Essential Ethics

Latest Developments: Washington State settled, for the second time since 2018, with a major tech giant for not complying with the record retention requirements under state campaign finance laws. According to the settlement, the company will pay $400,000…

Latest Developments: The Governor of Maine signed HB 497, which increases lobbyist registration fees from $200 to $250 and from $100 to $125 for reach lobbyist associate. The legislation notes that the increased fees are intended to “provide…

Latest Developments: The Illinois Legislature approved a comprehensive ethics reform measure, B. 539. Among other things, the bill prohibits public officers from registering as lobbyists for 6 months after leaving office, bans government officials from lobbying other government entities…

Latest Developments: The Supreme Court of Connecticut, in Markey et al. v. State Elections Enforcement Commission, overturned civil fines imposed on candidates who misused public campaign funds to “cast a negative light on a candidate running in…

Latest Developments: The Governor of Florida signed SB 1890, which limits contributions to ballot measure committees to $3,000 until the measure has qualified for the ballot. [The ACLU has filed suit to enjoin this provision.] Among other things, the measure also preempts…

Latest Developments: The Federal Election Commission unanimously adopted legislative recommendations that it will send to Congress for consideration. The New York Times notes that the proposal, among other things, would “ban political campaigns from guiding donors by default into recurring contributions…

Latest Developments: The Supreme Court of Montana issued a decision in COPP v. Montana Republican Party. In response to a complaint by the Montana Democratic Party, the Commissioner of Political Practices had sought campaign finance documents from the…

Latest Developments: The California Fair Political Practices Commission’s transparency portal displays a graph showing an extraordinary spike in charitable contributions made at the behest of public officials in 2020. The spike is due to contributions made at the…

Latest Developments: The Federal Election Commission met and, as part of its agenda, discussed a proposal to address so-called “Scam PACs.” According to the proposal, “These proposed changes would not label committees as scam PACs, nor would they require any…

Latest Developments: The Governor of Wyoming approved B. 148, which increases various state fees. The measure raises the lobbyist registration fee from $25 to $75 for lobbyists who receive reimbursement or compensation in excess of $500 in a reporting period….