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

Silver Anniversary

Former President George W. Bush once said, “You can't do today's job with yesterday's methods and be in business tomorrow.”

This is so true. State and Federal Communications started in 1993 at a time when WordStar and WordPerfect were still being used—especially in NE Ohio. When we moved to Akron, Revco had just closed its corporate doors in Twinsburg, Ohio, and many people were looking for jobs, but few had ventured into the world of Microsoft Word. We persevered and found people wanting to learn how computers and software worked together and have built a great company of hard-working, computer-driven, and forward-thinking professionals.

We have been celebrating our 25th anniversary - two weeks ago in Akron and next week in DC - ready to continue providing the needed information to our clients. So, what can you expect?

Have you checked out the European publication? We have posted reference materials for the United Kingdom, the European Union, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and France. You can expect to see more countries in the coming months. Soon, clients can have access to our European entries by purchasing one additional publication.

We are going to change our printed Guidebook to an app, which we can update whenever a state changes its legislative sessions. We know you love that handy desk reference, but there are so many changes made the minute it goes out the door. We just want to protect you with correct information.

Training on our website will be a focus because there are a lot of nooks and crannies, and we want to help you understand it as much as we do. www.stateandfed.com is our #1 site!

As always, I thank you for your loyalty. We appreciate and are proud of all of our clients and friends who ALWAYS want to do the next right thing in compliance.

Elizabeth Z. Bartz

President and CEO
@elizabethbartz

Lobbyist Amendment Act Takes Effect

George Ticoras, Esq.
Research Associate

On June 11, several significant amendments to Alberta’s provincial lobbying law took effect when the Lobbyists Amendment Act, 2018, came into force by Royal Assent.

The most substantial change in the existing Lobbyist Act is the reduction of an organizational lobbyist’s time threshold from 100 hours annually to 50 hours annually. For the purposes of determining whether lobbying amounts to 50 hours annually, time spent lobbying includes time spent preparing for communication as well as time communicating with a public office holder.

Another change to the law amends the definition of lobbying to statutorily include grassroots communication as a form of regulated lobbying requiring registration. Grassroots communication does not include communication between an organization and its members, officers, or employees or between a person or partnership and its shareholders, partners, officers, or employees.

The Lobbyists Amendment Act also prohibits a consultant lobbyist or organizational lobbyist from giving or promising any gift, favor, or other benefit to a public office holder he or she is prohibited from accepting, or anything that would place the public office holder in a conflict of interest.

Contingency payment arrangements for lobbyists are prohibited, but the Lobbyists Amendment Act allows contingency arrangements in effect previous to June 11 to continue with certain restrictions. Contingency payments are permitted until the earlier of either the agreement’s expiration date or June 2020. Renewals of existing contingency payment arrangements are prohibited going forward.

New and amended definitions of public office holder, former public office holder, and provincial entity are included in the act. The registrar’s ability to remove a return from the registry if a lobbyist does not comply with his or her semiannual filing requirement has been codified to allow an appeal process similar to the process previous allowable through regulation.

An additional exemption to registration requirements was added for individuals who are recognized as elders by their aboriginal community.

[The details for this article have been updated on our website in the Registration and Reports Required sections of Lobbying and Procurement Lobbying Compliance Laws for Alberta, Canada].

Summary of Changes UPDATE
Note Recent Changes to Compliance Regulations 

Michael Beckett, Esq.,
Research Manager

COLORADO: The Office of Secretary of State adopted new campaign finance rules in response to a federal court ruling. Judge Raymond Moore struck down provisions of state law allowing private citizens to file complaints. Until the ruling, all complaints received a hearing without review for merit. New enforcement mechanisms provide for initial review of complaints and an opportunity to cure violations prior to investigation and enforcement. Substantive requirements of state campaign finance law were not affected.

FLORIDA: The Board of Governors for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation unanimously approved a new policy requiring lobbyist registration. Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis asked the board last month to create a registration and disclosure process at the corporation similar to executive branch requirements. Effective September 1, lobbyists will be required to register by a new online system before communicating with a member of the board or an employee of the corporation outside of a public meeting.

MONTANA: Gov. Steve Bullock signed an executive order on June 8 to further Montana’s goal of shedding light on dark money spending in elections. The executive order applies to new contracts for goods over $50,000 and new services contracts over $25,000 and requires government contractors who have spent more than $2,500 in the past two years in elections to disclose their donations. The executive order aims to shed light on contributions not otherwise required to be disclosed.

OKLAHOMA: The Oklahoma Ethics Commission voted to increase lobbying and campaign finance fees to avoid a potential financial crisis. Because the Legislature refused to give the agency any money from the general revenue fund, the commission could run out of money next fiscal year. In the past, the commission was given an appropriation to use for operational expenses. It then used the money generated from fees to fund ethics investigations. This year, however, the Legislature instructed the agency to use fees as its sole source of funding. Commissioners claim lawmakers failed to fund the agency in retaliation for imposing strict ethics rules. The commission is expected to file suit with the Oklahoma Supreme Court to address the lack of funding. All registration fees will increase by $100 effective July 1.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Mayor Mark Farrell signed a campaign finance ordinance passed the Board of Supervisors to provide more transparency for political contributions. Ordinance No. 129-18 includes a pay-to-play provision extending the restricted period from six-months to a year following contract approval. Interested parties donating $10,000 or more to a nonprofit as behested payments on behalf of a public official must disclose the payment within 30 days. The ordinance also contains additional disclosure requirements for bundled contributions and contributions made by certain business entities. The ordinance is effective June 30, but most provisions are not operative until January 1, 2019.

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.

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.

State and Federal Communications, Inc.
Scrapbook - June 2018

State and Federal Communications, Inc. Turns 25!   As we begin to celebrate our 25th Anniversary, we would like to share some photos of the excitement happening in Akron, OH.   Jacqueline Silas-Butler of APS Project Grad and Larry Butler with Elizabeth Bartz. Akron's Mayor Dan Horrigan   Celebrations must include a cake.     Celebrating Staff Anniversaries at State and Federal Communications, Inc. Myra Cottrill, Esq. Client Specialist   In June we celebrated the anniversaries of two staff members - Myra Cottrill, Esq. and Dave McPeek,  Business and Operations Analyst. We appreciate our hard-working staff.

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