Latest Developments:
- The Wyoming Legislature approved and sent to the Governor HB 49, which requires corporations and other entities that spend $1,000 or more on independent expenditures or electioneering communications to register and file reports of their activity. If signed by the Governor, the measure would take effect on July 1, 2022.
- The New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics announced that its “systems have been restored and operations are resuming” following a cyber security incident. “Any filings due between February 17 and March 9 will be automatically granted an extension to March 31. Additionally, the March 15 lobbying bi-monthly report deadline is also extended to March 31.”
- The Chicago Board of Ethics issued Advisory Opinion 22005.A , which lists 15 factors to be considered when determining whether “a PAC or other non-official candidate political committee is to be considered and properly and accurately treated as an additional political fundraising committee ‘of’ a City elected official or candidate for City office, thereby subjecting its contributors to the same limitations (as) contributors to the candidate’s official candidate committee…”
- The California Fair Political Practices Commission announced that it has issued its annual report regarding regulatory and enforcement activity in 2021. The Commission also issued a draft opinion on the treatment of the creation and sale of non-fungible tokens as a fundraising devise for a campaign committee. The opinion holds that the entire amount of the sale should be reported as a contribution. The commission will consider adopting the opinion at its meeting this month.
- The United States Department of Justice announced that a Tennessee State Representative “pleaded guilty… to a single count of honest services wire fraud, following charges filed (last week).” She allegedly set up a political mail company operated by a fictitious political consultant and received kickbacks. Axios Nashville explains that she resigned from the legislature when the charges were filed. The article infers that more indictments may be on the way.
In Case You Missed It:
- Grocers Settle Record Case: The Associated Press reports that following the January decision Washington v. Grocery Manufacturers Assn., in which the Washington Supreme Court again upheld a record $18 million fine for failure to timely register and file disclosure reports in a 2013 initiative measure campaign, the association, settled “the case for $9 million, including $3 million in donations to two charities that fight hunger.”
- Russian Lobbying Ended: According to Politico, “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has done something previous tensions between Moscow and Washington could not: convince American lobbyists to turn down money from Kremlin allies. Even after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and reports that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, the spigot of Russian money to K Street kept flowing. Over the past eight years, firms doing legal, lobbying, and PR work reported payments of roughly $18 million to do work for six Russian entities…” Roll Call further reports that some Washington law and lobby firms are “winding down, or at least reevaluating, operations in Russia…” One firm said it was “‘suspending operations in Moscow pending further developments… We will continue our efforts to provide humanitarian aid and pro bono assistance to Ukrainian refugees and others in need…”
- Fine for Failure to Disclose: The Texas Ethics Commission fined a Houston official $30,000 for a “deceptive mailer supporting his run for City Council back in 2019.” The mailer inferred certain endorsements which were not true. Bay Area Houston reports that the official “paid for the mailer but did not disclose it on his ethics report… (he) claimed he had nothing to do with the mailer but receipts and emails between him and the printer show this was not true. (He also) instructed the printer to NOT include the political disclaimer ‘Political Ad Paid for by….’”