As detailed in our previous mailing, the changes to Maryland's pay-to-play reporting law that took effect in January have caused confusion and created significant challenges for companies doing business with Maryland state and local government.

The Maryland legislature is considering changes to the law to clean up certain of these issues and address questions that arose under the law. Most notably, the legislation before the House of Representatives, HB 769, would allow a company that does not have reportable contributions to avoid the disclosure of specific contracts and instead provide a semiannual update of the government agencies with which it does business. In addition, the bill would require companies that had existing contracts at the start of the year but have not been awarded contracts in 2015 to file semiannually. The State Board of Elections issued an FAQ taking that position; however, as discussed in our February 5 mailing, it is reconsidering the FAQ in light of the lack of statutory support. As the bill makes its way through the legislature, there may be additional amendments.

We will continue to monitor this and all other developments with the Maryland pay-to-play law.

Information on the bill is available here.

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