As sexual abuse, assault, harassment, and other misconduct have dominated national headlines, state capitols and lobbyists have not escaped scrutiny. Amidst a spate of allegations and member resignations, some state legislatures and ethics commissions are taking action. While a variety of measures are being considered, including tightening gift rules, it is apparent that lobbyists and … Continue Reading
Organizations represented by lobbyists in Virginia should be aware of a new law enacted today. The law eliminates a controversial exception to the state’s $100 limit on lobbyist gifts to legislators and officials, adds a key new exception to that law, and also includes an additional gift notification requirement for lobbyists. The changes represent Virginia’s … Continue Reading
President Donald Trump this weekend signed his promised “drain the swamp” Executive Order, which imposes ethics restrictions on incoming and outgoing Trump Administration appointees. Incoming appointees would, of course, do well to carefully review the provisions of the Executive Order. But companies that deal with the Administration—whether by lobbying the executive branch, by seeing a … Continue Reading
Earlier this month, newly-installed Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens issued Executive Order 2, applying strict ethics rules to executive branch employees in that state. The order includes a ban on gifts from lobbyists, conflicts of interest rules, and a “revolving door” provision that prohibits employees who leave Greitens’ office from later lobbying his administration. The state … Continue Reading
The start of 2017 brings two changes to the federal Office of Government Ethics (“OGE”) rules for executive branch officers and employees. First, important changes to the executive branch gift rules went into effect this week. We detailed those changes in this alert. Second, OGE’s overhaul of the Executive Branch Ethics Program regulations (5 C.F.R. … Continue Reading
Corporations, trade associations, and others who interact with federal executive branch employees should be aware of the Office of Government Ethics’ (OGE) recent amendments to the executive branch gift rules, which go into effect on January 1, 2017. Seeking to encourage transparency and advance public confidence in the integrity of federal officials, OGE redefined some … Continue Reading
With Election Day 2016 in the books, the political world turns to the transition of power and the January 20, 2017 Inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence. With the swearing in of the new President and Vice President will come the traditional balls, parties, and receptions. The inauguration and related events … Continue Reading
Over the next nine weeks, the Trump Presidential Transition team will formulate policy and staffing recommendations for the new administration. This alert gives a broad overview of the Transition and the laws that regulate interactions with Transition team members on issues related to appointments and policy recommendations. Persons interested in this topic may also wish … Continue Reading
As the nation looks forward to giving thanks with family and friends, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) will be proposing revisions to regulations that specify when employees of the federal executive branch must say, “No, thanks.” These changes are only proposals at this time and have not yet taken effect. Many of the changes … Continue Reading
What is the “market value” of a ticket to an event with no entrance fee? Event sponsors and executive branch employees have long struggled on the best way to estimate the market value of government employees attending free, especially invitation-only, events. Finally, we have an answer. The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) issued a legal … Continue Reading
The New Year brings with it new laws governing campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics. Below we highlight some of the major state and federal laws that took effect on or around January 1. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list, but highlights some of the most significant changes that are new for 2015. … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
National Journal reported today that the House Ethics Committee quietly scrapped “decades of precedent” requiring Members of the House of Representatives and certain senior staff to disclose privately funded travel on annual financial disclosure forms. Despite this change, travel costs still must be disclosed. Under the current House travel rules, Members of the House and … Continue Reading
Those active in Virginia politics should note that portions of Virginia’s new ethics law take effect tomorrow, July 1, 2014, including the new $250 annual limit on “tangible” gifts from lobbyists and government contractors. Governor Terry McAuliffe has said that this is not the end of ethics reform in Virginia. Earlier this month, he used … Continue Reading
New York State’s lobbying and ethics regulator, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE), released a number of new rules, effective this week, including rules on the giving and receiving of gifts, honoraria, and payment for expenses. JCOPE, which was established by the state’s Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011, is the first state agency … Continue Reading
The Virginia General Assembly passed new ethics legislation on Wednesday to little fanfare. Legislators voted unanimously to adopt the new law with Governor Terry McAuliffe’s technical amendments. We previously blogged about the law’s major provisions. The law supplements the much stricter executive order limiting gifts to the executive branch, signed by Governor McAuliffe in January. … Continue Reading
As we predicted in January, the Virginia General Assembly has passed an ethics reform law and sent it to Governor Terry McAuliffe who can sign it into law, veto it, or propose amendments and return it to the General Assembly for further action. If signed into law, it will supplement the executive order limiting gifts … Continue Reading
California’s Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) is more aggressive than ever and is employing new tactics. The FPPC’s recently-released end-of-year report detailing enforcement activities in 2013 highlights some interesting statistics that should be on the radar of every company doing business in California. Prosecutions of both “serious campaign cases” and lobbying violations were both “at … Continue Reading
The influential Washington publication, National Journal, published this week a lengthy examination of two exceptions to the congressional travel rules. The exceptions have permitted Members of Congress to participate in extensive overseas travel, paid by outside interests and often organized by registered lobbyists, in spite of earlier reform efforts designed to restrict privately organized and … Continue Reading
Virginia has often been referred to as the “Wild West” of politics because of its limited campaign finance and ethics laws. The Commonwealth’s ethics laws are undergoing major changes, however, with more to come during the legislative session. On January 11, in his second act as Governor, Terry McAuliffe signed Executive Order Number 2, which … Continue Reading
A brewing controversy over Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy’s trip to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner highlights how media corporations and other firms that invite public officials to events can become embroiled in government ethics matters (h/t Eric Brown’s Political Activity Law Blog). The Governor reportedly accepted an invitation to attend the WHCA at the … Continue Reading
The Associated Press reports that New York State is poised to loosen lobbying disclosure requirements and tighten gift restrictions. The New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics, which has broad jurisdiction over New York state ethics and lobbying laws, has proposed new rules governing both lobbying disclosure requirements and ethical restrictions on gifts. First, … Continue Reading
Since 2005, Florida has had one of the strictest restrictions on lobbyists and principals giving gifts to state legislators. Except for “floral arrangements” or “other celebratory items” given on the opening day of regular session, the law flatly prohibits a lobbyist or principal from making “any expenditure” with respect to a member or employee of … Continue Reading
Last night the Georgia legislature reached a compromise and passed new gift laws with no time to spare before the end of the legislative session. The fate of the changes to the gift rule was in limbo earlier this week when the House passed a complete ban on gifts from lobbyists to lawmakers and the … Continue Reading
