Latest Developments:
New York JCOPE met Tuesday (2/27/18). JCOPE’s only discussion concerned a request for an exemption from disclosure of source of funding from the NY Civil Liberties Union, which was denied. The still-pending lobby regulations were not discussed.
Oakland Public Ethics Commission has cancelled its March 5 meeting and will meet instead on March 26, 2018 for a retreat.
In case you missed it:
Colorado’s Secretary of State has released a draft of proposed amended Lobbyist Regulations. The Secretary is seeking written comments on the draft through March 9, 2018; a public hearing will be held today (March 2, 2018). Among other things, the regulations specify the contents of lobbyist registrations and disclosure reports.
Remember our report two weeks ago that a federal district court judge upheld Montana’s ban on political speech robocalls on a privately-owned telephone system in the case of Victory Processing v. Fox? The Los Angeles Times followed up and reports that political robocalls in California must start with a live person announcing the nature of the call and disclosing the entity promoting the call. The Times found these requirements are routinely ignored.
“Zombie Campaign Funds,” a term coined by the Tampa Bay Times in a January 31, 2018 article, are thriving. These campaign funds of former (and sometimes dead) Members of the United States Congress are used “to finance their lifestyles, advance new careers and pay family members,” the Times investigation found. The Los Angeles Daily News (February 24, 2018) uncovered four former southern California Members, Gary Miller, Henry Waxman, Hilda Solis, and Buck McKeon, who maintain Zombie accounts. Rep. Mark Takano of Riverside is sponsoring the “Let it Go” Act, which would require that congressional campaign accounts be spent within 6 years of leaving office.
The U.S. Supreme Court examined Minnesota’s ban on political clothing and buttons at polling places, on Wednesday, February 28, 2018. The Washington Post reports that the justices asked lots of questions about exactly what kind of clothing might be permissible to wear in a polling place. The case arose when a voter, who wore a tea party shirt and a button that read, “Please I.D. Me,” was stopped at the polls and his name recorded for possible prosecution under the state’s ban.
The Federal Election Commission increased the lobbyist bundling disclosure threshold for 2018 from $17,900 to $18,200, based on the Consumer Price Index. The actual disclosure is made by the candidate, party, or leadership committee. The commission’s notice was dated January 29, 2018, but published on February 12, 2018 in the Federal Register.