Updates on Developments in Campaign Finance, Lobbying & Government Ethics Law
Medford, New Jersey recently disqualified five would-be city contractors from receiving municipal contracts until 2017 for allegedly making political contributions in violation of the Township’s pay-to-play ordinance.
The ordinance, adopted in 2012, imposes an automatic four-year bar on contracting with a company that contributes to candidates or committees in…
Continue Reading Contractors Handed 4-Year Ban Under New Jersey Township’s Pay-to-Play Law
Last spring, we reported that the New Jersey Attorney General charged seven executives and shareholders of Birdsall Services Group, an engineering firm, with participating in a massive pay-to-play scheme. The scheme allegedly involved a multi-year attempt by company executives and major shareholders to evade state level pay-to-play restrictions by making…
Continue Reading Major Criminal Penalties Assessed In New Jersey Pay-to-Play Case
As forecasted, a federal court has entered a permanent injunction that permits Super PACs in New Jersey to raise unlimited funds, pursuant to the parties’ agreement. This resolves the suit brought by the Fund for Jobs, Growth & Security after the state’s Election Law Enforcement Commission advised the Fund…
Continue Reading Agreed-Upon Permanent Injunction Releases N.J. Super PACs from Limits
With the New Jersey gubernatorial primary election fast approaching, we have been tracking a legal challenge to the State’s treatment of contributions to Super PACs. Back in March, the Election Law Enforcement Commission issued an advisory opinion to the Fund for Jobs and Growth, explaining that the group would need…
Continue Reading New Jersey to Allow Unrestricted Super PAC Contributions
A few weeks ago the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission issued an advisory opinion indicating that it would enforce the state’s contribution limits against groups that (i) have a major purpose of influencing New Jersey elections and (ii) do so exclusively by making independent expenditures. Although the Commission recognized…
Continue Reading Super PAC Files Challenge to New Jersey Contribution Limits
As part of a continuing trend of New Jersey municipalities adopting local pay-to-play laws, Jersey City, NJ, has enacted an ordinance that “restricts city vendors that win no-bid contracts from donating more than $200 to the campaigns of school-board candidates and to some state Senate and Assembly candidates.” According to…
Continue Reading Another New Jersey Pay-to-Play Law
Upper Township, New Jersey, just added another mine to the minefield that is New Jersey pay-to-play law. We noted in October that Upper Township (1) had adopted a new pay-to-play law and (2) was poised to do so again. According to the Upper Township Gazette, on Monday the Upper…
Continue Reading Another Trap for the Unwary in New Jersey
Lesson one for any student of state and local pay-to-play laws: just when you think you have a handle on them, they change. Recent developments in a small New Jersey township provide a case-in-point.
Last month, Upper Township, New Jersey, adopted an ordinance that forbids the township from entering into…
Continue Reading New Jersey Township Move Highlights Dynamic Nature of Pay-to-Play Laws
