Latest Developments:
- The New Mexico Ethics Commission is open for business. The Commission issued an announcement that, effective January 1, 2020, it “commences jurisdiction for administrative complaints alleging violations of New Mexico’s governmental conduct and disclosure laws.” The Commission’s administrative rules are now in effect and the Commission has launched a website.
- The Washington, D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability reports that following the resignation of its Director, Brent Wolfingbarger, on December 31, the Board appointed Rochelle Ford as Acting Director. According to the announcement, “Ms. Ford has previously served as the Board’s Senior Attorney Advisor and as the agency’s Interim General Counsel.” LMTonline reports that Mr. Wolfingbarger resigned”amid criticism of the agency’s failure to promptly investigate complaints.” A search for a permanent Director has commenced.
- SEC Proposes Shareholder Restrictions: The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed new rules that revise procedural requirements for shareholder proposals at annual meetings. Reuters reports that the effect of the proposal is to limit shareholder proposals at those meetings by raising the threshold stock ownership requirements and other threshold requirements for resubmission of a question raised at a previous shareholder meeting. The Brennan Center for Justice opines that these changes will end or at least deter shareholder efforts to limit the use of corporate “dark money” in elections and require disclosure of corporate spending on lobby efforts.
Reminders:
Essential Ethics 2020: With the 2020 elections just around the corner, join Nielsen Merksamer on Friday, February 7 at the Sutter Club in Sacramento, California, from 10:00 to 11:30 AM for a complimentary briefing on the key issues you need to know this election year in California. Sign up here. Contact Jay Carson (jcarson@nmgovlaw.com) with any questions.
The American Bar Association presents: Campaign Finance Enforcement Trends: The Use of Public Resources and other Hot Topics. Join Jason Kaune, of Nielsen Merksamer, who moderates the program. Learn all about the regulation of campaigns and get an understanding of some of the thorny issues troubling regulators and the public! Featured speakers include:Steve Berlin, Executive Director of the Chicago Board of Ethics; Megan Engelhardt, Assistant Executive Director of the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board; Amber Maltbie of Nossaman LLP., Sacramento. The online program will be held on Monday, January 27, 2020, at 1 PM Eastern (10 AM Pacific). The program is free for ABA members. Sign up here.
The Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) met December 15 to 18, 2019. The conference is designed for government ethics administrators. Jason Kaune and Evann Whitlam of Nielsen Merksamer moderated and facilitated a panel discussion entitled, “Campaign Finance Update: The ‘Must Know’ Litigation Developments,” with Megan McAllen, Director of Campaign Finance Litigation at the Campaign Legal Center and Tanya Senanyake, an Attorney for the Litigation Division at the Federal Election Commission. Nielsen Merksamer edits an annual bluebook, compiled from government ethics administrators’ contributions. The bluebook includes a synopsis of all major campaign finance litigation in the United States and Canada in the past year. Nielsen Merksamer clients may obtain a free PDF of that publication by requesting a copy through their political attorney.
In Case You Missed It:
- Bribery takes a Vacation: An Illinois vendor reportedly bribed a person who sat on a committee that evaluated bids for nursing services for the Chicago Public Schools, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The Inspector General for the Chicago Public Schools found that the president of the vendor company allowed a member of the decision-making committee to stay in her vacation home. The vendor was not awarded the $30 million contract, but later received another, albeit smaller, contract.
- Please Regulate Us: The Washington Post reports that “A bipartisan group of campaign finance lawyers on Monday urged the White House and congressional leaders to ‘work together and immediately’ to restore a voting quorum on the Federal Election Commission.” While staff continues to work, “the agency cannot enforce the law.”
- Lobby or Campaign, but not Both: The Mayor of Town and Country, Missouri (a suburb of St. Louis), who has held office since 2005 and been a registered lobbyist since 1994, has agreed to close his campaign committee. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that “the Ethics Commission cited the relatively new requirement that ‘any person who registers as a lobbyist shall dissolve his or her campaign committee.’” The mayor signed a consent decree to close his campaign committee but vows to run for re-election in 2021. Several other local officials in the state are registered lobbyists and face the same dilemma.