Essential Ethics

Latest Developments: The U.S. Congress passed the JACK Act (“Justice Against Corruption on K Street Act of 2018”; 2896).  That measure would require federal lobbyists to disclose convictions for certain financial crimes on their lobbyist registration and quarterly…

Latest Developments: The Federal Election Commission met on December 13.  The agenda included a discussion of an opinion, as requested by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), on whether a Member of Congress may use campaign money to pay for…

Latest Developments: The Mayor of Baltimore, Maryland signed Ordinance 18-0230 on December 3, 2018.  That measure will require semi-annual lobbyist activity reporting on July 31 and January 31, in place of the annual reports previously required.  The ordinance…

Latest Developments: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in Thompson v. Hebdon, in which three individuals and the Republican Party challenged Alaska’s campaign contribution limits. The court upheld the challenged state limits on contributions…

Latest Developments: The Washington, D.C. City Council’s budget trailer measure, Act 22-422, includes the “Board of Ethics and Government Accountability Amendment Act of 2018 (Title I, Subtitle I of the Act).  That act, among other things, switches the…

Latest Developments: Election Day Results: Several States provided voters with the opportunity on Election Day to vote on ballot measures that covered, gifts, campaign contributions, redistricting commissions, public officials’ conduct, and lobbyist activity.  NPR has a discussion of the…

Latest Developments: A United States District Court in Illinois issued an opinion in Proft and Liberty Principles PAC v. Madigan. Under Illinois law certain events result in the lifting of limits on contributions to candidates.  However, the…

Latest Developments: The Federal Election Commission met Thursday, October 25. The only substantive matter on the agenda was a proposed opinion regarding whether: (1) to permit the provision of cybersecurity services to federal candidates and national parties for free because it is…

Latest Developments: The Governor of North Dakota has announced a final Ethics Policy, which forbids gifts that exceed $50 in value to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or their employees, according to the Bismarck Tribune. The Alaska Public Offices Commission is wavering…

Latest Developments: The Federal Election Commission provided advice on how to report independent expenditures following the decision in CREW v. FEC. The advice applies to persons other than political committees that make independent expenditures aggregating more than $250 in a…