E-News from State and Federal Communications, Inc.
DECEMBER 2018


Jeanette Pickerington Rankin
First Female Member of Congress

Jeanette Rankin, born and raised in Montana, grew up on her family farm, but did great things throughout her career in politics. She had stints doing social work in San Francisco and New York, and she then moved to Washington state to join the women’s suffrage movement.

Jeanette was a lobbyist for NAWSA (National American Women Suffrage Association) who traveled across the country to motivate others to join her fight. She was able to help legalize women’s voting rights in Montana in 1914.

In 1916, Jeanette ran for in the House of Representatives. She was not the first women to run for office, but she became the first female member of Congress. Jeanette fought for gender equality, neutrality in WWI and WWII, and some issues on social welfare. In 1918, she ran for U.S. Senate, but did not win the election. Jeanette left office and began to work on social welfare and pacifist missions throughout the country. She then became a lobbyist for the National Council for the Prevention of War and worked there for 10 years.

Jeanette said, “As a woman I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else.” I really like this quote because to me it says, “If I can’t fight, I am not going to let you fight.” showing she values the lives of the men going to sacrifice everything for their country.  We now know the destruction war causes, and Jeanette was more observant than everyone else at the time. She recognized the grief caused by war and wanted to put an end to it. Unfortunately, she was threatened for being anti-war, which made her decide to not campaign for the next election.

Jeanette was an amazing woman who only wanted the world to be fair and peaceful to all. She was a fighter for women suffrage, and a fighter against war. She was truly someone who wanted the world to be a better place.

Thank you.

Elizabeth Z. Bartz

President and CEO
@elizabethbartz


Missouri Amendment 1 Alters Landscape for Lobbying Lawmakers

Joanna Kamvouris, JD
Research Associate
 

More than 60 percent of Missourians voted in favor of a constitutional amendment to place tighter restrictions on gifts, revolving door provisions, and campaign contributions for General Assembly members and staff.

Amendment 1 prohibits members and staff of the General Assembly from accepting anything of value in excess of $5 from a lobbyist or lobbyist principal. Prior to the amendment, lobbyists were generally permitted to provide gifts.

Amendment 1 also significantly extends revolving door restrictions. Currently, a former member or employee of the General Assembly must wait a period of six months after leaving public office before becoming a paid lobbyist. Under Amendment 1, the waiting period is two years after the conclusion of the legislative session in which the member or employee last served.    

The amendment also brings new contribution limits for lawmakers. Currently, contribution limits for all state or judicial offices are $2,600 per election. Under Amendment 1, contributions to the office of state senator are limited to $2,500 per election, and contributions to the office of state representative are capped at $2,000 per election. Candidates for all offices are prohibited by the amendment from accepting contributions from a federal PAC unless the committee has filed the same reports required for a Missouri PAC.      

Regarding aggregation rules, Amendment 1 creates a rebuttable presumption that a contribution to a candidate for public office is made or accepted with the intent to circumvent the limitations on contributions when a contribution is received from a committee or organization primarily funded by a single person, individual, or other committee that has already reached its contribution limit. A committee or organization is deemed to be primarily funded when the committee or organization receives more than 50 percent of its annual funding from that single person, individual, or other committee.   

Amendment 1 is effective December 6, quickly bringing changes into force. 

 

[The details for this article will be updated on our website in the Lobbying Compliance Laws
and Procurement Lobbying Compliance Laws for Missouri.]


Summary of Changes UPDATE
Note Recent Changes to Compliance Regulations 

Michael Beckett, Esq., Research Manager

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MARYLAND: Executive Steve Schuh signed an ethics bill passed on October 15 by County Council. Bill No. 80-18 increases late filing fees for lobbyists and employees, adds a revolving door provision, modifies certain definitions, requires employee ethics training, and creates changes to comply with state ethics laws. The bill was signed by Schuh and will be effective on December 6, 2018. 

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Mayor Marty Walsh signed an ordinance requiring lobbyist registration and reporting for individuals and entities attempting to influence city action. The ordinance was passed by City Council in late September and requires registration by every person retained, employed, or designated by any client or lobbying entity to engage in lobbying or lobbying activities. In July, Mayor Walsh vetoed a lobbying ordinance passed by council as it failed to define and regulate lobbying and did not create an adequate enforcement mechanism. The new ordinance, effective April 13, 2019, creates a quarterly reporting requirement and penalties for late registration and reporting.

CALIFORNIA: On November 15, the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) approved proposed regulations to make biennial cost of living adjustments to campaign contribution and gift limits applicable from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2020. The updated regulations change the gift limit from $470 to $500 per calendar year and make increases to campaign contribution limits for candidates. Adjusted contribution limits for gubernatorial candidates increase from $29,200 to $31,000 per election.

NEW YORK: The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) has launched a new lobbyist reporting system. The organization profile section is live. All organization profiles from the previous system have been transferred to the new lobbying application and require an update to ensure all the information is correct. JCOPE has created an informational page to help users navigate the new system and staff is working to purge duplicate organization profiles. The website is available at https://jcope.ny.gov/jcope-lobbying-application-information. 

WASHINGTON D.C.: Act 22-0442, which included the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability Amendment Act of 2018 passed congressional review. The Act expands the scope of procurement lobbying in the District of Columbia to include action by an executive agency or official in the executive branch to contract, grant or procure goods or services. The lobbyist reporting periods change from semiannual to quarterly reporting in January 2019. Additional registration requirements were added including the precise description of the subject matter, including any bill, proposed resolution, contract, or other legislation of all writing or oral communications related to lobbying activities conducted with an executive or legislative member or official’s staff.


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 State and Federal Communications' digital encyclopedias for lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying and can be found in the client portion of our website.

Summaries of major bills are also included in monthly email updates sent to all clients. The chart below shows the number of bills we are tracking in regard to lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying.

  Total bills Number of Jurisdictions Passed Died Carried over
to 2019
Lobbying Laws 420 53 30 217 6
Political Contributions 699 54 64 395 10
Procurement Lobbying 565 54 43 297 7

W  E  B  S  I  T  E      T  I  P

New for 2019, we have added prefiling dates to our legislative session information. Prefiling dates represent the earliest date lawmakers may file legislation for the upcoming sessions. In addition, our website now has 2019 Key Dates for the Political Contributions Compliance Laws publication for federal, Washington D.C., and all 50 state entries. The Key Dates include reports due and scheduled elections for the year. Continue to watch the website for updates to the 2019 Key Dates in over 300 municipalities and Canada.


ASK THE EXPERTS

State and Federal Communications’ Experts Answer Your Questions

Here is your chance to “Ask the Experts” at State and Federal Communications, Inc. Send your questions to experts@stateandfed.com. (Of course, we have always been available to answer questions from clients that are specific to your needs, and we encourage you to continue to call or email us with questions about your particular company or organization. As always, we will confidentially and directly provide answers or information you need.) Our replies are not legal advice, just our analysis of laws, rules, and regulations.

We’ve had some disagreement internally within our organization – please help.  As a federal registrant employing in-house lobbyists, are we only required to report the time and expenses associated with our “registered” lobbyists? 

 

It’s a good question.  The answer to which often gets lost amongst the efforts to report lobbyists’ activities. Federal registrants are certainly required to make best efforts to track, capture and report the lobbying activities and expenses of those employees who meet the 20% threshold standard (lobbyist employee)...

 

Read the full article here

 

 

For more information, be sure to check out our Political Contributions Compliance online publication for any  jurisdiction. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Rebecca South, Federal Compliance Associate

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State and Federal Communications, Inc.
Scrapbook - December 2018



Our Holiday Party

Elizabeth Z. Bartz with Ilene Shapiro, Summit County Executive and Connie Krauss, Director, Community and Economic Development as we celebrated the 2018 holiday season.


NEO Can Challenge



State and Federal Communications, Inc. was challenged
to gather more than 500 cans for the Akron Canton Food Bank
in the 2018 NEW Can Challenge.  We surpassed 600 cans
in our successful drive.
 


United Way

As we have chosen to support the United Way of Summit County
in our Corporate Social Responsibility, this year we continued to participate in its  "Read to Me Day".
Nicolette Bartz Koozer read to a Kindergarten class at Harris-Jackson Community Learning Center in the Akron Public Schools.
 


Happy 10th Anniversary to
our Sr Compliance Associate

James Warner, Esq.

Plan to say hello at future events where State and Federal Communications, Inc.
will be attending and/or speaking regarding compliance issues.

 

December 5-9

NCSL Capitol Forum, Washington, DC

December 5

Ohio Holiday Reception, Washington, DC

December 5

SGAC Annual Capitol Forum Dinner, Washington, DC

December 5-6 PR News Media Relations Conference and Video Boot Camp, Washington, DC

December 6

NCSL Foundation Reception, Washington, DC

December 6 NCSL Foundation Signature Dinner, Washington, DC
December 9-13 COGEL Conference, Philadelphia, PA

December 10

WGR Holiday Reception, Washington, DC

December 10 SGAC Annual Holiday Reception, Washington, DC
December 10 WCGA Leadership Book Club Meeting, Washington, DC

December 11

WASRG Holiday Reception, Washington, DC

December 12-15 NCSL Legislative Leaders Symposium, New York City, NY
December 13 Akron Roundtable, Akron, OH
December 13 WGR DEI Committee Leadership Meeting

 


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We are the leading authority and exclusive information source on legislation and regulations surrounding campaign finance and political contributions; state, federal, and municipal lobbying; and procurement lobbying.

Contact us to learn how conveniently our services will allow you to say "I Comply" for your compliance activities.

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