreme court elections in the 2017-2018 election cycle and found a surprising amount of independent expenditures. Interest groups accounted for 27% of the spending in state supreme court elections and, in some states, the spending was greater than candidate or party expenditures for those elections. In Arkansas, for example, 84% of all spending in the Supreme Court election was by “special interest groups,” and not by the candidate or party.
- Online Disclosure Reminder: California AB 2188, passed in 2018, takes effect January 1, 2020. That bill, dubbed the Social Media Disclose Act, specifies the format for social media disclosure requirements and requires committees to provide certain information to the online platform.