Latest Developments:
- The Governor of Texas signed HB 2677. The bill, which takes effect September 27, 2019, restricts a person who has made specified contributions and expenditures from political funds from lobbying for two years from the date of the contribution or expenditure was made.
- New Jersey legislators have sent the governor 150, which requires that independent expenditure committees report contributions in excess of $10,000 and expenditures in excess of $3,000. The measure specifically applies to IRC § 501(C)(4) and § 527 organizations. The governor vetoed a similar measure in May, but, as reported by New Jersey press, this bill represents a bargain that would “spare him from becoming the first governor in more than 20 years to have their veto overruled.”
In Case You Missed It:
- The Russians are (Still) Coming: Senator Chuck Grassley penned an article in the Wall Street Journal announcing that he is introducing a bipartisan effort to beef up enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). According the analysis, his bill would give the Attorney General new investigative tools, increase penalties for noncompliance, and require that the General Accounting Office study certain aspects of FARA, including whether the exemption from the Lobby Disclosure Act is appropriate or subject to abuse.
- Hatch-ing a Crackdown: According to official records, the Office of Special Counsel has received a torrent of formal Hatch Act complaints since 2014 and is taking investigative action on many of these allegations. Indeed, members of both parties have been found to use their official positions in the Federal government to advocate for explicitly partisan or electoral political positions.
- Rearranging the (Behested) Furniture: The California Fair Political Practices Commission has rejected a complaint from the Republican Party that alleged that the recently elected Lieutenant Governor’s receipt of union contributions to furnish her office was a violation of the Political Reform Act, according to the Sacramento Bee. The Governor has raised more than $300,000 in behested payments to a nonprofit formed by her office, the Committee to Support the Office of the Lt. Governor. The behested donations to the nonprofit organization are not subject to state campaign committee or officeholder account contribution limits.
- Little Rock, Big Bribes: The Associated Press reports on the ongoing corruption scandal in Arkansas in which a healthcare official has pleaded guilty this week to bribing former State Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson. According to the plea, Hutchinson, who is the son of a former U.S. Senator and the current governor’s nephew, “voted for legislation, held up agency budgets and initiated legislative audits” to divert government funds to the healthcare company in question in exchange for bribes. Hutchison has pleaded not guilty in a related bribery case.