Over the past several weeks, legislatures in Arizona, California, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Tennessee have introduced bills that mirror the federal Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”). There has been a trend in the states to enact so-called “baby FARA” laws that apply to foreign influenced political activity
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New Online Political Advertising Rules Coming to California January 1
Amid ongoing focus on how social media and other companies approach online advertising, California’s latest effort to require disclosure of online advertising will take effect January 1. We blogged on these revisions to the California DISCLOSE Act, sometimes called the Social Media DISCLOSE Act, when they passed back in 2018. …
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Florida Legislators Take First Look at Proposed Lobbyist Gift Ban Exceptions
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…
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Georgia Legislature Limits Gifts from Lobbyists
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…
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Georgia: New Ethics Rules Really on Their Mind?
Revisions to Georgia’s gift rules, which seemed a near certainty earlier in the year, have stalled as the legislative clock runs out this week. Georgia law currently imposes no limit on gifts to state legislators. In the 2012 primaries, Georgia voters overwhelming supported a non-binding ballot initiative calling for a…
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