Following a major rewrite last year of its “pay-to-play” disclosure rules, Maryland has made further changes that expand the obligations of state and local government contractors to report their political contributions, and those of their subsidiaries, officers, directors, partners, and PACs. Now, in addition to reporting direct contributions to candidates, contractors will also have to disclose contributions made to independent expenditure groups and political parties that are “for the benefit” of covered candidates. The new law also changes reporting deadlines, and clarifies that companies holding state or local contracts awarded prior to January 1 must file disclosure reports until performance is complete.

The contribution disclosure requirements for lobbyist-employers will also change so that the two disclosure regimes mirror one another.

These new changes take effect on June 1, 2015, just five months after the last round of changes and the rollout of a new online reporting system.

Key features of the new law include…