RECENT LOBBYING, ETHICS & CAMPAIGN FINANCE UPDATES
Campaign Finance & Lobbying Compliance
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a Republican-led challenge to campaign finance limits on coordinated spending between candidates and political parties ahead of the 2026 midterms. The National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee brought the case with then-Sen. JD Vance in 2023, arguing that federal law limiting coordination between candidates and political parties violates the First Amendment. Deciding in favor of the Republican challenge would allow unlimited spending by political parties on ads in competitive races—spending that is limited now. If the limits on coordinated spending are overturned, party groups would likely dramatically accelerate their purchase of ad time. Democrats oppose the effort to overturn the limits, warning that doing so would cede political power to large donors. (Andrew Howard and Jessica Piper, POLITICO)
Massachusetts: A $4,000 penalty was paid to resolve accusations of a failure to timely disclose $2.3 million in contributions backing a successful ballot question to end the use of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System(MCAS) as a high school graduation requirement. Campaign finance regulators said the Committee for High Standards, Not High Stakes did not report $800,000 in monetary donations and more than $1.5 million in in-kind contributions in the days leading up to the election—known as the "late contribution reporting period" that began October 19, 2024. (Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald)
Government Ethics & Transparency
California: Irvine city leaders are settling a lawsuit with a group of residents who alleged the council violated the state's open meeting law when it passed new lobbying regulations last year. The Irvine City Council approved new regulations on October 8, 2024, which require lobbyists to register earlier with the city, disclose their activities more frequently and prohibits city officials, including commissioners, from engaging in lobbying activities in the City of Irvine or other Orange County municipalities.The council ultimately made an exception for labor unions, addressing concerns that the regulations would require union members who contact city officials to register as lobbyists and prevent them from serving on city commissions.However, those changes led to a legal challenge from a group of residents, dubbed the Orange County Advocates for Transparency. Since the council made a change to prevent city officials and commissioners from engaging in lobbying, it altered the city's code of ethics, a separate division of the city's municipal code. The agenda title only mentioned changes to the city's lobbying regulation and did not mention the code of ethics. To settle the lawsuit, the city council voted unanimously to rescind and re-adopt nearly the same ordinance, and agreed to pay $19,000 to cover a portion of the fees and costs associated with the lawsuit as part of the settlement. (Angelina Hicks, Voice of OC)
Florida: Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill intended to limit state and local officials and employees from using their official authority or influence to solicit political contributions. HB 1445, which passed with a single "no" vote in the Republican-controlled Legislature this year, would in part have prohibited state officials from using their position to solicit campaign contributions. The legislation was in part a reaction to NBC News reports from 2023 that taxpayer-funded officials in DeSantis' administration had been soliciting campaign donations from lobbyists, raising ethical concerns. Spokespeople for DeSantis' administration have justified state officials soliciting donations from lobbyists in their free time. DeSantis, who had said he would veto the bill, did not address the issue in a memo Tuesday. (Lawrence Mower, Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau)
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