Amid the thrill of victory and agony of defeat this Election Day, Arkansas voters approved a constitutional amendment that will have a major impact on those involved in the political and legislative process there.  While enacting legislation and regulations may bring some additional clarity to the issues, the amendment is effective immediately and brings the following changes:

  • Corporations and labor unions may not make candidate contributions (but may still give to state-registered PACs).
  • Lobbyists are prohibited from giving gifts to lawmakers under a new “no cup of coffee rule”—so named because there is no allowance for gifts of nominal value, so even a cup of coffee would be a prohibited gift.  The amendment prohibits all gifts from lobbyists and lobbyist employers to the Governor, other statewide elected officials, and members of the General Assembly.
    • Note, however, that certain items are not gifts and are not subject to this ban.  Exceptions include informational material, gifts from family members, planned events open to all members of a specific government body, travel to some conferences, campaign contributions, and inheritances.
  • Former members of the General Assembly may not become lobbyists until they have been out of office for a two year “cooling off” period.
  • A new “independent citizens commission” will set the salaries for statewide elected officials, General Assembly members, and judges.
  • Term limits for legislators are extended to sixteen years.

We can already anticipate a few effects of this amendment.  PACs will become a much more important feature of the Arkansas campaign finance landscape.  Corporations and unions may decide to make more independent expenditures to support candidates, or to direct more of their spending to groups that are not subject to the contribution ban.  Arkansas could also see a rise in “unlobbyists” who legally avoid registration and thus could give gifts or evade the cooling off period.  We will continue to monitor developments in the General Assembly and Arkansas Ethics Commission to see how these laws develop over time.

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Photo of Andrew Garrahan Andrew Garrahan

Andrew Garrahan represents and counsels clients at the intersection of law and politics. He guides them through both regulatory compliance issues and government investigations on matters including state and federal campaign finance, ethics, lobbying, and corruption, as well as in congressional investigations.

Andrew’s…

Andrew Garrahan represents and counsels clients at the intersection of law and politics. He guides them through both regulatory compliance issues and government investigations on matters including state and federal campaign finance, ethics, lobbying, and corruption, as well as in congressional investigations.

Andrew’s prior career in political fundraising gives him a unique perspective on the challenges faced by his clients, which include corporations, candidates, government officials, political and nonprofit organizations, and private individuals.

Andrew’s counseling and advisory practice includes:

  • guiding clients on structuring of and compliance for their state and federal lobbying and grassroots advocacy campaigns;
  • representing campaigns, Super PACs, corporations, trade associations, and individuals on the applicability of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and state campaign finance law;
  • counseling on Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) registration and disclosure, and its interaction with the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA);
  • helping companies comply with state and federal ethics laws, particularly on gifts and conflicts of interests, and domestic anticorruption; and
  • auditing corporate political law compliance practices.

Andrew’s investigations and defense work includes:

  • representing clients in Congressional investigations, including responding to letter requests and subpoenas;
  • preparing company officers and other individuals for testimony in Congressional investigative hearings;
  • defending clients in Department of Justice matters related to campaign finance, lobbying, ethics, and public corruption; and
  • representing clients before the FEC and state campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics regulators.