Latest Developments:
- Lawsuit Challenging Ohio’s Foreign Money Ban is Dismissed Opponents challenging an Ohio law banning foreign nationals from contributing to state ballot measures and candidates have agreed to dismiss their lawsuit. The one-page agreement did not include the reason. Bloomberg Law – Challenge Dropped and Statement from Ohio SOS (with link to order). The Secretary of State continues to issue advice on how the law impacts federal PACs active in the state.
- Investigations Advance Against State Lawmakers Attending Vail Retreat The Colorado Ethics Commission unanimously advanced complaints against 17 officials who attended a Vail retreat funded in part by a dark money group. The complaint focuses on attending officials but seeks disclosure of the sources of funding by donors and lobbyists attending. (Common Cause, the complainant, later dismissed one official from the complaint after determining she did not attend). Denver Post – Colorado-ethics-complaints
- Ballroom Donations Lead to Call for Ethics Reforms The proposed Stop Ballroom Bribery Act would impose restrictions, transparency requirements, and consequences for donors to certain federal projects. At issue are donations for construction, improvement, or other alterations to property on White House grounds, the Vice President’s residence, or other public property the President or VP regularly use (such as Camp David or Air Force One); events hosted at such locations; and monuments or other structures that honor a living President or VP. Donations would be banned from those with a conflict of interest and cannot be solicited by the President, VP, and their families and staff. Stop Ballroom Bribery Act and Ballroom Bribery Bill Introduced
Events and Reminders:
- Corporate Political Activity and ESG under the Second Trump Administration, by Nielsen Merksamer partner Evann Whitelam, has been published in the Practising Law Institute (PLI) Chronicle. Articles are free to read but non-PLUS subscribers would need to create a free login to access the content here: PLI article link
In Case You Missed It:
- Colorado Court Weighs How to Measure Political Spending The Colorado Supreme Court, hearing a political group’s appeal of a fine assessed when it failed to disclose donors, is considering what test to impose to measure an organization’s spending and involvement in an election. The group, United for Colorado, contends that it is not an “issue committee” under the state’s constitution and should not have been fined when it did not disclose its donors; regulators disagree, and had assessed a $40,000 fine. We will let you know the results. Court Weighs Test For Political Donor Disclosures – Law360
- Detroit’s City Ethics Advice at Issue The Detroit Free Press discusses a litany of ethics issues that reveal a need to consider changing the city’s system of providing ethics advice and amend conflict of interest laws governing local officials. Detroit’s ethics system under fire
- FirstEnergy to Pay $250 Million More in Fines and Refunds Five years after a “sweeping Statehouse bribery scandal,” FirstEnergy must return nearly $187 million to its customers, and pay almost $180 million in penalties for failing to properly direct fees collected for grid modernization to their stated purpose, according to AP. AP – FirstEnergy to pay more FirstEnergy already had agreed to pay $230 million to avoid prosecution for bribery; other officials, including the former Ohio House Speaker, are in prison or awaiting trial.