RECENT LOBBYING, ETHICS & CAMPAIGN FINANCE UPDATES

We read the news, cut through the noise and provide you the notes.

Welcome to Compliance Notes from Nossaman’s Government Relations & Regulation Group – a periodic digest of the headlines, statutory and regulatory changes and court cases involving campaign finance, lobbying compliance, election law and government ethics issues at the federal, state and local level.

Please enjoy this installment of Compliance Notes.

Campaign Finance & Lobbying Compliance

California: The Long Beach Ethics Commission is continuing to revise its proposal to overhaul Long Beach’s lobbying disclosure law, including whether nonprofits should have to disclose lobbying activity. The commission has said it wants more detailed and timely disclosures about lobbying and has signaled it wants to repeal a blanket exemption currently given to nonprofits. The proposal will return to the committee for revisions, and a new draft will likely be released in May, according to the commission. (Jason Ruiz, Long Beach Post)

Mississippi: Attorney General Lynn Fitch is calling for campaign finance reform and increased enforcement to prevent “out of state influencers” with deep pockets from engaging in Mississippi elections. While Fitch did not provide much detail in her press release or subsequent interviews on her “reform package”, Fitch did say she wants more transparency and truthfulness in campaign finance reporting. Fitch suggested “adding a penalty of perjury to all campaign finance reports, which can carry up to 10 years in prison.” She also called for improving the civil penalties for violations and “giving the secretary of state authority to do his job” of making public campaign finance reports easy to read and search. (Geoff Pender, Mississippi Today)

Government Ethics & Transparency

California: Former CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves has agreed to pay an $11,250 fine to settle a Los Angeles City Ethics Commission complaint that accused him of violating the city’s Government Ethics Ordinance by interfering with a police investigation and inducing a government official to violate laws. The incident dates back to November 2017 when former Los Angeles Police Cmdr. Cory Palka began working with Moonves and other CBS executives to allegedly bury an LAPD complaint made by a woman who had accused Moonves of sexual assault in the 1980s. Under terms of the proposed settlement, Moonves has acknowledged that he violated city laws by “aiding and abetting the disclosure and misuse of confidential information.” (Meg James, Los Angeles Times)

Illinois: Former Illinois lawmaker and gubernatorial candidate William “Sam” McCann abruptly pleaded guilty to nine felony counts of wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion, halting his federal corruption trial over misusing up to $550,000 in campaign contributions. McCann made the reversal on the third day of a bench trial. The seven counts of wire fraud and single count of money laundering each carry a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison and three years for tax evasion. (John O’Connor, AP News)

Kansas: A Florida man accused of forging signatures on petitions to get the “No Labels” party officially recognized in Kansas has been arrested. George Andrews, from Dade City, Florida, has been charged with two counts of election perjury and 28 counts of election forgery for allegedly forging signatures on petitions to make “No Labels” an officially recognized political party in Kansas, according to a news release. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach said in a statement that the “individual was part of a scheme to defraud Kansas voters” and that the state takes “election fraud seriously, and we will prosecute every case where the evidence indicates a crime has been committed.” (Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star)