HomeEssential Ethics

Essential Ethics

Essential Ethics is Nielsen Merksamer’s popular bi-weekly newsletter focused on developments in campaign finance, lobby disclosure, and government ethics laws across the nation. View our latest and archived posts below.

August 9, 2019

Latest Developments: The Governor of Oregon signed two campaign finance disclosure bills this week: HB 2716, which requires that communications in support or opposition of a candidate disclose the name of the committee and the top five…

Read More

August 2, 2019

Latest Developments: The United States District Court for the District of Montana overturned IRS Revenue Procedure 2018-38, which applied beginning with the 2018 tax year and ended the requirement that certain nonprofit organizations disclose donors of…

Read More

July 26, 2019

Latest Developments: The Chicago City Council unanimously approved the new Mayor’s ethics reform proposal this week. While much of the ordinance is aimed at bolstering the powers of the Inspector General and tightening rules for city officers and employees,…

Read More

July 19, 2019

Latest Developments: The Supreme Court of Washington State upheld the City of Seattle’s taxpayer-funded “Democracy Voucher Program” in which each registered voter receives a voucher that can be given to a qualified candidate to redeem.  Two taxpayers…

Read More

July 12, 2019

Latest Developments: The Oregon Legislature approved Senate Joint Resolution 18, which places a measure on the November 2020 ballot that would permit the state and local governments to enact laws or ordinances to limit campaign contributions, require disclosure…

Read More

June 28, 2019

Latest Developments: The New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics (NY JCOPE) met on Tuesday.  Commission staff announced that the deadline to file semi-annual lobbyist employer reports is extended to July 31, as a result of changes with the…

Read More

June 21, 2019

Latest Developments: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued a decision upholding the Security and Exchange Commission’s pay-to-play rule, which, among other things, limits the ability of investment advisors and brokers to make…

Read More

June 14, 2019

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…

Read More

June 7, 2019

Latest Developments: The United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Schickel v. Dilger, upheld Kentucky’s ethics laws, overturning a lower-court ruling.  The court upheld a ban on lobbyists’ contributions to legislators, a restriction on contributions to…

Read More

May 31, 2019

Latest Developments: The Governor of Washington signed HB 1195, but vetoed parts of the measure.  The bill revises campaign finance statues by changing definitional  threshold for an independent expenditure to $1,000 or more, requiring e-filing, allowing commissioners…

Read More