Bruce Androphy Joins State and Federal Communications

I am pleased to announce the addition of Bruce Androphy, Esq. to the State and Federal Communications, Inc., team.

Bruce, the former executive director of the Tennessee Ethics Commission and former general counsel to the New York State Ethics Commission, is joining us as operations director. He will be responsible for managing our Research and Compliance Departments.

The attorneys in our Research Department are continually updating our four online resources, which provide all the information our clients need to stay compliant with laws regarding political contributions, lobbying, and procurement lobbying in the 50 states, the federal government, more than 125 municipalities, and Canada.

Our Compliance Department attorneys work very closely with ALERTS™ clients to oversee client government compliance reporting, and also provide information and answer questions regarding ethics and gift laws, lobbyist registration and reporting, corporate political contributions, and government procurement lobbying. Bruce will also manage researchers who compile our very popular News You Can Use™ news and issues summary, which is e-mailed weekly to all clients.

We are pleased to have someone with Bruce’s talent and experience join our team. His background in government ethics is a perfect fit for our client needs, particularly those clients who use our ALERTS™ service and need daily and personalized services and information on ethics, political contributions, and lobbying activities in both the legislative and procurement arenas.

Bruce most recently was executive director of the Tennessee Ethics Commission, where he had a huge impact during his tenure. As a testament to his time there, three Tennessee legislators and several other government affairs professionals stopped by our booth at the National Conference of State Legislatures to speak highly of Bruce and his efforts in Tennessee.

Among the many achievements of the Commission under Bruce’s leadership were: enforcement of laws for late and incomplete lobbyist filings; auditing and fining lobbyists (the first time ever in Tennessee) for prohibited campaign contributions; enforcing gift prohibitions; issuing more than 150 informal advisory opinions; training government officials and lobbyists (both online and in-person) on ethics laws; and placing all of the Commission’s documents and enforcement actions on its website.

The addition of Bruce to our team – and other recent additions in both personnel and technical efficiencies – are part of our continued commitment to be your most trusted adviser in government compliance. We are not content to rest on past successes; our goal is continuous improvement to meet your ever-changing needs.

Elizabeth Z. Bartz
President and CEO

Legislation We Are Tracking

At any given time, more than 1,000 legislative bills, which can affect how you do business as a government affairs professional, are being discussed in federal, state, and local jurisdictions. These bills are summarized in the State and Federal Communications’ digital encyclopedias for lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying; this information is located on the client portion of the State and Federal Communications website.

Summaries of major bills are also included in monthly e-mail updates sent to all clients. The attached chart shows the number of bills we are tracking in regards to lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying.

Ethics Update: Illinois Revises Ethics Laws

by James Warner, Esq.
Research Associate

 The Illinois legislature has passed significant revisions to the state’s ethics laws. The legislation imposes new fees and restrictions on lobbying. The lobbyist registration fee would increase to $1,000 a year from the current $350.

The aforementioned legislation is now being considered by Governor Pat Quinn.

Bartz and Other National Experts Discuss
State Lobbying and the Regulatory Process

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Elizabeth Bartz, State and Federal Communications, Inc.’s president and CEO, joined a team of other national experts in government relations to address state procurement lobbying issues at a recent seminar.

Bartz was one of four experts to speak to government relations and lobbying professionals, corporate legislative professionals, PAC directors, advocacy professionals, and business development teams at the American League of Lobbyists’ training session on June 29 in Washington, D.C.

“It was a very valuable session because many people who are experts in federal procurement might not know details of procurement rules, regulations, and restrictions on the state level,” said Bartz.

The federal government will send a good portion of the $787 billion in stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to the states. The states, in turn, will actually award contracts for infrastructure repairs and upgrades, energy development, and other public works projects.

This has led to an increased desire from business development professionals and others from public and private companies to seek state contracts. Unfortunately, no two states have the same procedures for procuring stimulus funding projects, making it difficult for companies to find out what each state allows in regard to obtaining a particular contract, Bartz said.

 “Because this is an unprecedented stimulus package, with billions of dollars in government contracts at stake, many companies and their representatives who are seeking these stimulus contracts have never before been involved in the government procurement process,” said Bartz. “They must proceed with caution.”

Citing one of many examples, Bartz pointed out that sales and business development professionals might not realize they have to register as lobbyists in many jurisdictions. Furthermore, they might not know about restrictions on gifts and other activities that could, if even unintentionally violated, result in penalties, prosecution, and elimination from consideration of contract awards.

The session Bartz and other experts presented is part of the American League of Lobbyists “Lobbying Certificate Program,” which includes five core sessions plus a choice of eight electives. To earn the certification, government affairs professionals must complete the core sessions and six of the eight electives.

“It’s a very comprehensive program that maintains and updates the skills and knowledge government affairs professionals need to be leaders in their fields,” noted Bartz, who earned the certification from the American League of Lobbyists in December 2008.

Other national experts who joined Bartz at the training session, which was titled State Lobbying and the Regulatory Process: Multiple Fronts, Multiple Challenges, were:  Joe Miedusiewski, director of public affairs and lobbying & government relations at Semmes, Bowen & Semmes; Jill Vogel of Holtzman Vogel PLLC; and Jeff Hartgen, senior vice president & principal at MultiState Associates, Inc.

Summary of Changes UPDATE
Note Recent Changes to Compliance Regulations

by John Cozine, Esq.
Research Manager 

Government affairs professionals need to be aware of recent changes – and upcoming changes – in compliance laws for several jurisdictions, including: 

Federal:  An updated version of the Lobbying Disclosure Act Guidance has been issued jointly by the United States House and Senate. The guide contains clarifications on lobbyist registration, the IRS reporting method, who must file LD-203 reports, and lobbyist termination. 

Leadership changes:  Several states announced changes in leadership in their governmental ethics organizations.

• Jeffrey Garfield, executive director and general counsel of the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, retired effective June 30, 2009. He will remain past that date, however, to assist in recruiting, interviewing, selecting, and training his successor. It is expected that this process will last through November of 2009.

• Jeffrey Brindle, formerly deputy director of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), assumed the duties of executive director on July 1, 2009. Brindle replaced long time Executive Director Fred Herrmann, who had previously announced his retirement.

• In New York, Barry Ginsberg, general counsel for the Commission on Public Integrity, was named acting executive director. The position became vacant with the resignation of Harvey Teitelbaum last month.

Kentucky:  Electronic filing of reports is available for Kentucky legislative lobbyists. The system is available at: http://apps.klec.ky.gov/lec. To obtain a login ID and password, contact Donnita Crittenden at: donnita.crittenden@lrc.ky.gov.

Massachusetts: Governor Deval Patrick signed legislation on July 1 strengthening the commonwealth's ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance laws. The legislation strengthens enforcement, levies higher penalties for violations, and bans nearly all gifts to public officials. The legislation also tightens lobbying rules, defining a lobbyist as anyone paid to promote, oppose, or influence any decision in the executive or legislative branch. It also requires lobbyists to register if they work 25 hours or earn $2,500 during a six-month period. Additionally, the legislation modifies campaign contribution disclosure requirements.

Colorado:  On June 23, 2009, a Denver district judge temporarily halted Colorado’s voter-approved campaign-finance restrictions and made it clear she had reservations about the constitutionality of Amendment 54. In granting the temporary injunction, Judge Catherine A. Lemon largely agreed with business and labor leaders who argued Amendment 54 was confusing, discriminatory, and in violation of free-speech rights. The judge's ruling is not the final say on the measure. The state attorney general's office could decide to appeal the ruling to the Colorado Supreme Court and a full trial on the merits of the law could follow any appeal. The group behind the measure, Clean Government Colorado, could also try to intervene if the state decides not to appeal.

Landmark Series – Presidential Libraries

This article is one of an ongoing series that focuses on historical and/or significant landmarks. 
The information below was gleaned from http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/,  http://www.whitehouse.gov, and http://www.wikipedia.org.

Gerald R. Ford [1913-2006]   38^th President of the United States

Assuming the Presidency on Aug. 9, 1974, after the resignation of Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford stated in his inaugural address: “I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances.... This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts.” President Ford sought to bring peace and healing to a nation distressed by international pressures, domestic economic struggles, and distrust in government following Nixon’s resignation.

After returning from the war, Ford ran for Congress and was elected in 1949, serving until 1973 when he was nominated to replace Vice President Spiro Agnew, who resigned on Oct. 10, 1973, after being charged with tax evasion and money laundering. The U.S. Senate voted 92 to 3 to confirm Ford on Nov. 27, 1973. He had a brief tenure as vice president, taking over the highest public office in the land when Nixon resigned in disgrace almost nine months later.

Ford lost the election of 1976 to Washington newcomer Jimmy Carter, and political observers blamed the loss of a sitting president chiefly on the poor economy and continued public anger over his pardon of Nixon.

Ford remained active in the years after his presidency and in 1981 he opened the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, and the Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the north campus of his alma mater, the University of Michigan. Unlike other Presidential libraries, the museum part of the library is geographically separate from the library and archives. The Ford Museum in Grand Rapids is 130 miles west of Ann Arbor. Despite this, a single director heads both the library and museum.

The Library currently has 23 million pages of memos, letters, meeting notes, reports, and other historical documents from the Ford Presidency, along with 500,000 audiovisual items, including photographs, videotapes of news broadcasts, audiotapes of speeches and press briefings, film of public events, and televised campaign commercials. The 1974-77 presidential papers of Gerald Ford form the core collection. The papers of his wife and former First Lady, Betty Ford, are also part of the collection.

The Museum allows visitors to participate in history, not just view it, and it documents the lives of President and Mrs. Ford. It has both permanent and temporary exhibits from holdings of the Presidential libraries system, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives, and others.

For more information:

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum:
www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov

Gerald R. Ford Library 
1000 Beal Avenue 
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Phone: (734) 205-0555

Gerald R. Ford Museum
303 Pearl Street, NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49405
Phone: (616) 254-0400

State and Federal Communications, Inc. Scrapbook

SGAC Reception at ALEC 2009

Elizabeth Bartz with the Whiteheads -Katherine Whitehead Hutchens with her brother, Cal Whitehead [Wyeth]	Joey Giamfortone and Greg Hoke [Reckitt Benckiser]

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NCSL 2009

A State and Federal Communications, Inc. Field Trip to watch the Philadelphia Phillies vs the Chicago Cubs	Mike and Donna Matekovic [Aramark] with daughters, Katherine and Elizabeth
The SGAC Team joined us at the game - Jodi Vaccarelli, Katherine Whitehead Hutchens, and Beth Loudy.	Ken Lane [Diageo], Stan Tretiak [Tretiak Group], and Barry Becton [Diageo].
Elizabeth with Craig Nowacki [Daiichi Sankyo]	Elizabeth and Nola with Tim Schellberg and Ed Smart [Gordon Thomas Honeywell]
Elizabeth with Adam Miller [Astellas Pharma US], Rebecca South, and Nola Werren.	Elizabeth with the Dynamic Duo -- Greg Hoke [Reckitt Benckiser] and Jay Middleton [Wyeth]
The Beautiful Badgleys - Chris and Barbara [PhRMA]	Alden Schacher, Jason Rodriguez, and Gary Fuchs [Hewlett-Packard]
Fran Hahn [Sanofi-Aventis] and Nola Werren at Ohio Night	Ohio Night excitement - Elizabeth Bartz with Cleveland CAVS tickets winner, Lisa Sandberg [Ohio Legislative Service Commission]
John Chames [State and Federal Communications, Inc] with Emma Lieberth [Brady Campaign.] John was Emma's basketball coach in middle school	Senator and Mrs. Finan with Mark Burtschi [ArcelorMittal USA]

A Demonstration of Our Online Source Guides

State and Federal Communications is a trusted adviser to you, our clients, by providing comprehensive, accurate, and timely information you need to stay compliant with laws and rules in regard to lobbying, political activities, and procurement lobbying.

Clients access this information through three online services: The Executive Source Guide on Lobbying Laws™, The Executive Source Guide on Political Contributions™, and The Executive Source Guide on Procurement Lobbying™.

Perhaps you only receive one, or two, of these information services, and would like a demonstration of what is contained in the others.

We invite you to take a free tour. Simply go to our website, www.stateandfed.com, and click on the
“Free Live On-line Demo” in the lower left corner of our home page. Once you click there, you will open a page where you will see three more hyperlinks in the middle:

Executive Source Guide on Lobbying Laws Executive Source Guide on Political Contributions Executive Source Guide on Procurement Lobbying

By clicking on any one of these, you will be able to read the comprehensive information we provide clients regarding the state of Alaska’s laws, rules, and regulations, along with every Alaska government contact you need. We have this same information for all the states, the federal government, and 126 municipalities – and the information is updated continually.

If you are interested in adding one or two of these services, give us a call and we can talk about special value for existing clients. We are your partner in government compliance – and we want to serve all your needs.

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