Michael Beckett, Esq.,
Associate Director, Research Services

ALASKA: Ballot Measure 2 was approved with 50.5% of the vote reported as of November 17. The measure will make several changes to the election process, including replacing partisan primaries with open top-four primaries for state executive, state legislative, and congressional offices. Also, the measure establishes ranked-choice voting for general elections, including the presidential election, in which voters can rank the candidates. Additionally, Ballot Measure 2 requires persons and entities contributing more than $2,000 derived from donations, contributions, dues, or gifts to disclose the true sources of the political contributions. The approved system of top-four primaries and ranked-choice voting general elections will be first used in 2022, which includes the gubernatorial, U.S. House, and a U.S. Senate election.

AURORA, COLORADO: In a 7-3 vote, the Aurora City Council passed a major campaign finance reform ordinance on November 2, increasing transparency and limiting money in city elections. The ordinance limits donations from individuals and committees to $1,000 in at-large and mayoral races and $400 for council wards. It also bans contributions from "artificial persons" and increases transparency of donations and enforcement of regulations. Previously, Aurora imposed no limits on donations to candidates. The ordinance is effective January 1, 2021.

COLORADO: The Colorado General Assembly is preparing for a special session to provide more relief to those impacted by COVID-19. Gov. Jared Polis wants lawmakers to take immediate action on elements of his $1.3 billion stimulus package that includes relief for restaurant owners and other small businesses. The special session is expected to take place after the Thanksgiving holiday before lawmakers return on January 13, 2021 for their next regular session. It will take at least three days to approve legislation. A professional lobbyist must disclose within 72 hours if agreeing to lobby for an existing client or taking a new position in connection to legislation, standard, rules, or rates during a special session.

OHIO: The Joint Legislative Ethics Committee published a reminder they will not accept cash, money orders, or physical checks for payment of 2021 lobbying registration fees. The online payment portal, accessible via the lobbyist’s OLAC account was established in 2019. Registrations fees for 2021 must be paid electronically utilizing VISA, MasterCard, or ACH. Lobbyists may begin renewing registrations for legislative, executive, and retirement system engagements in OLAC on December 1. The renewal option closes January 15, 2021. Any lobbyist who does not complete the renewal process by January 15, 2021 must file a new initial registration statement, which requires a signature page.

OREGON: Voters passed a state constitutional amendment paving the way for the Oregon State Legislature and local lawmakers to limit political contributions and expenditures. Measure 107 also allows for rules regarding disclosure of campaign activity to require campaigns to be transparent about who paid for political advertisements. Currently, there are no contribution limits due to Oregon Supreme Court rulings declaring campaign finance reform to be in violation of the state constitution. Measure 107 is retroactive, but only to legislation passed on or after January 1, 2016.

Missouri Voters Pass Ethics and Elections Constitutional Amendment

Marilyn Wesel, Esq.
Manager, Research Services

On November 3, voters in Missouri passed Amendment 3, a constitutional amendment initiated by Senate Joint Resolution No. 38, passed earlier this year. The amendment creates a lobbyist gift ban, reduces campaign contribution limits, and repeals redistricting. The provisions are effective December 3, 30 days after the election.

Lobbyist Gift Ban

Amendment 3 prohibits all gifts from lobbyists or lobbyist principals to members of the General Assembly, staff members, and anyone employed by the General Assembly. Previously, gifts valued at $5 or less per occurrence were acceptable. The gift ban does not prohibit candidates from accepting campaign contributions or gifts from family members. Amendment 3 makes no changes to lobbyist reporting of expenditures required to be filed monthly.

Contribution Limits

The amendment also reduces contribution limits made to or accepted by any candidate or committee for the office of state senator from $2,559 to $2,400 per election. The amendment reduces contribution limits made to or accepted by any candidate or committee for the office of state representative from $2,046 to $2,000 per election. These contribution limits apply to each election cycle and go into effect December 3. Because the limit changes during an election cycle, aggregate contributions received prior to December 3 can be up to the limits in effect at that time. However, aggregate contributions received after this date must not exceed the new limits. Contribution limits will remain the same for future elections because language allowing for adjustment based on the consumer price index was removed from the Constitution by this amendment.

Redistricting

Amendment 3 also modifies the criteria for redrawing legislative districts and changes the process for redrawing state legislative district boundaries during redistricting by repealing the post of nonpartisan state demographer and giving all redistricting responsibility to preexisting bipartisan commissions. The commissions are renamed as the House Independent Bipartisan Citizens Commission and the Senate Independent Bipartisan Citizens Commission. Membership on the commissions is increased to 20 by adding four commissioners appointed by the governor from nominations by the two major political parties’ state committees.

[The details for this article are updated on our website in the Gift Law section
of the U.S. Lobbying and Procurement Lobbying Compliance Laws and the Contributions section of the U.S. Political Contributions Compliance Laws
for Missouri.]

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 regarding lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying.

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