Latest Developments:
- The Governor of Mississippi’s nonprofit organization, For All Mississippi, which was formed to organize “the 2020 gubernatorial inauguration for Governor-elect Tate Reeves,” filed its IRS Form 990. Based on that public information, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports that The Mississippi Governor’s inaugural committee raised $1.6 million from donors whose identities are not disclosed, but paid “nearly $150,000 to a business owned by the governor’s brother and sister-in-law.” The organization received “donations ranging from $5,000 to $113,000, according to the IRS documents.” The Daily Journal’s article discusses other states’ disclosure requirements and notes that one lawmaker says, “he’s concerned about how 501(c)4 nonprofits can be used to skirt normal campaign finance laws.”
- The Federal Election Commission issued Advisory Opinion 2020-06, which permits a Member of Congress to spend campaign funds on home security measures as recommended by the House Sergeant at Arms. Past opinions allowed campaign expenditures for security devices in response to “specific threats directed at” a Member. This opinion also acknowledges that the expenditure is appropriate in a “heightened threat environment.”
- The New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics adopted permanent amendments to its Comprehensive Lobbying Regulation and Source of Funding Regulations. The commission adopted the amendments last month as temporary emergency regulations.
- The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit decided S. v. Smukler, which upheld a criminal conviction for campaign finance violations. The case concerns whether the defendant “willfully” violated the statute. He sought to get a client’s opponent to drop out of a race by coordinating contributions in excess of the limits to pay off the opponent’s campaign debts.
- The South Dakota Secretary of State has set the 2021 gift limit for lobbyists. A Lobbyist may give a legislator no more than $106.43 in cumulative gifts during the 2021 calendar year.
- The City of Irvine, California increased campaign contribution limits from $530 to $550 for the two-year election cycle from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022.
In Case You Missed It:
- Wild West Politics: MSN reports that the New Mexico Secretary of State, following an arbitration order and dismissal of a federal suit brought by Cowboys for Trump, announced her intent to enforce the order. The “arbitration order requires Cowboys for Trump to register a political committee, file all its delinquent contribution and expenditure reports and pay $7,800 in fines.” According to the article, “Cowboys for Trump did not prove that their First Amendment rights were damaged by the Secretary of State’s attempt to enforce New Mexico campaign finance laws.”
- Social Media Obstruction: Politico reports that “Facebook and Google’s on-again, off-again bans on political ads are hitting campaigns during a crucial fundraising window.” The bans “have essentially pressed pause on a political industry that spent $3.2 billion advertising on Google and Facebook in the last two and a half years.”
- L.A. Corruption: According to the Los Angeles Times, “Former Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander was sentenced Monday to 14 months in prison for lying to federal authorities about his dealings with a businessman who provided him $15,000 in secret cash payments.” He is “the first person to be sentenced in a sprawling federal investigation into corruption at Los Angeles City Hall.”
- Lobbying a Lawsuit: The Kansas City Star reports that, “A Canadian private equity firm accused in a lawsuit of mishandling investments by Missouri’s largest public pension hired a lobbyist to influence key legislators and put pressure on the pension outside of court proceedings.” The lobbyist unsuccessfully sought to arrange a meeting with his client, the Executive Director of the public pension system, and legislators. The article notes that, “Typically parties involved in litigation do not speak with one another outside of court proceedings, except through their attorneys of record.”