Latest Developments:
- The Governor of New Hampshire signed SB 348, which categorically permits contributions during a pre-declaration exploratory period, thus permitting contributions in 3 phases of an election cycle, which also includes the primary and general phases. The law takes effect January 1, 2023 and essentially places in statute the state Attorney General’s existing analysis of the state’s campaign finance laws.
- The State of Vermont will enact a statewide code of ethics when SB 171 becomes effective July 1st, applying to all elected and appointed state officers and employees. Among its provisions are a new conflict of interest policy applicable to members of all branches of state government, new gift limitations and exceptions, and post-government employment restrictions. Notably, the revolving door provisions for legislative branch employees prohibits them from “advocat[ing] for anyone other than the State, concerning any matter in which the State has a direct and substantial interest” before the legislature or their former office for one year after leaving public service.
In Case You Missed It:
- Aloha to Ethics Reforms?: The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports that, in the wake of two former state legislators pleading guilty to accepting bribes, state lawmakers have passed legislation aiming to increase campaign finance transparency and enforce government ethics. Yet, despite required ethics courses for legislators and ranked choice elections, critics still “lamented lawmakers” failure to ban all campaign fundraising during the legislative session. Instead, lawmakers passed a narrower measure that would prohibit holding fundraisers.” A former legislator “said [that] in his experience lawmakers raise most of their campaign funds not at fundraising events but by calling people and asking them for money…[and that] ‘a lot of the donors will have issues before the Legislature,’ [citing]… big business executives or major landowners as examples.”
- JCOPE’s Swan Song: New York State’s soon to be defunct Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) is still actively investigating a compliance attorney who was formerly a top government enforcement officer in the state and is now one of the agency’s largest detractors. The Albany Times Union reports that he formerly indicated that his experience in ethics enforcement could help clients limit disclosure, which he allegedly did for a lobbying coalition that spent more than $800,000 on an issue ad, but whose disclosures allegedly fell short of the agency’s regulations. He claims that he disclosed the entity’s activity according to the rules governing what JCOPE termed “coalitions” which he claims is merely “a mythical name that they created in regulations — one that serves to hide the identity of the members… By definition, that’s what a coalition is.” The agency seeks more than $4 million in fines, even as it is due to wind down in a month.
- Anaheim’s Ethics Reckoning Continues: The Voice of OC reports on the ongoing efforts to increase the state’s enforcement power in the wake of the multi-layered ethics scandal enveloping the City of Anaheim. Now, legislators want to tighten California’s Surplus Land Act to allow state agencies “to nullify land deals if it’s been determined the land sale is illegal.” After it was revealed that Anaheim had violated the Act in the sale of the Major League Baseball stadium, the Attorney General still “let the deal go through with some additional affordable housing requirements” so long as the city paid the $96 million fine. The transaction was ultimately halted in light of the ongoing FBI investigation.